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Sirius Exploration - Richard Poulden Interview
  
 
 
 

AUDITED RESULTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2008 PDF Print E-mail
Monday, 29 September 2008

FOR RELEASE

7.00AM

30 SEPTEMBER 2008

 

 

SIRIUS EXPLORATION PLC

(“Sirius Exploration” or “The Company”)

 

 

AUDITED RESULTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2008

Results

 

*        Loss before tax and aborted reverse acquisition costs of £301,731 (2007: £278,703)

*        Loss before tax of £676,358 (2007: £278,703)

 

Macedonia

 

*        Favourable mineral legislation in Macedonia

*        Moving forward on excellent base and precious metal targets at Kadiica and Osogovo

 

China

 

*        Option on Bobai Bishop Tungsten operation in China lapses but discussions are continuing with CIC Mining Resources Ltd and the Judian Group

 

*        Successful outcome to discussions anticipated

*        Planning to acquire minority (10-30%) stakes in Chinese mining and mineral processing assets which are in production or close to production.

 

*        New strategy should provide Sirius shareholders with an investment in one of the most robust and fastest growing economies in the world and an investment that is underpinned by holding in strategic natural resources

 

Outlook

 

*        Looking forward to delivering substantial growth in the future.

 

The Annual Report will be published and mailed on 30 September 2008 and is available on the Company’s website www.siriusexploration.com


 

Notes to editor:

 

Enquiries welcomed, for further information please contact the Company:

 

Sirius Exploration Plc

Richard Poulden (Chairman)

Jonathan Harrison (Financial Director)

Stuart J. Bromley (Beijing, PR China)

 

+44 7879 447 601

or +61 406 647 976

+44 78 7988 7755

 

+86 136 0113 1912

Beaumont Cornish

Roland Cornish (Chairman)

 

Tel: 020 7628 3396

Cubitt Consulting

Brian Coleman-Smith / James Verstringhe / Nicola Krafft

 

Tel: 020 7367 5100

Website: www.siriusexploration.com  

Background note

Sirius Exploration

Sirius Exploration PLC (AIM: SXX) is quoted on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange Ltd in London.  The Company acquires and explores mineral properties.and is currently exploring for copper and gold on its porphyry copper mineral properties located in Macedonia.

The Company has an agreement with Phelps Dodge (now a subsidiary of Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc) and has completed a drilling program at their exploration sites in Macedonia. It also has an agreement with Rio Tinto to utilise their Macedonian database to identify further exploration opportunities.   

China

The Group intends to exploit opportunities in China which will involve the acquisition of minority (10-30%) stakes in Chinese mining and mineral processing assets which are in production or close to production providing Sirius shareholders with an investment in one of the most robust and fastest growing economies in the world and an investment that is underpinned by holding in strategic natural resources.

FOR RELEASE                                           7.00AM                      30 SEPTEMBER 2008

 

 

SIRIUS EXPLORATION PLC

(“Sirius Exploration” or “The Company”)

 

Sirius Exploration acquires and explores mineral properties

 

AUDITED RESULTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2008

 

CHAIRMAN’S STATEMENT

 

Our operations in Macedonia are continuing and the Managing Director’s report which follows gives the results of our work there and the prospects.

 

However, the most significant event of the last few months, and indeed of the year, was the signing of the option agreement to acquire a stake in the Bobai Bishop Tungsten operation in China. This option lapses today, 30 September 2008 but I am pleased to report that discussions are continuing with our partners in China and we are confident of a successful outcome to these discussions.

 

Deals in China take time to conclude and one of the major issues is working with trusted partners. We are fortunate in this regard to be working with CIC Mining Resources Ltd and the Judian Group and believe that this is a relationship which can be extended in the future.

Going forward our intention is to continue the strategy of exploiting other opportunities in China which we are currently examining. This will involve the acquisition of minority (10-30%) stakes in Chinese mining and mineral processing assets which are in production or close to production.

 

This will provide Sirius shareholders with an investment in one of the most robust and fastest growing economies in the world and an investment that is underpinned by holding in strategic natural resources.

 

It is perhaps hard from inside the crumbling infrastructure of Britain to comprehend what is happening in China. Too often the press talk of a lack of democracy and miss the huge freeing of the human spirit which has occurred in China in the past 20 years. Hundreds of millions of Chinese who thought themselves destined for a lifetime of poverty now believe they can improve their lives through their own efforts: that is an unstoppable force for growth.[1]

 

As regards the consumption of minerals, again China’s economy needs to be put into perspective. We often read that China’s growth is reliant on exports to the West. Whilst this is part of the equation we should remember that up until 1820 the two largest economies in the world were India and China[2]. In 1820 The United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand combined accounted for 1.9% of Global GDP while Asia accounted for 59.2%[3]. Goldman Sachs[4] predicts that by 2050 three of the world’s largest economies will be Asian with this ranking: China, USA, India, Japan.

 

In addition China has massive infrastructure projects underway which underpin domestic consumption, a few statistics will give a feel for the scale of this: 78 new regional airports[5], multiple new urban mass transit systems; in 1991 there were 30 cities with a population over 1 million, by 2015 there will be over 70[6]. By comparison the EU has 17 cities with a population over 1 million[7]. All of this speaks to rapid growth and massive infrastructure investment which will lead to a major consumption of Commodities.

 

We believe that our focus on this region of the world and the creation of a portfolio of holdings in operating mineral producing assets will provide a strong and exciting investment for our shareholders.

 

I am grateful to you for your support during the year and I and your board look forward to delivering substantial growth in the future.

 

[1] This is the opinion of the Chairman and other commentators on China

[2] Angus Madison, “The World Economy: A Millennial Perspective” 2007

[3] Ibid

[4] Goldman Sachs “Playing with the BRICS”

[5] Financial Times

[6] Kishore Mahbubani “The New Asian Hemisphere”

[7] Ibid

 

 

Richard Poulden

Chairman

 

MANAGING DIRECTOR’S OPERATIONAL REVIEW

 

Introduction

 

We have retained the two target porphyry copper deposits, Osogovo and Kadiica, in Macedonia which are held in trust for the Company by Freeport McMoran subject to a 1% Net Smelter Return.

 

During the year, the previous government had proposed certain changes to the mining law which would have meant a mandatory reduction in size of the claims and also the loss of the automatic right of transfer from exploration to exploitation status should anything workable be discovered. In fact there was a proposal to enact a system whereby claims on which a discovery was made were to be put out to tender for exploitation. On the grounds that we felt that it would be incautious expenditure of your Company’s funds to carry out expensive exploration under such conditions we held back on our plans to carry out the planned geochemical programmes and drilling campaigns.

 

I am happy to report that the recent elections have empowered a government who have confirmed their desire to retain the original mining law. We can now confirm the spatially zoned nature of both targets from a cupriferous core to a flanking lead-zinc-silver zone with local outlying significant gold enrichments. It is important for us to retain the entire original claim holdings so as to be sure of having these attractive outer zones of mineralisation within our properties. We may therefore once again be more confident of being able to carry on exploration in Macedonia on our two targets.

 

These legal uncertainties, when considered alongside the instability in the financial markets, have led the Company not to make significant expenditure on either property during the year under review. We have managed to acquire a significant amount of outstanding geochemical data from previous exploration campaigns. Furthermore we have sorted and moved the core from Phelps Dodge’s exploration, including from our joint venture drilling. It is now in our proprietary core store in Pehcevo on the flanks of the Kadiica mineralised system where it is held along with assay pulps from the first stage of our joint exploration. Further to this our Balkan staff have managed to confirm the presence of old mine workings and dumps as probably Roman and obtained some significant assay results from surface on these old dumps.

 

Kadiica

 

During the year we have concentrated our efforts on locating outlying zones of precious metal mineralisation. The two anomalous gold areas defined by the Rio Tinto surveys were used as training areas for mineralogical identification from satellite data. Six potentially significant anomalous areas were identified for follow up.

 

Re-examination of recently acquired Phelps Dodge geochemical database (steam sediment, soil and rock chip surveys) defined one of the larger of these areas as anomalous for silver, gold, lead and zinc with lesser copper and molybdenum. Ground follow-up confirmed that this is one of the old workings and dumps from Roman mining.

 

A field inspection visit located the old dumps and adits as well as slags typical of Roman-style in situ smelting for precious metals. Two grab samples demonstrated hydrothermal alteration typical of the epithermal outer zones of a porphyry system as well as significant metal values:

 

*        0.1ppm Gold 30ppm Silver

*        0.5ppm Gold 114ppm Silver

 

A second inspection sampled characteristic examples of quartz-sericite-pyrite alteration with mineralized quartz veining. Ten grab samples from this contained up to 0.8ppm gold and 271ppm silver with significant lead, zinc, copper and molybdenum. In fact these samples contain the diagnostic geochemistry of the epithermal outer part of a porphyry system. These metal values are extremely significant for the potential of local high grade and value near surface mineralisation.

 

Geochemical anomalies sourcing in the other satellite anomalies suggest that these too could be other similar outlying mineralisations around the central porphyry, even if they may not have been discovered or worked by the ancients.

 

We therefore have in Kadiica, not only one well localised precious metal mineralised system and also five further possible look-alikes in need of testing, but also the original porphyry enrichment blanket ready for drilling and leach tests.

 

Osogovo

 

The threats to the mining law led us to make no significant expenditures on Osogovo. We have however consolidated all previous data. In particular we have re-examined these against the results from our proprietary ground magnetic survey. This confirms that the powerful anomaly on the south east flank of the porphyry on the margins of our claim is likely sourced in cupriferous skarn. This is an attractive drilling target.

 

The internal breccia identified by Phelps Dodge within the mineralised porphyry is a source of anomalous base metal geochemistry. Futhermore it contains mineralised clasts. These data indicate a target at depth also ready for drill testing.

 

It is likely that your Company will look to share the risk of drilling these targets. Now that the mining legislation appears to have stabilised and favourable there should be no shortage of interested parties.

 

Conclusion

 

The stabilised and favourable mineral legislation in Macedonia encourages us to move forwards on our excellent base and precious metal targets at Kadiica and Osogovo. We also continue to review exploration opportunities for acquisition or joint venture. New opportunities are always being actively sought. We will continue seeking opportunities as well as advancing those the Company holds in Macedonia.

 

 

Dr Nicholas Badham BA (Hons.Oxon)PHD, Chartered Geologist

Managing Director