Company Information for Minerva Resources plc

AIM-MVA

www.minervaresources.com

Company stock charts - 12 Month chart

AIM; MVA

View full financial data

Company Statement

Minerva Resources plc (AIM:MVA) is a UK based mineral exploration and development company intent on delivering shareholder value by increasing and developing mineral resources in a socially and environmentally responsible manner.

The main focus of the Company is resource development in Ethiopia, where it has first mover advantage on highly prospective ground on the Arabian-Nubian shield. Key projects include the Tulu Kapi and Gugi gold prospects and the Yubdo Platinum Mine, located in western Ethiopia. .

Minerva Resources was formed in July 2007 through the reverse takeover by Ambrian Capital plc of Palladex plc (admitted to AIM in February 2004) and Ethiopian Resources Limited. The company is progressing the exploration and development of the Tulu Kapi and Gugi gold projects and expanding the small scale Yubdo platinum mine in Ethiopia, operating a Geotechnical Services and Drilling Division in Kyrgyzstan and is a partner in exploration joint ventures for gold, diamonds and platinum in Sierra Leone.

Revenues are derived from the Yubdo platinum mine and the geotechnical services and drilling division.

The Company’s core objective remains the identification and delineation of commercially viable assets capable of driving shareholder value.

Current Operations

Exploration Highlights

Gold

Tulu Kapi Phase 2 drill, resource definition, programme underway
Guji Phase 2 drill, resource definition, programme underway
Dina extensive old workings discovered

Platinum

In 2001 Minerva Resources, through its subsidiary GPMC, entered into a joint venture with a local entrepreneur, Mr Benti Tassisse (47%), to mine the Yubdo platinum deposit.

Diamonds

In Sierra Leone Minerva Resources retains a minority interest (24.5%) in the Lake Sonfon Diamond Project

The key activities are:
Tulu Kapi Gold Project, Ethiopia (100% Minerva Resources)
The Tulu Kapi Exploration Licence comprises an area of approximately 20 square kilometres centred on the old Tulu Kapi gold mine. Tulu Kapi is 9km south of Keley, a small village on the main Gimbi to Dembi Dolo road, 500km west of Addis Ababa. There is abundant water in the region, and good road acces and a high power transmission at Keley. The area is surrounded by the Yubdo Exploration Licence Area.

Following a re-interpretation of the structural controls of mineralisation in 2006, drilling by Minerva Resources intersected significant gold mineralisation in four holes with a best intersection of 37.9m at 4.61 g/t gold (1.58 g/t when a top-cut of 31.1g/t gold is applied). Mineralisation is hosted in proterozoic syenites and associated with zones of hydrolytic hydrothermal alteration centred on a NNE shear.

The UNDP work demonstrated anomalous gold grades continue for 1.2km along the shear structure, but Minerva Resources is focusing on a 600m section that is oriented northwest-southeast. Seven Phase 1 drill holes have to date delineated two dominant hydrothermally altered zones that dip to the southwest. The upper zone is over 20m thick, and the lower zone is over 10m thick. Phase 2 drilling is designed to test the grade, and the depth and strike continuity of these altered zones.

Gugi Gold Project, Ethiopia (100% Minerva Resources)
Guji is a greenfield evaluation target within the Yubdo Exploration licence area discovered by the Minerva Resources geological team. Guji is only seven kilometres west of Tulu Kapi, enabling significant sharing of logistics and infrastructure.

Discovered through regional spur soil sampling, follow-up rock chip sampling and soil geochemistry, Guji is hosted in a suite of proterozoic metasediments and metavolcanics. Guji lies on a major NNE shear and the heavily deformed rocks have permitted an extremely deep (40-50m) weathering profile to develop.

The principal target is a 1.2km x 200m soil geochemistry anomaly and assays from trenching and three 100m boreholes are awaited. Encouraging alteration features in the core have prompted Minerva Resources to plan a 3,000m Phase 2 drill programme for Q3 2007.

Yubdo Platinum Mine, Ethiopia (51% Minerva Resources and Management)
The Yubdo platinum mine was a small scale artisanal working when the former Golden Prospect Mining Company (Ambrian Capital plc) assumed management from a local entrepreneur in mid 2005. It is the sole platinum producing company in Ethiopia. The Yubdo Mine is 520km almost due west from Addis Ababa. Yubdo village and the mine site have recently been connected to the grid and an digital telephone centre is under construction in the village.

In 2006 Minerva Resources carried out a programme of pitting over the ridge above and to the southwest of the present small-scale mining operation southeast of Yubdo village, in order to estimate the resource in this small area.

Based on the results of the pitting GPMC has used a polygonal method to estimate a resource of 23,760 ounces (793kg) of platinum in 1,470,000 tonnes of laterite material with an average grade of 0.54g/t platinum within the limited area covered by the pitting programme. Importantly, the average grade of the laterite below a barren 1.5m soil layer was 0.82g/t platinum. The pitting programme also indicated that both laterite thickness and platinum grades are lower over the ridge area than on its flanks. Geological mapping shows that potentially mineralised laterite extends along strike for several kilometres on the Yubdo ultramafic intrusion.

Mapping of bedrock exposed in the pitting and in outcrop shows fractures containing quartz-carbonate with pyrite in the form of boxworks and planar fracture fillings occurring in zones trending east of north with generally steep westward dips, cutting the serpentinised dunites and pyroxenites of the Yubdo Ultramafic Complex. Pit sampling shows PGM values in this material relative to fresh rock which support the contention that PGMs are concentrated by hydrothermal action associated with zones of fracturing.

York Platinum, Sierra Leone
The York Peninsular Platinum Project is based on the Freetown Intrusion, a large layered basicultrabasic body that has been the source of historical alluvial platinum production, and has similaritiesto the Bushveld Intrusion of South Africa. A two-metre thick horizon with anomalous platinum values can be traced over a strike length of 8.5 kilometres. Rock and soil samples from weathered bedrock,assayed up to 0.84 g/t Pt.

The York Platinum project is a joint venture with Jubilee Platinum plc, operated by Jubilee Platinum. Minerva Resources’ interest under the York JV is currently 80%.

Lake Sonfon Diamonds , Sierra Leone: The Lake Sonfon diamond licence in Sierra Leone is run by Mano River, the Joint Venture partner.

In Sierra Leone Minerva Resources retains a minority interest (24.5%) in the Lake Sonfon Diamond Project, operated by Manor River Resources Inc. Mano River Resources Inc. has announced that reconnaissance work has confirmed the presence of macro-diamonds, one of which is classified as a clear white octahedral gemstone weighing 0.315 carats, and of kimberlite indicator minerals, within the Lake Sonfon JV area.

Geographical Spread

Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, Kyrgyz Republic

Board of Directors and Key Management

Terry Ward	Managing Director
Andrew Daley	Non-executive Chairman
John Bottomley	Non-executive Finance Director and Company Secretary
Robert Edwards	Non-executive Director
Roger Clegg	Non-executive Director

Senior Management Team
Dr. Kebede Hailu Belete	Chief Geologist and General Manager
Rashid Jaboev	General Manager, Technical Services Division

Company Address

5th Floor
Manfield House
1 Southampton St
London, United Kingdom WC2R 0LR


Telephone:	+44 (0) 20 7379 5012
Facsimile:	F +44 (0) 20 7395 1931
Email:	info[at]minervaresources.com
Website:	http://www.minervaresources.com

Additional Address/Key Contact

Registered Office
One America Square
Crosswall
London EC3N 2SG
United Kingdom

Capital

111.7m shares on issue

Year End

30 September

Nominated Brokers

WH Ireland, London, UK

Nominated Advisors

WH Ireland, London, UK

Broker/Analyst Reports

12/09/07 - t1ps Report

Major Shareholders

Name of Shareholder	Quantity	%
Ambrian Nominees Limited	44,500,000	39.8%
Pershing Keen Nominees Limited	9,852,648	8.82%
Mr Merlin Marr-Johnson	4,200,000	3.76%
L R Nominees Limited	4,110,954	3.68%
HSBC Global Custody Nominee (UK)	3,500,000	3.13%

Most Recent Statement

12/11/08 - Drilling Report: Exploration Update - Tulu Kapi Gold Project, Ethiopia
03/11/08 - Total voting rights
23/10/08 - Exploration Update - Dina Gold Prospect, Ethiopia
17/09/08 - Placing raises £607,500
01/09/08 - Exploration Update - Tulu Kapi Gold Project, Ethiopia
04/08/08 - Exploration Update - Tulu Kapi Gold Project, Ethiopia

To top