Acquisition of Finnish gold interests
To be embargoed until 7.00am
16 October 2006
Conroy Diamonds and Gold P.l.c.
("Conroy" or "the Company")
ACQUISITION OF GOLD ASSETS IN FINLAND
The Company. proposes to expand its gold exploration interests by acquiring
from Conroy P.l.c. that company's gold exploration assets in Finland for a
consideration of €1 million(£675,300) to be satisfied by the issue of
19,294,286 New Ordinary Shares. These assets include 9 Exploration Licences
held by Trans-International Mineral Exploration Limited ("TIMEL") a wholly
owned subsidiary of Conroy P.l.c., in the Central Lapland Greenstone Belt
together with an extensive geological and geophysical database. The Directors
believe that Finland has excellent prospects for gold and is under-explored by
world standards.
These gold exploration assets in Finland will supplement the Company's existing
gold interests in the Longford-Down Massif in Ireland and will, in the
directors' opinion, expose Conroy to new and exciting gold exploration
opportunities in an area which is highly prospective and is quickly becoming
the location of a burgeoning gold mining and exploration industry in a mining
friendly environment.
Most of Finland lies on the so-called Baltic Shield- the ancient cratonic mass
forming the core of North Western Europe. Although underlain by this major
cratonic mass, Finland has not been subjected to the same exploration effort
seen in other shield areas (e.g. Southern Africa, Western Australia, Canada)
and gold has been largely produced as a by-product of operations in massive
sulphide deposits.
Studies by the Geological Survey of Finland ("GTK") have resulted in a
reappraisal of Finland's gold potential indicating a high potential for gold in
Central Lapland and by 1991 the first gold mine in Finland was in operation.
This was followed by the discovery of the Suurikuusikko gold deposit in the
Central Lapland Greenstone Belt, which is estimated to have a resource of over
2,000,000 oz. Au and is now under development by the Canadian gold mining
company Agnico - Eagle. Mines Limited
Conroy P.l.c. has carried out an active exploration programme for gold in
Finland and has acquired a significant knowledge of the style of gold
deposition and mineralisation, in particular in the Central Lapland Greenstone
Belt. Conroy P.l.c. has built up an extensive database on gold occurrences in
the area which includes a comprehensive overview, detailed aeromagnetic
interpretation, and a review of the entire GTK geochemical database (1 sample
per 4km²). The analysis of the data was followed by the collection and analysis
of over 2,300 geochemical samples. This was undertaken by the GTK on behalf of
Conroy P.l.c. and resulted in the identification of four areas of particularly
attractive prospectivity for gold in the Central Lapland Greenstone Belt.
The Company proposes to continue the exploration programme over the prospective
areas which have been identified and will also continue to employ, under
contract, the services of the GTK.
The strategy of Conroy in Finland will be to identify economic gold deposits
and thus increase value to shareholders funds. Finland, with its well-developed
infrastructure and mining culture, is a mining friendly country with geological
potential for large gold deposits.
As the Chairman of Conroy is the main shareholder in Conroy P.l.c. and other
directors of Conroy are shareholders and directors of both companies an
Extraordinary General Meeting will be held on Wednesday 1 November 2006 to
consider, and if thought fit, resolve to proceed with the acquisition which has
been independently valued at €1 million (£675,300). Professor Richard Conroy
holds 19,254,240 shares in Conroy P.l.c. (60.92% of its issued capital) and the
holdings of other directors are: Maureen Jones 1,806,360 shares (5.72% of its
issued capital), J.P. Jones 1,650,120 shares (5.22% of its issued capital),
L.J. Maguire 1,209,120 shares (3.83% of its issued capital) and H.H. Rennison
1,320,120 shares (4.18% of its issued capital).
CSA, a worldwide exploration management consultancy, has undertaken a valuation
of the gold claims and information database held by Conroy P.l.c. in northern
Finland through TIMEL a wholly owned subsidiary. . The nine claims are located
within three separate blocks in the Sodankyla area, covering 5.1km2.
CSA had previously visited Finland on behalf of Conroy P.l.c. to review gold
and diamond properties and is familiar with the mineral licensing system there.
To assist with the current study, Conroy P.l.c. provided technical and
financial information and reports on the results of work carried out on the
properties, and CSA obtained information on other gold prospects and deposits
in the region.
CSA classifies the Conroy P.l.c. claims as "exploration areas" until such time
as a defined mineral resource is outlined.
The choice of valuation methodology applied to mineral assets, including a
claim (or exploration licence), depends on the amount and nature of data
available and the reliability of that data. Mineral assets can be classified as
Exploration Areas, Advanced Exploration Areas/Pre-Development Projects,
Development Projects and Operating Mines. These categories represent a spectrum
from areas in which mineralisation may or may not have been found but where a
Mineral Resource has not been identified, through to Operating Mines which have
a well-defined Mineral Reserve. The categories as listed above progressively
represent areas within which there is an increasing certainty or confidence
that a Mineral Resource/Reserve is present.
The following standardised methodologies were employed by CSA in valuing the
Conroy P.l.c. claims
(a) Geoscience Rating Method,
(b) Multiple of Exploration Expenditure.
THE CONROY PLC EXPLORATION PROPERTIES
Conroy P.l.c., through a wholly owned subsidiary TIMEL, holds nine claims in
three sub-areas within the Sodankyla target zone, covering 508.31 hectares
(5.08km2) as set out in Table 1 below:
Claim Claim Company Area Valid- Valid- Area
No. Name From To (Ha)
7768/1 Kirves 3 Trans-International Sodankyla 23/04/2004 23/04/2009 71.20
Mineral Expl.
7768/2 Kirves 4 Trans-International Sodankyla 23/04/2004 23/04/2009 34.48
Mineral Expl.
7768/3 Kirves 5 Trans-International Sodankyla 23/04/2004 23/04/2009 38.83
Mineral Expl.
7768/4 Kirves 6 Trans-International Sodankyla 23/04/2004 23/04/2009 82.51
Mineral Expl.
7768/5 Kirves 7 Trans-International Sodankyla 02/06/2004 02/06/2009 55.51
Mineral Expl.
7768/6 Kirves 8 Trans-International Sodankyla 23/04/2004 23/04/2009 74.81
Mineral Expl.
7768/7 Kirves 9 Trans-International Sodankyla 23/04/2004 23/04/2009 74.90
Mineral Expl.
7746/1 Hakku 1 Trans-International Sodankyla 11/05/2004 11/05/2009 38.82
Mineral Expl.
7746/2 Hakku 2 Trans-International Sodankyla 11/05/2004 11/05/2009 37.33
Mineral Expl.
Table 1 - Sodankyla claims held by TIMEL on behalf of Conroy P.l.c.
The Sodankyla claims are located over the trace of the regional
northwest-trending Sirkka Line structural feature, represented by the major
Sodankyla fault in the vicinity of the claims. This fault cuts the underlying
Lower Proterozoic greenstone belt metasediments and metavolcanics, close to
their contact with older basement. In the area of the claims the 130º striking
Sodankyla fault is intersected by the Kemijarvi fault, striking at 150º. A
number of gold prospects and deposits have been located to date elsewhere on
the Sirkka trend, generally hosted by breccias, vein networks and shear zones.
These include the previously worked Saattopora gold deposit hosted in
quartz-carbonate veins and a number of occurrences hosted in veins within
graphitic schists and carbonatised komatiites (chrome-bearing marbles).
Conroy P.l.c. has recently acquired Landsat satellite imagery and has purchased
high quality airborne magnetic and radiometric data for all of northern
Finland. This has been used to assist in geological and structural
interpretation. These data are being integrated with earlier regional till
geochemical sampling by the Geological Survey of Finland (GTK) and later
follow-up by Conroy P.l.c. to identify new targets for follow-up exploration
The regional satellite, airborne geophysics and till geochemical database built
up by Conroy P.l.c. over a number of years in Finland is considered to be a
valuable asset in ongoing ground selection and acquisition. CSA has ascribed a
value to this data based on the cost of acquiring the information, as reported
by Conroy P.l.c., without any addition for inflation, and on the estimated
value of the data for future target selection. The value of this database was
added to the value of the existing ground holdings estimated by the Geoscience
Rating Method.
CSA reached the following conclusion:
• The exploration claims currently held by Conroy P.l.c. in Finland, selected
on the basis of regional and follow-up data, host several promising gold
targets for future testing. These are currently at a relatively early stage in
the exploration cycle, however sufficient data has been acquired to enable a
fair market value to be ascribed to the properties.
• Conroy P.l.c., through its acquisition and interpretation of regional gold
data, is in a strong position to select further prospective gold ground in
northern Finland. The value of this database has been included in the overall
valuation of the Finnish projects.
• Taking into consideration the preferred range of values obtained from the
valuation methods used, the relatively strong gold price and the current market
for gold properties, that the estimated Fair Market Value of Conroy P.l.c.'s
gold exploration interests in Finland is €1 million
The gold exploration assets in Finland of Conroy P.l.c. have been independently
valued by CSA, a worldwide exploration management consultancy, at €1 million.
It is proposed that these assets be acquired by the Company for €1 million
(675,300) to be satisfied by the issue of 19,294,286 new Ordinary Shares to
Conroy P.l.c., valued at 3.5p per share (the average middle market share price
of the Company's Ordinary Shares in the 3 months, prior to the date of this
document). Conroy P.l.c. will hold 18.26% of the share capital of the Company
following this transaction.
Application will be made for the new Ordinary Shares to be admitted to trading
on AIM and dealings are expected to commence on Thursday 2 November 2006.