Franconia Minerals Seeks Regulatory Approvals for Prospect Shaft at Birch Lake PGM-Copper-Nickel Project, Minnesota.SPOKANE, Wash. -- FRANCONIA MINERALS CORPORATION (TSX TSX Toronto Stock Exchange (TSE before April, 2002) TSX Transfer from Stack Pointer to Index TSX True Space Extension VENTURE:FRA Fra: see Angelico, Fra; Bartolommeo di Pagholo del Fattorino, Fra; Fra Filippo Lippi under Lippi. )(OFEX OFEX Off Exchange (Over-The-Counter Market established in 1995, Specialising in Smaller Companies) :FRA) has initiated discussions with state and federal regulatory agencies to determine the scope of environmental review, and permits and approvals required to construct a prospect shaft to collect an underground bulk sample for metallurgical pilot plant tests at its Birch Lake platinum group metal (PGM PGM Program PGM Pragmatic General Multicast PGM Phosphoglucomutase PgM Program Manager PGM Platinum Group Metal PGM Pagemaker (software) PGM Portable Gray Map PGM Precision Guided Munition )-copper-nickel prospect located about 60 miles north of Duluth, Minnesota. The mineralization Mineralization The process by which the body uses minerals to build bone structure. Mentioned in: Rickets mineralization, n the bioprecipitation of an inorganic substance. at Birch Lake occurs within the Duluth Gabbro gabbro: see basalt. gabbro Any of several medium- or coarse-grained rocks that consist primarily of plagioclase feldspar and pyroxene. Gabbros are found widely on the Earth and on the Moon. complex, just east of Minnesota's historic Iron Range where six large iron ore (taconite taconite, low-grade iron ore, a flintlike rock usually containing less than 30% iron. Resistant to drilling and to the extraction of its contained metal, the rock was long considered worthless. Experiments begun in 1912 by the American scientist Edward W. ) mines are currently operating. At a recent meeting with regulatory agencies in St Paul, Minnesota Franconia's project team outlined the geologic setting and possible future development of the project, which includes a proposed shaft and bulk sampling program. Franconia proposed a schedule calling for completion of the required review and, if acceptable, issuing permits and approvals by September 30, 2005. State of Minnesota agencies represented at the meeting included the Lands and Minerals, Water, Wetlands and Environmental Review divisions of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is the agency of the state of Minnesota charged with maintaining natural areas such as state parks, state forests, recreational trails, and recreation areas as well as managing minerals, wildlife, and forestry. , the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and the US Army Corps of Engineers, the agency that administers federal wetlands programs. Franconia indicated its view that testing of a bulk sample, as well as in-fill drilling, will be necessary to confirm the feasibility of developing a deposit and would facilitate the necessary environmental review and permitting for any subsequent commercial operation at Birch Lake. The Birch Lake project contains an estimated 51 million metric ton inferred PGM-copper-nickel resource. This inferred resource is estimated to have a grade of 0.675% copper; 0.211% nickel; 0.01% cobalt; 0.216 grams per ton (g/t) gold; 0.972 g/t palladium and 0.46 g/t platinum, at a cut off grade of $25.35 per ton net smelter return (based on hydrometallurgical hy·dro·met·al·lur·gy n. The treatment of metal or the separation of metal from ores and ore concentrates by liquid processes, such as leaching, extraction, and precipitation. treatment) using prices of $450/ounce (oz) platinum; $400/oz palladium; $800/oz rhodium rhodium (rō`dēəm), metallic chemical element; symbol Rh; at. no. 45; at. wt. 102.9055; m.p. about 1,966°C;; b.p. 3,727±100°C;; sp. gr. 12.41 at 20°C;; valence +2, +3, +4, +5, or +6. ; $0.90/lb copper; $3.00/lb nickel; $8.00/lb cobalt; $280/oz gold and $4.50/oz silver, generally well below present prices. This estimate is based on 16 pilot drill holes and 27 wedged offsets within the resource area. A total of 40 holes and 49 wedged offsets comprising over 33,000 meters have been drilled to date (see NI 43-101 technical report by Roscoe Postle Associates of Toronto, January 2004, available at www.sedar.com) Franconia Minerals Corporation trades on both the TSX-V in Canada and OFEX in the UK under the symbol FRA. Franconia's property portfolio consists of the Birch Lake PGM property in the Duluth Complex of Minnesota; the San Francisco high-grade zinc property (up to 55ft of 19% Zinc in previous drilling) in Utah, the Mahoney high-grade zinc property in New Mexico and a number of other platinum-palladium targets in the Duluth Complex of Minnesota. Franconia currently has exploration agreements with Teck Cominco American Inc. and Impala impala, species of antelope, Aepyceros melampus, closely related to the gazelle and found in the savannah and bush country of E and S Africa. It is the antelope most commonly depicted in illustrations and in motion pictures. Platinum Holdings. (For additional information see www.franconiaminerals.com.) The directors of Franconia Minerals Corporation accept responsibility for this announcement. Franconia presently has 17,796,531 shares issued and outstanding. FRANCONIA MINERALS CORPORATION Brian Gavin President Franconia Minerals Corporation 111 East Magnesium Road, Suite A Spokane, WA 99208,USA Lion Capital Corporation Ltd. 4th Floor, 2 Cromwell Place London SW7 2JE, UK This document, which has been issued by Franconia Minerals Corporation (Franconia), has been approved solely for the purposes of Section 21 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, by Lion Capital Corporation Limited (Lion), 4th Floor, 2 Cromwell Place, London SW7 2JE, who is authorised to carry on Investment Business by the Financial Services Authority The Financial Services Authority ("FSA") is an independent non-departmental public body and quasi-judicial body that regulates the financial services industry in the United Kingdom. Its main office is based in Canary Wharf, London, with another office in Edinburgh. . Lion, is acting as advisers for Franconia and to no-one else and will not be responsible to anyone other than Franconia for providing protections afforded to customers of Lion for providing advice in relation to any investment made pursuant to this announcement and makes no recommendation for the suitability of any investment, which is the subject of this announcement. FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENT: Although Franconia Minerals Corporation believes many of its properties have promising potential, its properties are in the early stages of exploration. None have yet been shown to contain proven or probable mineral reserves. There can be no assurance that such reserves will be identified on any property, or that, if identified, any mineralization may be economically extracted. Incorporated in Alberta Canada No. 207953670 THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE TSX Venture Exchange Originally called the Canadian Venture Exchange (CDNX), this was a result of the merger of the Vancouver and Alberta stock exchanges. The goal of TSX Venture Exchange is to provide venture companies with effective access to capital while protecting investors. HAS NOT REVIEWED AND DOES NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE Franconia Minerals Corporation (TSX VENTURE:FRA) |
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