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Hana Mining Ltd.: Hana Mining Announces New President and COO to Drive Ghanzi Copper-Silver Project


Published on 2009-10-01 06:24:56 - Market Wire
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VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Oct. 1, 2009) - Hana Mining Ltd., ("HMG" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:HMG)(FRANKFURT:4LH) is pleased to announce the appointment of James A. ("Jim") Sullivan as the new President and Chief Operating Officer ("President/COO") of the Company, effective immediately. Mr. Peter Wilson, the outgoing President, will remain as a Director and a member of the management team of the Company, where he has served since 2007.

Mr. Sullivan brings a wealth of world-class mineral resource and project development experience to the Company. Mr. Sullivan comes to HMG from Kinross Gold Corporation ("Kinross"), where he was Regional VP-Russian Operations, managing the Russian minerals portfolio that Kinross acquired with its acquisition of Bema Gold Corporation ("Bema Gold") in March of 2007. While at Bema Gold, as VP Russian operations, Mr. Sullivan and his team were responsible for the exploration and subsequent development of the US$750 million Kupol Gold mine located in Far East Russia, which produced over 490,000 gold equivalent ounces in the first six months of 2009, its first full year of production. The Kupol mine development represented a challenging construction task, hampered by poor infrastructure, tough climatic conditions and significant size and complexity-all managed on time and on budget. Prior to the Kupol project, Mr. Sullivan also held responsibility for the exploration, development and operation of the Julietta gold/silver mine, also in Far East Russia.

Hana Mining's new President/COO, Jim Sullivan, commented as follows:

"I am excited to join Hana Mining in this development leadership role, having watched this project grow over the last 6 months, and having recently personally visited the Ghanzi property for a first-hand look at the asset. I came away impressed with Botswana, impressed by the infrastructure in place and planned for the area, impressed by the government people I met, and impressed by the potential size and quality of the copper-silver resource that is being generated by the Company's work on the property."

Hana Mining's CEO, Marek Kreczmer, commented as follows:

"I am personally very pleased to welcome Jim to the Company in this key position on Hana's senior management team. Jim's leadership role in bringing to production Kinross Gold's world-class Kupol Gold mine provides exactly the kind of proven development capability we need at this time to advance our business plan. His extensive career experience developing and commissioning large mineral projects in remote locations is a perfect fit with our strategic intent to prove up and develop the Ghanzi Project, and specifically the Banana Zone, into one of Africa's premier copper-silver mining assets.

I would also like to thank Peter Wilson for his numerous contributions in the President's role over the last two years. Peter was particularly effective in his efforts to source funding for the Company from the time it first focused on the Ghanzi Project, and I value his continued assistance to the Company as a member of the Board and the management team."

About Hana Mining's Ghanzi Copper-Silver Project in Botswana

The Ghanzi Project is located in the center of the Kalahari copper belt in northwestern Botswana. The country of Botswana is considered by the Fraser Institute Annual Survey of Mining Companies 2009 country ranking study to offer the most attractive mineral exploration and investment climate in Africa. The Ghanzi property covers 2,200 sq. km., and contains sediment-hosted copper-silver deposits with a demonstrated cumulative mineralized strike length of over 13 kilometres. This favourable geology extends over the entire strike length of 600 kilometres. Hana Mining recently released results of it's first NI 43-101 resource estimate for the Ghanzi Project (see press release dated June 1, 2009), announcing an inferred resource of 2.0 Billion lb. of copper and 34.9 Million oz. of silver contained in 60.4 million tonnes of ore. This resource estimate assumes a 0.75% Cu cutoff grade, and averages 1.51% Cu and 17.98 g/t Ag. The Banana Zone represents 40.7 million tonnes of this total resource (67%), and is the current focus of the Company's drilling efforts and development focus for 2009 and 2010.

The Banana Zone exhibits certain areas of high grade (+2%) Cu and Ag mineralization, particularly in the fold nose at the northern end of the zone, which represent an opportunity to locate starter pits and mine initial tonnages at higher than average grades, thereby improving early year cash flows and overall project economic returns.

The project will benefit from contemplated rail/power infrastructure expansions, along with proximity to local population centers and workforce. A feasibility study is currently underway (funded by the World Bank and the governments of Botswana and Namibia) to support completion of a rail line link that would connect Botswana with the Namibian port of Walvis Bay, on the Atlantic coast. The planned 600MW expansion of the government-owned Moropule Power Plant continues to advance, with US$825 million project funding secured in May 2009, and key supply contracts awarded. Currently, our project is served by the paved trans-Kalahari highway, which passes within 15 km of the property.

Hana Mining is focused on demonstrating that the Ghanzi property represents one of Africa's premier future copper-silver resources.

Statements in this press release, other than purely historical information, including statements relating to the Company's future plans and objectives or expected results, may include forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on numerous assumptions and are subject to all of the risks and uncertainties inherent in resource exploration and development. As a result, actual results may vary materially from those described in the forward-looking statements.

The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.


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