stage ii expansion

Anvil Mining reaches Practical Completion and begins Commissioning of Dikulushi Stage II Expansion
Monday August 30, 10:35 am ET


TSX, ASX: AVM
PERTH, Western Australia, Aug. 30 /CNW/ - Anvil Mining Limited (TSX and ASX: AVM - News News) is pleased to announce that it has reached Practical Completion and Commissioning has begun on the Stage II expansion at the Corporation's Dikulushi Mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo ("DRC").
The Stage II expansion involves replacing the current Heavy Media Separation Plant ("HMS") with ball mill and flotation circuits. During the initial stages of the commissioning process, the ball mill and flotation circuits will be run during the day and the HMS will be run during the night. When the operation of the ball mill and flotation circuits reach designed performance, the HMS plant will be closed down and decommissioned.

Anticipated benefits of the Stage II expansion include a) an increase in plant recoveries from the current 71% to approximately 92%, and b) an increase in concentrate grades from an average of 40% 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 are expected to increase by approximately 40%, the Corporation expects that there will be a reduction of almost 30% in both the concentrate transportation charges and the smelting charges, per pound of payable copper. The current expansion is expected to increase annualized production by approximately 50%.

The Corporation also provides an update on matters relating to the mining contract at Dikulushi. As previously announced, as a result of Anvil's South African mining contractor being placed in receivership, Anvil exercised its step-in rights and took over the management of the contractor's mining equipment and the management of the contractor's employees. Anvil has since entered into agreements for the supply of replacement earth moving equipment, some of which has already arrived on site. The replacement equipment includes six articulated dump trucks of 40 tonne capacity, which are significantly larger than the previous fleet (mostly 25 tonnes capacity) and this is expected to provide improved efficiencies. The replacement mining fleet is expected to be fully in place within approximately three weeks.

Anvil Mining Limited is a copper and silver producer whose shares are listed for trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) and the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) under the symbol AVM, and the Berlin Stock Exchange under the trading code WKN A0B5NR.

The Corporation owns and operates the Dikulushi copper-silver mine in the Katanga Province of the DRC, which was brought into production in October 2002. For the financial year up to June 30, 2004 the Dikulushi Mine produced 29.3 million pounds (13,587 tonnes) of payable copper and 1.14 million ounces of payable silver at a cash cost of US 49 cents per pound (after silver credits).

Additional Notes:

Scientific or technical information in this news release has been prepared under the supervision of Bill Turner, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation, a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and a qualified person under National Instrument 43-101.

Caution Regarding Forward Looking Statements: Statements regarding the Corporation's plans with respect to the expansion and future operation of the Dikulushi operation are forward-looking statements. There can be no assurance that Anvil's expectations with respect to future operations at Dikulushi will be met.

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