Company Information for Oriel Resources Plc

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Company Statement

Oriel Resources Plc is a London-based chrome and nickel mining and processing company which listed on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM:ORI) of the London Stock Exchange in March 2004 and the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX:ORL) in February 2005.  Formed in July 2003, Oriel’s primary focus is the acquisition and development of advanced and high quality chrome, nickel and other alloying commodities in the countries of the Former Soviet Union, primarily Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation.


Oriel's current mining projects include the Voskhod chrome and the Shevchenko nickel projects, both located in north western Kazakhstan. Interlinked with Voskhod is the vertically-integrated Tikhvin ferrochrome smelting plant in Russia, which commenced production in April 2007 using imported ore and will begin receiving and smelting chrome ore from Voskhod into high carbon ferrochrome (HC FeCr) in mid 2008. Oriel is fast-tracking the Voskhod chrome project into production while further progressing the Shevchenko nickel project.

Current Operations

Oriel’s current projects include the Tikhvin ferrochrome smelter in Tikhvin, Russia and the Voskhod chrome and Shevchenko nickel projects in northwest Kazakhstan.

Voskhod
Oriel acquired 100% of the Voskhod chrome project in February 2005 for the equivalent of US$15.0 million in cash and the allotment of 9,181,352 Oriel shares, at the time valuing Voskhod at US$25.0 million.

Oriel has made excellent progress in a short space of time and will have the mine in production in early 2008; only three years from acquisition. The development of the road, rail and power-supply infrastructure will give Oriel the security of independent and long-term production.

Oriel has been awarded an extension to the Voskhod contract licence area to include the Karaagash deposit which has Russian C2 and P1 classified resources of some 7.8 million tonnes and which has, assuming positive results of a confirmatory drilling program, the potential to provide additional resources for mining beyond a 20 year life.

Tikhvin
The Tikhvin Smelting Plant is designed to receive and smelt chrome ore into high carbon ferrochrome for use predominantly in the stainless steel industry. The other raw materials used in the ferrochrome smelting process are metallurgical coke as a reductant and a quartzite flux.

Construction of the plant has been completed and first producton commenced in April 2007.

At full production in 2011 the smelter is expected to produce approximately 180,000tpa of ferrochrome. The ferrochrome product will contain approximately 70%Cr metal and is manufactured by smelting a chromite product along with fuel (coke) and a flux (quartzite).


Shevchenko
The Shevchenko nickel deposit was discovered in 1952 and is located within the Kostanai district of Kazakhstan, some 50km south-west of the town of Zhitiqara. Oriel owns 90% of the project and has a Mining Contract with the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan which allows for full exploitation of the deposit, for the full 24 years with the right of extension.

In October 2007 Oriel announce that after extensive comparative analysis of all appropriate technologies for the development of the Shevchenko Nickel Project, the Company chose to proceed with continuous atmospheric tank leach technology, as it provided significantly better economic and technical performance compared to the other technologies.

Construction of Phase 1 commercial processing expected to begin Q2 2008, or as soon as practicable after completion of relevant engineering studies. Phase 1 commercial scale production of a nickel mixed hydroxide product aimed to commence H2 2009.

The resource infill drilling, geological modelling and mine optimisation plan has increased the overall project life considerably and it is projected to be 47 years based on mining the resource in 24 years.

The AusIMM JORC and Ni43-101 compliant resource is estimated as follows:
Measured & Indicated Resources (JORC Compliant)

Cut Off Grade	Tonnes (‘000)	Ni
0.6%	107,398	0.84%
0.8%	50,637	0.98%

Oriel Resources Gold Projects
Oriel Resources indicated in February 2005 that it was considering the most appropriate structure for its gold related activities. In July 2006, the Company subsequently completed the transfer and sale of its gold related assets into Lero Gold Corporation.

Oriel currently holds 63.1% of the issued capital of Lero.

Geographical Spread

Kazakhstan and Russia

Board of Directors and Key Management

Dr Sergey V Kurzin	Executive Chairman
Nick Clarke	Managing Director
Takhirzhan T Baratov	Executive Director
Geoffrey Bush	Non-Executive Director
Alexander Nesis	Non-Executive Director
Hon. John. Reynolds P.C.	Non-Executive Director
Ehud Rieger	Non-Executive Director
Roger Richer	Non-Executive Director
Neil Woodyer	Non-Executive Director
Michail Gordienko	General Manager of North-West Ferro-Alloy
David Swan	CFO & Company Secretary
Dr Nic Barcza	General Manager – Marketing Development & Project Evaluation
Ray Oates	Technical Director, Kazakhstan
Riaan Van der Merwe	Technical Director, Russia

Company Address 1 Red Place London, United Kingdom, United Kingdom W1K 6PL Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7514 0590 Facsimile: +44 (0) 20 7514 0591 Email: info[at]orielresources.com Website: http://www.orielresources.com

Annual General Meeting TBA

Year End December 31

Nominated Brokers Morgan Stanley

Nominated Advisors CanaccordAdams Limited

Major Shareholders

SHAREHOLDER	%
Alexander Nesis	25.63
Eanermoon Limited	17.65
A&ANN Properties Limited	11.80
Credit Suisse Client Nominees (UK) Limited	7.80
Ehud Rieger	5.87
CCC Canadian Control Account	4.26
Euroclear Nominees Limited	4.11

Related News

01/04/08 - Is Oriel Being Sold On The Cheap Or At A Premium? Each Side Will Paint Its Own Picture Says Oriel’s David Swan
01/02/08 - Oriel Resources Well Placed to Benefit from South Africa’s Woes
01/11/06 - Oriel Restructures To Secure Development Funding For Its Two Projects

Most Recent Statement

27/03/08 - Oriel Secures US$50 Million Loan for the Continuing Development of the Tikhvin Ferrochrome Smelting Plant, Russia
26/03/08 - RECOMMENDED CASH OFFER FOR ORIEL RESOURCES PLC
11/10/07 - Oriel chooses atmospheric acid leach process to unlock the value of the Shevchenko Nickel Project, Kazakhstan
29/08/07 - Interim Results for the period ended 30 June 2007
06/08/07 - Oriel announces commissioning of the second Tikhvin HC FeCr furnace
24/07/07 - First drawdown of US$40 million from a US$120 million loan facility for Oriel‘s Voskhod Chrome Project, Kazakhstan