Exploration Licences Granted for Juruena Gold Project in Brazil
May 25, 2009
Road Town, Tortola, British Virgin Islands (May 25, 2009) – – Talon Metals Corp., (“Talon” or the “Company”) (TSX: TLO) today announces that it has concluded an agreement with Kmine Holdings Ltd. (“Kmine”), a private company, to acquire a 100% interest in Bancor Mineracao Ltda. (“Bancor”), a Brazilian subsidiary of Kmine. Bancor has eight potash project areas in the Sergipe and Alagoas States of Brazil comprising a total of 36,402 hectares (89,951 acres) for which it holds exploration licenses for potash or has applied for exploration licenses.
Separately, Talon was recently awarded the exploration rights to the Juruena Gold Project in Mato Grosso State, Brazil from the Departamento Nacional de ProduÇão Mineral (“DNPM”). “The acquisition of the potash exploration licences from Kmine conforms to our strategy to acquire interests in holdings that have the potential to become substantial projects,” said Mr. Stuart Comline, President and CEO of Talon. “It also underlines our belief that, under the current uncertain circumstances and a depressed commodity market, it is important to acquire strategic holdings in commodities that may have a more settled future. We will continue to review other potash opportunities, as well as gold opportunities that have the potential to host substantial deposits.”
The Bancor Potash Projects and the Kmine Agreement
Bancor holds the exploration rights on 17,473 hectares (43,176 acres) in three project areas and has applied for the exploration rights on an additional 18,929 hectares (46,774 acres) in five further project areas. All of these potash projects are in the Sergipe and Alagoas states of Brazil. The project areas are in the same sedimentary basin as established oil producing areas and the nearby Taquari-Vassouras potash mine, which is operated by Vale and produced 607,000 tonnes of potash in 2008.
A considerable amount of exploration data exists for the area, mainly from the oil industry including one well in Bancor’s Sergi project area which intersected a cumulative 25 metres of potash mineralization in three sedimentary units. Other wells in, or close to, the Bancor project areas have also intersected potash mineralization. The existing exploration data will be reviewed as part of Talon’s exploration program, which will commence immediately.
Under the terms of the agreement with Kmine, Talon has acquired a 100% interest in Bancor, for cash payments of US$20 million, payable over 10 years, of which US$375,000 was payable on closing of the agreement and again at the commencement of the second year. Thereafter, further incremental payments are made annually on the third, fourth and fifth anniversaries of the closing date of the agreement and the final payment is payable on the tenth anniversary of the closing date. The agreement allows for Talon to make payments from the end of the second year, part in Talon shares (50% of each payment) and part in cash. The amount payable in Talon shares is equivalent to 47% of the full purchase consideration. Furthermore, Talon may withdraw from the agreement at any time and return the Bancor shares to Kmine.
Potash is a major component of fertilizers and Brazil is a large consumer of this commodity in its extensive agricultural industry. Brazil imports most of its potash as currently only about 10% of its consumption is produced domestically. Furthermore, world potash demand has increased 35% on a cumulative basis between 2000 and 2007 and industry projections are for further increases in demand. However potash deposits are not readily found in many regions of the world. In fact 84% of world potash production is currently supplied by only five countries.
The Juruena Gold Project
On April 30, 2009 the DNPM in Brazil granted Talon a 6,369 hectare (15,739 acre) exploration license for the Juruena Gold Project (“Juruena”) in the Alta Floresta gold district in the Mato Grosso State, some two years after the Company submitted a tender for the exploration rights. Juruena, which previously had been one of the major garimpeiro mining sites in Brazil, has an estimated historical production of some 250,000 ounces of gold, mainly from shallow alluvial and saprolite deposits from eleven pits. The hard rock target here is a series of multiple quartz veins hosted in alteration zones within granites. The Company is undertaking a more detailed assessment of previous mining and exploration at Juruena to formulate a strategy to maximize the value for Talon.
Update on the Saber Coal Bed Methane (“CBM”) project
Further to the Company’s press release of April 24, 2009, Talon is continuing with its due diligence review on the Saber CBM projects in Botswana. The initial agreement entered into between Saber and Tlou Energy Pty Ltd. (“Tlou”) on April 24, 2009 will add considerable management capability and experience to the Saber projects, subject to the successful negotiation and execution of definitive agreements with Tlou. It is anticipated that this will enhance the exploration program and will result in an improved assessment of the exploration results and potential of the projects in the coming months. Accordingly, this will provide the necessary confidence for Talon management to determine whether to proceed with the proposed merger with Saber.
About Talon
Talon is a TSX-listed company focused on the exploration and development of the TrairÂo Iron Project in Par∑ State, Brazil. The Company has a well-qualified exploration and management team with extensive experience in exploration and project management.
Talon has a treasury of approximately CDN$18 million and has 92.0 million common shares outstanding and 110.9 million shares on a fully diluted basis.
For additional information on Talon please visit the Talon’s website at www.talonmetals.com or contact:
Erica Belling
VP Investor Relations
Tau Capital Corp.
Tel: (416) 361-9636 x 243
Email: ebelling@taucapital.com
Forward-Looking Information
This news release contains forward-looking information. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, that address activities, events or developments that the Company believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future (including, without limitation, statements regarding potential mineralization, the depth of the mineralization and the CompanyÍs exploration plans and objectives) are forward-looking information. This forward-looking information reflects the current expectations or beliefs of the Company based on information currently available to the Company. Forward-looking information is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that may cause the actual results of the Company to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking information, and even if such actual results are realized or substantially realized, there can be no assurance that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on the Company. Factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations include, among other things, risks related to the exploration stage of the CompanyÍs properties, the possibility that future exploration results will not be consistent with the CompanyÍs expectations (including identifying additional and/or deeper mineralization), changes in the price of iron ore, changes in equity markets, political developments in Brazil, uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing needed in the future, changes to regulations affecting the CompanyÍs activities, delays in obtaining or failures to obtain required regulatory approvals, the uncertainties involved in interpreting exploration results and other geological data and the other risks involved in the mineral exploration business. Forward-looking information speaks only as of the date on which it is provided and, except as may be required by applicable securities laws, the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking information, whether as a result of buy . Although the Company believes that the assumptions inherent in the forward-looking information are reasonable, forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future performance and accordingly undue reliance should not be put on such information due to the inherent uncertainty therein.
The mineral resource figure disclosed in this news release is an estimate and no assurances can be given that the indicated levels of iron will be produced. Such estimate is an expression of judgment based on knowledge, mining experience, analysis of drilling results and industry practices. Valid estimates made at a given time may significantly change when new information becomes available. While the Company believes that the mineral resource estimate disclosed in this news release is well established, by their nature mineral resource estimates are imprecise and depend, to a certain extent, upon statistical inferences which may ultimately prove unreliable. If such estimate is inaccurate or reduced in the future, this could have a material adverse impact on the Company.
Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. Inferred mineral resources are estimated on limited information not sufficient to verify geological and grade continuity or to allow technical and economic parameters to be applied. Inferred mineral resources are too speculative geologically to have economic considerations applied to them to enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves. There is no certainty that mineral resources can be upgraded to mineral reserves through continued exploration.