Man.Assd.Csh Share Discussion Threads

[brilliantball] 21/2/2008 11:43

Encouraging Diamond Grades

RNS Number:4667O
Mano River Resources Inc
21 February 2008


TSX-V: MNO
AIM: MANA

21 February 2008

Mano River Resources Inc.

HIGHLY ENCOURAGING DIAMOND GRADES FROM UNDERGROUND TRIAL MINING AT
KONO PROJECT


Mano River Resources Inc. ("Mano" or "the Company") the TSX-V and AIM-listed
exploration and development company focussed on West Africa, is pleased to
announce a progress update on the Kono diamond project in Sierra Leone. The Kono
project is a Joint Venture between Stellar Diamonds Ltd ("Stellar") (49%) and
Petra Diamonds Limited ("Petra") (51%). Mano River is a 68.5% shareholder in
Stellar, which plans to list on AIM in the spring of 2008.

On 19th February 2008 Petra issued its interim results and has made the
following statement regarding the Kono Joint Venture:-

"Trial mining operations at the Kono project, a joint venture with Stellar
Diamonds, continue with highly encouraging results at the Pol K and Bardu test
shafts. A total of 8,640 diamonds (760 carats) have now been recovered at Kono
(bottom cut 1 mm). A parcel of 581 carats has been shipped to South Africa and
these are being cleaned, awaiting valuation.

"At Pol K shaft, a total of 757.5 tonnes of in-situ fissure has now been
extracted. Ore processing has yielded 5,603 diamonds totalling 479.5 carats,
rendering a very satisfactory in-situ grade of 63 cpht, with the ten largest
diamonds ranging in size from 1.1 carats to 10.55 carats. At the extraction
depth of 32 metres, satisfactory mining conditions have been experienced. Shaft
sinking will now be extended to a depth of 60 metres, at which point stope
panels will be established to increase ore extraction.

"At Bardu shaft, trial mining started in early December 2007. The limited amount
of in-situ fissure tonnes extracted so far at a depth of 30 metres below surface
yielded encouraging in-situ grades, however Petra is of the opinion that the
scale of the work conducted is presently too limited to arrive at any
representative in-situ grade. Test work will continue in order to obtain an
in-situ grade and evaluate the quality of the diamonds. As previously stated,
we expect to be in a position to make a development decision at Kono by mid
2008.

It is also worth noting the considerable exploration potential at Kono and Petra
has, subject to successful contract negotiations, awarded a contract to Fugro
Airborne Surveys to conduct a survey in the Kono area to prospect for potential
kimberlite pipes and blows."

Karl Smithson, CEO of Stellar commented:

"We are very encouraged by diamond results from the test mining at the Kono
operation. Taking the Kono project into production is in line with Stellar's
core strategy of becoming a diamond producer. The project is making excellent
progress under the management of Petra who continue to work in a very diligent
and cost effective manner. I look forward to the opportunity of updating our
shareholders on the progress being made across our portfolio in due course."

Luis da Silva, CEO of Mano, commented:

"This is an extremely positive development for Mano as a 68.5% shareholder in
Stellar. We are making good progress towards the planned listing of Stellar this
spring, subject to market conditions, and are confident that once listed Stellar
as a stand alone entity will unlock significant value for Mano's shareholders."

For further information on Mano River Resources and Stellar Diamonds Limited,
you are invited to visit the Company's website at www.manoriver.com or contact:

Mano River Resources Inc
Luis da Silva, CEO [phone]

Stellar Diamonds Limited
Karl Smithson, CEO [phone]

Pelham PR
Charles Vivian / James MacFarlane [phone]

GMP Securities Europe LLP
James Hannon [phone]

Panmure Gordon (UK) Limited
Edward Farmer [phone]

[nathand] 19/2/2008 13:38

Considering the current markets for Gold and Iron, the news from Koko and the recent short term trading range, everything would seem to point to an increase in share price.

Other than the share price itself at this time of course.

[chipperfrd] 19/2/2008 09:35

Cheers Captain, here is the clip that relates to Kono:

Sierra Leone - Kono

Trial mining operations at the Kono project, a joint venture with Stellar
Diamonds, continue with highly encouraging results at the Pol K and Bardu test
shafts. A total of 8,640 diamonds (760 carats) have now been recovered at Kono
(bottom cut 1 mm). A parcel of 581 carats has been shipped to South Africa and
these are being cleaned, awaiting valuation.



At Pol K shaft, a total of 757.5 tonnes of in-situ fissure has now been
extracted. Ore processing has yielded 5,603 diamonds totalling 479.5 carats,
rendering a very satisfactory in-situ grade of 63 cpht, with the ten largest
diamonds ranging in size from 1.1 carats to 10.55 carats. At the extraction
depth of 32 metres, satisfactory mining conditions have been experienced. Shaft
sinking will now be extended to a depth of 60 metres, at which point stope
panels will be established to increase ore extraction.



At Bardu shaft, trial mining started in early December 2007. The limited amount
of in-situ fissure tonnes extracted so far at a depth of 30 metres below surface
yielded encouraging in-situ grades, however Petra is of the opinion that the
scale of the work conducted is presently too limited to arrive at any
representative in-situ grade. Test work will continue in order to obtain an
in-situ grade and evaluate the quality of the diamonds. As previously stated,
we expect to be in a position to make a development decision at Kono by mid
2008.



It is also worth noting the considerable exploration potential at Kono and Petra
has, subject to successful contract negotiations, awarded a contract to Fugro
Airborne Surveys to conduct a survey in the Kono area to prospect for potential
kimberlite pipes and blows.

[captain swing] 19/2/2008 09:28

Petra results are out, some words about Kono



Sierra Leone

* Trial mining continues on two shafts; 8,640 diamonds totalling 760 carats
recovered to date, including a 10.55 carat octahedron

63 cpht from one of the fissures, but only a 757.5 tonne sample so far

[arf dysg] 18/2/2008 15:25

Iron ore prices up

[unionhall] 09/2/2008 16:49

FIVE THINGS: THE WORLD OF IRON ORE

You dig it up and make steel. Boring. But iron ore is sparking excitement as BHP Billiton courts rival Rio Tinto. David Parkinson explains why people are so heated up over this raw material
DAVID PARKINSON

February 9, 2008

The proposed merger between mining titans BHP Billiton Ltd. and Rio Tinto PLC is the biggest salvo yet in the battle over the global iron ore business. Regulators are worried a BHP/Rio marriage would concentrate too much production of the coveted raw material in the hands of a single company. Meanwhile, the world's biggest consumer, China, set the stage for a showdown last week by buying a stake in Rio Tinto. As the plot thickens, we take a look at the once-sleepy world of iron ore to see what's behind the excitement.

1 AN IRON-FORTIFIED WORLD

Global iron ore production could eclipse two billion tonnes this year - or an astounding 300 kilograms for every man, woman and child. Almost all of it is used to make steel, for which demand has been growing as economies such as China and India step up their infrastructure development and their appetite for motor vehicles. Last year, world production rose 5.5 per cent, but that didn't keep pace with demand, which has risen at an annual pace of almost 10 per cent for the past five years.

2 THE PRICE IS RIGHT

Those tight supply/demand dynamics have fuelled five successive years of price increases, during which time iron ore prices have almost tripled. Last year, major producers and Asian steel mills negotiated a 9.5-per-cent price increase for supply contracts, the smallest increase in four years. But during the year, spot market prices spiked as much as 150 per cent, setting the stage for substantial increases at this year's negotiations. Analysts believe the talks will result in contract price increases of up to 60 per cent - the second biggest in history, after the 71-per-cent hike in 2005.

3 THE GREAT IRON WALL

China is the world's biggest producer of iron ore, generating about 600 million tonnes last year, almost one-third of global output. (Brazil and Australia are the next with 19 per cent and 17 per cent shares, respectively.) But China only accounts for about 14 per cent of the world's iron ore reserves, much of which is relatively low-grade material. With Chinese steel production and consumption expected to grow more than 10 per cent a year (the country already accounts for about 36 per cent of world steel supply and demand), it's little wonder the Chinese government wants to secure external supplies of iron ore to feed its growing appetite.

That's prompted Chinese state entities to look for deals with major producers and minor countries. In 2006, Gabon granted China exclusive rights to develop one of the world's few untapped reserves of iron ore, buried under the central African nation's remote jungles. The find, the Belinga deposit, is thought to contain more than one billion tonnes of high-grade ore. China has pledged $3-billion to build the infrastructure necessary to deliver the ore to market.

4 CANADIAN CORNER

Canada generates less than 2 per cent of the world's iron ore. Roughly half of Canada's output comes from Iron Ore Co. of Canada, which is 58 per cent owned by Rio Tinto. Iron Ore Co.'s main mine, in Labrador City, employs about 1,100 people - or roughly one in five working-age citizens in the town. The mine has produced more than one billion tonnes of crude iron ore in its 45-year history. The company owns its own railway - the Quebec North Shore & Labrador Railway - that transports ore from Labrador City to market.

5 AN IRON HUBBARD'S PEAK?

In the past 10 years, world iron ore output has risen by more than 80 per cent. Lester Brown, founder of environmental economics think tank, Earth Policy Institute, estimates that even if global iron ore extraction rose by a mere 2 per cent annually, the world would exhaust all known recoverable reserves by 2070.

[chipperfrd] 02/2/2008 14:29

That is exactly what I was thinking U :-)

[unionhall] 02/2/2008 14:26

Excellent the big boys still have their money and still looking for Iron ore prospects......

[chipperfrd] 02/2/2008 14:07

Surprising development in Liberian iron ore bid!

[curt3] 30/1/2008 12:04

the grant of options to the directors at Cn $ .20 is daylight robbery !! with the Stellar float imminent they will have an immediate bonus.

[unionhall] 28/1/2008 14:22

Iron in demand and gold price rising - cannot be bad....

SAN FRANCISCO (Thomson Financial) - Gold prices rallied to record highs
Monday amid ongoing concerns over production, sending shares of gold miners
mostly higher.
February gold futures surged $17.70 to $928.40 an ounce, and reached an
all-time high of $929.80 in intraday trading. The price has now increased by
$45.30 amid a 3-session win streak, as an electricity shortage in South Africa
late last week brought gold mining in that country to a stand still.

[hectorp] 26/1/2008 10:50

Price of iron ore to be strong ( yet more press reports this week)
The iron ore project should help MAna over the year ahead, yet I still sense that the key to 2008 will be the Kono diamond output.
So I've added more PDL's as they are also exposed to Kono.

- MANA looks a strong trade buy on these retraces.

[simon54] 24/1/2008 21:41

uh - ok, cheers, I take your point. I was forgetting previous depths :-) [Edit: I still wish they were able to put more drilling in! This doesn't seem a very aggressive approach for the year....?]

[unionhall] 24/1/2008 21:38

Simon - these prospects are completely undrilled below 100m. I presume drilling to 200m-300m will allow the increased depth to move from inferred to proven etc.

The 500-600m presumably the spur(If good results) for future drilling once they have enough data to get started on the first mining.

[simon54] 24/1/2008 21:32

I'm puzzled, really. How are they going to "sizeably increase the resource at New Liberty with the current drilling programme" when it's primarily infill (which one might reasonably expect to increase the reserve, though how will it make a substantial difference to the resource?) and only 2,000m at that? With maybe only one hole drilled deep? Hmm.

[hectorp] 24/1/2008 21:25

Bit of delay built into all this, U..
maybe only a few months, balanced against better resource figures.

[unionhall] 23/1/2008 19:29

New Liberty looks like it is on track for interesting news with a drill already on site to increase the defined resource and hopefully confirm mineralisation at depth.

"Providing further data to facilitate an underground mining plan to follow
initial open pit operation"

Also happy to see they will be starting with an open pit mine - should have a relatively short lead-time once they eventually define the exploitation path.



"The Company has also commissioned The Mineral Corporation of South Africa to
conduct an in-depth review of the entire exploration database for the Company's
licence area with a view to defining further gold targets potentially capable of
development into satellite deposits to New Liberty. Any targets emerging from
the study would be in addition to the Weaju and Gondoja satellite deposits,
where drilling has already taken place with encouraging results."

A bit surprised they need to do this. I would have thought they would have had enough geological expertise in-house for this sort of review. I am obviously wrong. Hope they come up with some more prospects as they have their drill on site.

[chipperfrd] 22/1/2008 22:01

Useful report on Petra is available here ..


The bit (Kono) relevant to Mano is on page 29.
Chip

[jester jim] 22/1/2008 12:00

great buying opportunity, topped up at 9.75

Mano has 68 of this:
Stellar sell-off to net £50m for mining group

+ Iron ore & diamonds so the share price should probably be near double what it currently is

[shavian] 21/1/2008 16:47

More than just useful publicity Mikky, great news on a dreadful day on the markets!

From The Sunday TimesJanuary 20, 2008

Stellar sell-off to net £50m for mining groupGrant Ringshaw
MINING group Mano River Resources, which is listed on AIM and in Canada, is to spin off its Stellar Diamonds subsidiary in the next three months in a bid to unlock value for shareholders.

Stellar is expected to be valued at up to £50m. Headed by chief executive Karl Smithson, it will also announce this week it has beefed up its board by appointing Lord Daresbury as nonexecutive chairman.

Mano executives believe the £31m group is seen as a mining conglomerate, and spinning off Stellar will create a specialist vehicle that will be more highly valued by potential investors.

Stellar has a number of diamond properties in West Africa, including a 49% joint venture with Petra Diamonds, and a similar project with mining giant BHP Billiton in Sierra Leone.

Mano has a 68% stake in Stellar while new investors that backed a private £4.2m fundraising last July hold 22%. Mano's stake is likely to be reduced to about 50% after the float.

Money from the flotation will be used to accelerate development of Stellar's diamond exploration projects. Daresbury, who is planning to take a personal stake, is an experienced executive in the mining industry. Between 2002 and 2004 he was chairman of Highland Gold, the listed group that has interests in Russia.

He is also a former chairman of Kazakh Gold and served as a nonexecutive director of Evraz Group, a steel and iron ore production company with Russian assets.

Two years ago, Daresbury, who has been chairman of the Aintree racecourse since 1998, quit as chairman of leisure group De Vere.

[encarter] 20/1/2008 21:00

Diamonds £25m
Gold £15m
Iron £20m
Market cap £31m ?
Looks like top up time.