Friday, June 16, 2006

De Beira provides further details on Titiribi gold-copper project in Colombia

De Beira Goldfields Inc. is pleased to present the following information and details regarding the recently acquired Titiribi Gold / Coper project. Below is a brief history of De Beira's entry into Titiribi, Colombia.

Titiribi is a historic multi-million ounce Gold and base metal mining district set in the Mid Northern region of Colombia approximately 70 kilometres southwest of Medellin. Recorded mining activity commenced in 1794, and more or less continuous production, at differing scales, has been observed since that time. In the 1800's and early 1900's Au-Ag (Zn-Pb-Cu) production came from at least 14 principle-mining areas within a three-kilometre radius of the town of Titiribi. Activity from approximately 1942 to present can be classified as minimal and strictly artisanal. Peak production activity dates from the period 1885 through 1930.

Murial Mining S.A (South America), ("Murial"), initiated work in 1992, focusing upon the Otra Mina – Cateadores – Chisperos – Muriel – Cerro Veta sectors of the Titiribi district. Numerous adits and drived were re-opened, cleaned, advanced and sampled. Murial entered into two separate option-style agreements, first with a junior company Ace Resources Ltd. of Vancouver, secondly with Goldfields Ltd of South Africa ("Goldfields"). The Ace Resources Ltd. option terminated in default on the part of Ace Resources, however abundant surface and tunnel sampling and mapping, soil geochemistry and ground-based IP and magnetometry were completed, resulting in the initial target concepts. In 1998, based on results from the Murial/Ace exploration, Goldfields conducted additional geophysics and soil geochemistry, resulting in a 2,500-metre diamond-drilling program in and around the Cerro Veta target area.

This drilling led to the discovery of the Cerro Veta porphyry considered as a potentially bulk-mineable Au-Cu, (Gold-Copper) resource, located two kilometres west of the Titiribi townsite. The Cerro Veta porphyry system is a well defined, zoned, although fault disrupted, poly-phase Au-Cu (Ag, Mo) porphyry system measuring some 725 metres N-S by 550 metres E-W.

Evaluation of this drilling outlined a drill indicated resource of 220 million metric tonnes grading 0.4 g/t Au with 0.15% Cu. Goldfields Ltd. however dropped the Titiribi option due to sub US$300 gold prices.

The decision of the Goldfields senior management to not pursue the Titiribi project in Colombia was brought to the attention of Mr Klaus Eckhof, currently Chairman of De Beira Goldfields. Representatives of Goldfields middle management considered the project had great potential, though possibly due to the depressed metal prices of 1998, the project was not considered viable for Goldfields. In May 2006, De Beira Goldfields entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with Murial over the Cerro Veta porphyry system in the Titiribi area and is currently focussing exploration on the la Candela and Margarita areas to the south of the current resources. De Beira is confident it will significantly increase the current resources.
About De Beira Goldfields Inc.

De Beira is a Nevada based mineral exploration company. The Company has recently initiated a new program to evaluate undervalued assets for potential addition to its mineral claim portfolio.

The Company has recently entered into an agreement to earn up to 70% interest in the Titiribi Gold / Copper project in Colombia, South America. The agreement with the Goldplata Group of companies allows De Beira to earn an initial interest of 65% by sole funding US$8 million exploration expenditure within a 3 year period. After earning 65%, De Beira can elect to sole fund further expenditure in order to earn another 5% (giving it a total interest of 70%). The additional interest will be earned upon the earlier of completing a bankable feasibility study or spending a further US$12 million, both within a period of no more than 3 years.

The Titiribi Mining District is located 70km southeast of Medellin, Colombia. It comprises an important historic gold – silver producing region with excellent infrastructure and a mining history extending over the last 200 years.

Mining operations focussed historically on high grade ( greater than 15g/t Au) gold – silver replacement mantos and fault controlled veins hosted within sedimentary rocks.

Limited modern exploration was undertaken by various companies (Ace Resources Ltd and Goldfields of South Africa) who during the period of sub US$300 gold price delineated a low grade Au-Cu resource. Goldfields drilled 2,500m and estimated a drill indicated resource (not to F43 101) of 220 million tonnes @ approx. 1g/t Au (Au + Cu equivalent) for approx. 7 million oz (porphyry associated Au-Cu-Ag-Mo mineralisation).

As an exploration project the Titiribi area can be considered an under explored, district scale mineral system with a long term proven high grade production history. As high grade (greater than 15g/t Au) mining ceased in the late 1930s', there is significant potential, with modern methods, to delineate resources with grades of up to 5 g/t Au which in present circumstances could be converted to mineable deposits.

The Company has identified several target zones for an immediate drilling program, and expects to fast track the drilling program.

Eight Chinese copper smelters seek reasonable processing charges

Head of China Smeltery Purchase Team (CSPT) Yang Jun disclosed to Xinhua on June 13 that all the eight copper smelteries under CSPT have agreed to voluntarily cut their production by 10 per cent if the copper concentrate processing charges fail to reach a reasonable level in the second half of this year. The smelteries demand that the treatment charge and refining charge for spot imported copper concentrates should not be lower than US$100 per ton and 10 US cents per pound respectively.

The smelteries also urge the Chinese Ministry of Commerce not to issue import permits for contracts with a price lower than the bottom line demanded by them.

Processing charges, namely the fees paid by copper concentrate suppliers to smelteries, are the principal source of smelteries' profits.

FNX Mining buys 50% of Fieldex's strategic Laforce copper-nickel property

Fieldex Exploration Inc. announced Tueasday that Aurora Platinum (100% owned by FNX Mining Company) has acquired 50% of the Laforce copper-nickel Property. Fieldex will retain 50% of the property.

The Laforce Property consists of 14 contiguous mining claims covering a total of five hundred ninety-five hectares (595 ha). The claims are located in the Brodeur and Devlin townships in the Rouyn-Noranda Mining District of Quebec.

Fieldex is pleased to share FNX Mining's unique expertise in the copper-nickel field. FNX Mining will be the operator of the project and a diamond drilling program on the Laforce Property is scheduled in August 2006.

The fifteen most important intersections drilled by Kerr Addison Gold Mines Ltd on the Laforce property outlined an area of mineralization of over two hundred feet (61m.) in strike length. This area averaged 1.16% nickel and 0.45% copper (Laforce Property – 43-101, J.D Charlton April 18, 2002).

The agreement regarding the Laforce Property is subject to regulatory approval. No finders' fee is to be paid regarding the agreement.
About Fieldex

Fieldex is a mineral resource company actively exploring deposits in Quebec in partnership with FNX Mining Company for Nickel-Copper-PGE group metal and for gold with Cambior and Lake Shore Gold. Fieldex owns many properties located in Northern Quebec, representing over 600 km(2).

Metorex to speed up Congo copper mine

Mining company Metorex said yesterday it would speed development of a copper mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo to benefit from metal price gains.

The opencast Ruashi Phase Two will produce 45000 tons of copper and 3500 tons of cobalt a year from 2008, 18 months sooner than the company had planned, Metorex CE Charles Needham said.

For Metorex and companies such as New York-based Phelps Dodge, the lure of Congo's copper and cobalt deposits outweighs political unrest in the country where more than 4-million people died in a civil war that ended four years ago.

The copper price has more than trebled from the $2100 a ton Metorex assumed in its original studies on the project.

"We want to accelerate copper production, which will hopefully coincide with this sweet spot in the market," Needham said.

"We'd like to have it up and running by the second quarter of 2008," he said.

While copper prices have dropped 29% from a record $8800 a ton on May 11, the metal has posted a fourfold gain in the past four years.

Copper for three-month delivery on the London Metal Exchange was quoted at $6805 during afternoon trading yesterday. It traded as low as $1336 a ton on November 7 2001.

Standard Bank, SA's largest lender, is the lead finance arranger for the mine and processing plant, which would cost about $140m.

Metorex was seeking "bridging finance" of as much as $25m to order items that may take longer to deliver, Needham said.

The mine is near the southern city of Lubumbashi. Ruashi Phase One, a dump-processing operation using decades-old stockpiles of copper and cobalt-bearing rock, will begin production at the end of this month and will operate for four years.

Metorex's stock traded 30c lower at R9 on the JSE yesterday.

The stock has jumped 25% this year, compared with a 6% gain by the 19-member FTSE/JSE Africa mining index.

Antofagasta sees Los Pelambres mine finished mid-2007

Chilean copper miner Antofagasta PLC said Wednesday that it expects the expansion of its flagship Los Pelambres mine to be completed mid-2007, two months ahead of schedule.

Antofagasta has invested $180 million to ramp up production at the mine, with the latest expansion taking production to 140,000 metric tons a day from 125,000 tons.

Speaking at the company's annual meeting, Chairman Jean-Paul Luksic said 2006 should be a good year for Antofagasta if the price of copper and molybdenum remains high.

The LME copper record cash price on May 18 was $3.98 a pound, and Luksic said molybdenum has found "good support" around $25 a pound.

Molybdenum is a byproduct of the copper Antofagasta produces, which is used in the production of stainless steel.

Mid-year copper TC/RC talks to begin late June in the Netherlands

Mid-year talks over copper treatment and refining charges between three Japanese smelters and a Western copper miner are slated to begin in the week starting June 26 in the Netherlands, sources close to the talks said Thursday.

Japanese copper smelters Pan Pacific Copper, Sumitomo Metal Mining and Mitsubishi Materials will be negotiating with Anglo-Australian resources giant BHP Billiton over TC/RC charges for the period from July 2006 to June 2007, sources said. The negotiations are expected to take place in the Hague.

A spokeswoman for BHP Billiton, however, declined to confirm any details about the talks.

A Japanese source who is expected to participate in the negotiations said BHP Billiton was likely to propose the elimination of a price participation scheme. "The talks may end [up being] inconclusive, as this proposal is unacceptable," the source said.

Under the current price participation arrangement, the copper smelters are refunded 10% of the copper cathode price when it exceeds 90 cents/lb. The monthly average price of copper cathode was over 300 cents/lb in May 2006.

The source said BHP Billiton has not made a formal proposal to remove the price participation arrangement. "We have been hearing from the miner that there are risks in the mine operations, the costs are higher," he said, adding that the price participation has protected the smelters from higher energy costs, inflation, and interest rates.

The BHP Billiton spokeswoman also declined to comment on whether her company planned to propose the removal of the price participation arrangement.

Japanese smelter sources also voiced concerns that TC/RC levels have fallen to $60-80/mt and 6-8 cents/lb this month, from levels above $100/mt and 10 cents/lb six months ago. They also said a recent tender involving a trader and a Chilean miner set the TC/RC at as low as $28/mt and 2.8 cents/lb.

Zambia to adjust copper royalties

Zambia, Africa's biggest copper producer, was renegotiating mining contracts in which royalties paid to the state were currently 0.6 percent, mines minister Kalombo Mwansa said yesterday.

The government was holding talks with "major" mining companies operating in the country and wanted to increase the tax on all contracts stipulating a royalty of that level on sales. Mwansa gave no details on the new royalty. He said the country expected to produce 1 million tons of copper by 2010.

Canadians clear Xstrata's Falconbridge deal

Mining giant Xstrata today confirmed that its all cash offer for Canadian miner Falconbridge has received clearance from the Canadian competition authorities.

It received an Advance Ruling Certificate from the Canadian Competition Bureau, said the group, leaving it free to proceed with its offer with no further anti-trust review in Canada.

In May, Xstrata launched a fully underwritten hostile all-cash offer worth C$52.50 per share to buy the 80% rump of the Canadian copper and nickel group.

Falconbridge has already accepted a takeover deal with fellow Canadian outfit Inco, but the pair are still trying to win approval for the deal in the US and Europe as authorities raise competition concerns. Inco is also on the receiving end of a bid from Teck Cominco.

Xstrata said the combination of the two companies will create the world's fifth largest diversified mining company with the deal to be substantially earnings and cash flow enhancing in the first full year of consolidation.

Yesterday, the group received the thumbs up from the US authorities, but Europe has up to the 13 July to report.

Goldman Sachs JBWere says buy BHP, Rio after declines

Goldman Sachs JBWere Pty. said investors should buy shares of miners including BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto Group in the face of declining metal prices as the environment for producers remains "hugely bullish."

The falls of copper, zinc and other metals prices from their records over the past month were driven by concern about the increasing cost of funds rather than declining global demand for raw materials, Goldman analysts Malcolm Southwood and Neil Goodwill said in separate notes yesterday.

Investors are concerned central banks worldwide will keep increasing interest rates to counter rising inflation, triggering fears the higher borrowing costs will slow global growth and demand for commodities. Shares of miners BHP and Rio fell by 18 percent and 16 percent between touching records in May and yesterday's close as metals prices plunged.

"We still think there's legs in the general resources picture, and we're confident that earnings can grow," said Hans Kunnen, who helps oversee $70 billion at Colonial First State in Sydney, including BHP shares. "And following the corrections, valuations look better than they did three weeks ago."

Shares of Melbourne-based BHP Billiton, the world's largest miner, rose as much as 66 cents, or 2.6 percent, to A$26.28, and traded at A$26.18 at 2:26 p.m. Sydney time. Shares of London- based Rio Tinto, the world's second-largest miner by market value, rose as much as A$1.31, or 1.8 percent, to A$74.36, and traded at A$73.55.

Goldman Sachs JBWere is the Australian affiliate of the world's largest securities firm by market value.
'Buying opportunity'

"From a supply/demand perspective, the commodities environment remains hugely bullish for producers," said Goldman's Southwood. "While we recognize the pain that this sort of pullback in metal prices and share prices causes, we believe that as the dust settles around the current price correction, a very attractive buying opportunity is opening up."

Copper supply continues to be constrained by production difficulties, and zinc and nickel could face similar problems over the next 12 months, Southwood said. Many miners are failing to reach production targets, he said.

Antofagasta Plc, the London-based owner of three copper mines in Chile, yesterday said production dropped 9 percent in the first four months as it mined ore with lower metal content. It joins other miners such as Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc. and Codelco in announcing falling production.
'Demand is growing'

"Copper and zinc have potential for upside spikes because of low inventory and tightness in the market," Helen Lowe, marketing manager for commodity derivatives at BNP Paribas SA, said yesterday. "Demand is growing, but the problems are clearly in supply."

Prices of commodities such as steel, coal and iron ore, which are not traded on the London Metal Exchange and offer a better guide to physical demand, are holding firm, Southwood said.

Rio and BHP, the world's second-largest and third-largest exporters of iron ore, last month won a 19 percent price rise for the steelmaking component from most global steelmakers.

"We expect global commodity demand to remain strong and prices firm," said Goldman's Goodwill. "This should result in strong earnings and a faster share price recovery from BHP and Rio than the general market."

Copper has fallen 26 percent from its all-time high of $8,800 a ton on May 11 in London, and zinc has also dropped 26 percent from its record $4,000 a ton.

"Spot prices are still above the assumptions many analysts have for their valuation models," for miners, said Colonial's Kunnen. "There could still be earnings upgrades."

Merrill Lynch & Co. analysts on June 9 raised their earnings estimates for BHP Billiton by 31 percent to a record $13.4 billion for fiscal 2007. They also raised 2006 earnings estimates for Rio by 15 percent to a record $7.6 billion.

Copper rallies back to pre-correction levels: LME

London Metal Exchange three-month copper jumped 5.6% to the key $7,000 a metric ton Thursday but did so on relatively thin volumes with short covering steering the move higher, traders said Thursday.

Copper prices retraced for a second day to finish the late kerb in London around $85/ton ahead of levels seen before Tuesday's price collapse. Prices were at $7,000/ton at the late kerb in London, up $375 or 5.6% from the previous PM kerb price of $6,625/ton.

Prices surged further still in post-kerb trading, touching an intraday high of $7,130/ton.

"Nothing surprises me any more in this market," one trader said. "Fundamentals don't matter a dime."

Traders said once copper established a support base at around the $6,500/ton level, selling dried up and short covering emerged, as did bargain-hunting. Earlier, UBS analyst Robin Bhar said copper needed to regain the $7,000/ton level to avoid further moves to the downside.

The remainder of the complex moved higher in sympathy with copper though did so on limited buying activity, according to another trader. Aluminium rose $50 on previous PM kerb levels to close at $2,560/ton, up 2% on the session. Nickel traded at $18,900/ton, up $1,000 on the previous PM kerb levels. Zinc gained 3.8% to finish the late kerb at $3,075/ton.

While the move lower in the dollar against the euro helped provide some upside impetus, one trader said the market is currently moving independently of external influences such as inventory changes, inflationary concerns and currency fluctuations.

3 months metal (prices in dollars a ton)
Bid – Ask, Change from Wednesday PM kerb

Copper 7000.00-7001.00, Up 375.00
Lead 963.00-965.00, Up 5.00
Zinc 3075.00-3080.00, Up 115.00
Aluminium 2560.00-2565.00, Up 50.00
Nickel 18900.00-18950.00, Up 1,000.00
Tin 7945.00-7950.00, Up 195.00