Certej EIS Completion
February 06 2008 - 2:01AM
UK Regulatory
RNS Number:3598N
European Goldfields Ltd
06 February 2008
Immediate Release 6 February 2008
European Goldfields Limited
Certej Environmental Impact Study Completed - Permitting Process Underway
6 February 2008 - European Goldfields Limited (TSX / AIM: EGU) is pleased to
announce that the final Environmental Impact Study (EIS) to develop its Certej
gold/silver project in Romania has now been completed.
European Goldfields already holds a mining permit for Certej, which is currently
being exploited on a small scale by way of an existing open pit. The EIS
addresses a proposed increase in mine production at Certej and the processing of
ore on site.
The EIS has been carried out over a 12-month period in order to accumulate all
the required base line data during the different seasons. The EIS is a detailed
multi-discipline study comprising over 1,000 pages subdivided into a number of
volumes assessing the environmental, social and health impacts of the project on
the mine area.
In December 2007, European Goldfields also applied for a Zone Urban Plan (PUZ),
which indicates that the project is now in the advanced stages of the public
permitting process. This follows the submission of a Technical Feasibility Study
to the Romanian authorities in March 2007 and the grant by the local county
council of a General Urbanisation Certificate in September 2006. This
certificate confirms the designation of Certej as an industrial mining area and
attests to the local community's support for the project.
The PUZ is a detailed urbanisation plan for the project and its approval
involves an initial review of the EIS. The PUZ must be approved through a full
public consultation process by local authorities, county councils and public
utilities before the EIS can be approved by the regional Romanian environmental
authorities in Timisoara.
The PUZ is expected to be approved by the end of Q1 2008, following which the
EIS will be formally submitted to the environmental authorities.
The environmental permit and an updated mining permit are expected in Q3 2008
following a standard public consultation process with local communities, which
is expected to start 45 days after submission of the EIS. Customary construction
and public utility permits are expected to follow by end-2008 when the detailed
engineering design has been completed for the site plant.
The EIS has been prepared with the contribution of several Romanian institutes
of international reputation, namely the National Institute of Research and
Development for Industrial Ecology (ECOIND), the National Institute of Research
and Development for Environment Protection (ICIM), the Technical University of
Construction Bucharest and the Babes-Bolyai University of Cluj. The EIS was
prepared to the regulatory framework established by Romanian and EU legislation.
Full feasibility study to be completed in Q2 2008 - European Goldfields is in
the final stage of completing a full feasibility study for the Certej project,
which will be used for internal approval and presentation to banks and other
sources of potential financing of the project. The only major pending study is
the engineering study for the process plant and associated infrastructure by
Aker Kvaerner Engineering Services, scheduled for completion in Q2 2008.
Mining and processing - The deposit will be mined by open pit methods with a
strip ratio of 3.1:1. The project will involve the mining and processing of 3.0
million tonnes of ore per annum over at least eleven years. This is expected to
yield approximately 160,000 oz of gold and 820,000 oz of silver per year in
dore, reflecting an average total process recovery of 81% for gold and
approximately 75% for silver.
The metallurgical process involves the production of a gold-bearing concentrate
followed by the production of gold and silver as dore on site by means of the
Albion Process.
The Albion Process is a combination of ultra-fine grinding of concentrates and
oxidative leaching at atmospheric pressure. The liberated gold and silver is
then recovered as dore by the conventional Carbon in Leach ("CIL") process.
The residues from the flotation and gold plants will be disposed of in two
separate but adjoining tailings management facilities (TMFs), which are ideally
located and designed for this project. The EIS confirms that the Certej project
and its TMFs will have a negligible impact on the local water streams, flora and
fauna.
About European Goldfields
European Goldfields Limited is a resource company involved in the acquisition,
exploration and development of mineral properties in Greece, Romania and
South-East Europe.
Greece - In addition to owning 80% of the Certej project in Romania, European
Goldfields holds a 95% interest in Hellas Gold S.A. Hellas Gold owns three major
gold and base metal deposits in Northern Greece. The deposits are the
polymetallic operation at Stratoni, the Olympias project which contains gold,
zinc, lead and silver, and the Skouries copper/gold porphyry project. Hellas
Gold commenced production at Stratoni in September 2005 and commenced selling an
existing stockpile of Olympias gold concentrates in July 2006. Hellas Gold is
applying for permits to develop the Skouries and Olympias projects.
For further information please contact:
European Goldfields: e-mail: info@egoldfields.com
David Reading, Chief Executive Officer Tel: +44 (0)20 7408 9534
Buchanan Communications: e-mail: bobbym@buchanan.uk.com
Bobby Morse / Ben Willey Tel: +44 (0)20 7466 5000
Renmark Financial Communication: e-mail: tcameron@renmarkfinancial.com
Tina Cameron Tel: +1 514 939 3989
RBC Capital Markets: e-mail: andrew.smith@rbccm.com
Andrew K Smith / Sarah Wharry Tel: +44 (0)20 7029 7882
Forward-looking statements
Certain statements and information contained in this document, including any
information as to the Company's future financial or operating performance and
other statements that express management's expectations or estimates of future
performance, constitute forward-looking information under provisions of Canadian
provincial securities laws. When used in this document, the words "anticipate",
"expect", "will", "intend", "estimate", "forecast", "planned" and similar
expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements or information.
Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the estimation of
mineral reserves and resources, the timing and amount of estimated future
production, costs and timing of development of new deposits, permitting time
lines and expectations regarding metal recovery rates. Forward-looking
statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions
that, while considered reasonable by management, are inherently subject to
significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies.
The Company cautions the reader that such forward-looking statements involve
known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the
actual financial results, performance or achievements of the Company to be
materially different from its estimated future results, performance or
achievements expressed or implied by those forward-looking statements and the
forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. These
risks, uncertainties and other factors include, but are not limited to: changes
in the price of gold, base metals or certain other commodities (such as fuel and
electricity) and currencies; uncertainty of mineral reserves, resources, grades
and recovery estimates; uncertainty of future production, capital expenditures
and other costs; currency fluctuations; financing and additional capital
requirements; the successful and timely permitting of the Company's Skouries,
Olympias and Certej projects; legislative, political, social or economic
developments in the jurisdictions in which the Company carries on business;
operating or technical difficulties in connection with mining or development
activities; the speculative nature of gold and base metals exploration and
development, including the risks of diminishing quantities or grades of
reserves; the risks normally involved in the exploration, development and mining
business; and risks associated with internal control over financial reporting.
For a more detailed discussion of such risks and material factors or assumptions
underlying these forward-looking statements, see the Company's Annual Info
rmation Form for the year ended 31 December 2006, filed on SEDAR at
www.sedar.com. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation,
to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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