News from Canada NewsWireCompletion of Anvil Group...

News from Canada NewsWire
Completion of Anvil Group reorganization and Canadian initial public offering

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09:39 EDT Wednesday, June 02, 2004



/NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN
THE UNITED STATES/

PERTH, Western Australia, June 2 /CNW/ - Bill Turner, President and Chief Executive Officer of Anvil Mining Limited, announced today that the Anvil Mining Group has successfully completed its corporate reorganization and Canadian initial public offering.

The Australian Scheme of Arrangement between Anvil Mining NL and its shareholders took effect earlier today and Anvil Mining Limited completed its C$7 million initial public offering. Anvil Mining Limited, the new Canadian- incorporated holding company for the Anvil group, now trades on both the Toronto Stock Exchange and the Australian Stock Exchange under the symbol "AVM".

Bill Turner commented, "The completion of this reorganization is an important step in the development of Anvil Mining into a recognized base and precious metals mining company. Our Canadian listing will enhance our ability to access the larger North American capital markets and enhance opportunities for the development and growth of the Anvil Mining Group."

The principal asset of the Anvil Mining Group is its 90% direct equity interest in the Dikulushi copper/silver mine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo ("DRC"). Anvil Mining also has interests in a number of exploration properties elsewhere in the DRC, Zambia, Vietnam and Australia.

The Stage I development (open pit mining and Heavy Media Separation) of the Dikulushi Mine commenced commercial production of high-grade copper and silver concentrates in October 2002. The Stage II expansion (addition of ball mill and flotation circuits), which was initiated in November 2003 and which is expected to begin commissioning in June 2004, is designed to increase production by approximately 50% to approximately 20,000 tonnes of copper and 1.8 million ounces of silver per year contained in concentrates. The current remaining life for the open pit mining operation is four years, after which the mine is expected to become an underground operation (Stage III).

Attractive benefits of the Stage II development will include a) an increase in plant recoveries from approximately 69% to approximately 92%, and b) an increase in concentrate grades from an average of 39% copper and 1,000 g/t silver to over 55% copper and 1,700 g/t silver. In addition, because the concentrate grades from the flotation circuit will increase by approximately 40%, there will be a reduction of 25-30% in both the concentrate transportation charges and the smelting charges, per pound of payable copper. These benefits will further improve the economics of an already robust project.

As part of the Australian Scheme of Arrangement, all of the outstanding Ordinary Shares of Anvil Mining NL will be exchanged for Common Shares of Anvil Mining Limited. In Australia, the Corporation's Common Shares will be represented by CHESS Depositary Interests (or CDIs). Ten CDIs (on the Australian subregister) will be exchangeable at any time for one Common Share (on the Canadian register).

Anvil's Common Shares commenced trading on the TSX on Wednesday, June 2, 2004 (Canadian time). Anvil's CDIs will commence trading on the ASX at the opening of trading on Thursday June 3 (Australian time).

The record date for determining entitlements to receive CDIs of Anvil Mining Limited in exchange for Ordinary Shares of Anvil Mining NL is June 9, 2004 and the shares will be transferred on June 15, 2004 (the Implementation Date for the Scheme of Arrangement). The Corporation expects that holding statements will be dispatched to Australian shareholders on or about June 17, 2004.

Haywood Securities Inc. acted as agent for Anvil Mining Limited in connection with its offering in Canada. With completion of the offering and the Scheme of Arrangement, the Corporation now has 23,554,229 Common Shares outstanding. Computershare Investor Services Inc. at its principal office in Toronto and Computershare Investor Services Pty Ltd at its principal office in Perth act as the Corporation's transfer agent in Canada and Australia, respectively.

Caution Regarding Forward Looking Statements:

Statements regarding the Corporation's plans with respect to the development of the Dikulushi Mine are forward-looking statements. There can be no assurance that the planned expansion of the Mine will occur or that production will be able to be profitably increased.

/For further information: Bill S. Turner, Ph: +61-8-9481-4700, Fax: +61-8-9481-4800, Cell: +61-41-1188018, Email: billt(at)anvil.com.au/