EMED Mining says ASX listing progressing well, seeing strong support from investors

EMED Mining (AIM: EMED) said its addtional listing on the ASX (Australian Stock Exchange) planned for the second half of the year is on track, following consultations with the exchange, its advisers and institutional mining-specialist investors.

The investment community was particularly excited by the operational progress made by the company and the European Commission’s new policy of increasing Europe’s production of minerals and metals, which bodes well for the development of EMED’s flagship Rio Tinto mine (Proyecto Rio Tinto, PRT) in Spain and adjacent projects.

EMED has recently conducted an introductory presentation in Australia, reporting on progress in its Iberian Pyrite Belt with recent large base metal mine start-ups in this part of Spain including the newly developed projects Las Cruces and Aguas Tenidas, both near PRT.

Another positive was the short timetable to production at PRT upon the receipt of permits and its growth potential both in the existing open pit mine and at depth in and around the previously worked underground mines on the property. There has been no exploration below 250 metre depth despite PRT’s being long recognised as one of the world’s largest massive sulphide mineralisation systems.

The company said it was encouraged by the response it received from the investment community and said that demand for metals was likely to grow to further increase the attractiveness of its assets, and an Australian quote would garner it more support for its projects.

“Copper and gold are today two of the most sought-after asset classes. And the global shortage of copper production capacity makes the company's Proyecto Rio Tinto in particular an attractive opportunity for value adding in both the short term and longer term. The company has been encouraged by the response of the mining investment community and looks forward to progressing the proposed secondary listing of its shares on the ASX later this year.  The board believes that such a listing is a natural step for the company within the international mining investment and metal production community,” said managing director of EMED Harry Anagnostaras-Adams.

EMED plans to commence production from the Rio Tinto mine in 2011, having timetabled the regulatory and permitting process over the course of the next twelve months. Public consultations, further regulatory reviews and administrative approvals are expected to be completed from the second quarter of the 2010 calendar year onwards, while the company plans to seek shareholder approval and commence start-up activities at the mine through the third and fourth quarter of 2010.

Earlier this month, the company commissioned a refinement of the scoping study at its Biely Vrch gold project in Slovakia to adjust the siting of infrastructure, and improve the project economics by adjusting the slopes of the planned open pit. The study is also to evaluate the potential for additional revenues from selling waste rock mined from the open pit for use in building roads.