ALTN Altyngold Plc

RNS Number:9373H
Hambledon Mining PLC
19 November 2007


PRESS INFORMATION                                             19 November 2007

                              HAMBLEDON MINING PLC

       Update on Sekisovskoye & Ognevka and Placing to raise c.#4 million

   (All references to "#" are to the British Pound, "$" are to United States
                    dollars and "ounces" are to troy ounces)

Hambledon Mining plc ("Hambledon" or the "Group" or the "Company"), the
AIM-listed mining and processing company operating in Kazakhstan, is pleased to
announce continuing progress in mining, construction and commissioning of the
Sekisovskoye gold project and the Ognevka treatment plant for production of
copper/gold/silver concentrates.

Highlights

Sekisovskoye:

   *1.3 million cubic metres of material moved since the start of operations


   *Stockpile of 145,000 tonnes of ore with a grade of 1.46 grammes per tonne


   *Mill commissioning commenced, production scheduled to start mid December


   *Mining costs lower than projected


Ognevka:

   *Test work confirms expected metallurgical recoveries


   *Refurbishment of process plant nearing completion and commissioning
    started


   *Production scheduled to start in early December


   *Sampling and testwork of the pegmatite tailings has commenced

Finance:

   *Placing of 22,967,606 shares to raise approximately #4 million before
    expenses


Nicholas Bridgen, Chief Executive of Hambledon Mining plc, commented:

"Both projects are nearing completion and will become operational very shortly.
Sekisovskoye has been delayed by the late delivery of equipment and an acute
shortage of skilled construction staff, but everything is now in place and we
are expecting our first gold bar by Kazakhstan's Independence Day on 16th
December.

"Our expectations for Ognevka have always been far higher than its small
purchase price indicated, so it is very good news to have these expectations
confirmed by the testwork and sampling that we have carried out. The
refurbishment of Ognevka is on budget and we appear to have acquired a very
valuable asset for a very low price."


Enquiries

Hambledon Mining plc
Nicholas Bridgen, Chief Executive Telephone: +7 701 733 8915
+44 7791 327180

Bankside Consultants
Michael Spriggs / Michael Padley Telephone: +4420 7367 8888

Seymour Pierce
Nicola Marrin Telephone: +4420 7107 8000



Sekisovskoye

Mining operations have continued and the initial tailings dam has been
completed. Over 145,000 tonnes of ore grading 1.46 g/t Au have been stockpiled
pending milling start-up. Mining efficiencies have exceeded expectations and
mining costs are lower than projected. Some 1.29 million cubic metres of
materials had been moved by the end of October 2007.

In addition to the Company's mining fleet, which has been operating for over a
year now, the Company has purchased its own tailings dam construction fleet,
including two MoAZ scrapers, a second Dressta 534 front-end loader and two
KamAZ, 20 tonne capacity trucks. Most of this equipment has now arrived and will
allow all future tailings dam construction for the project to be carried out by
Sekisovskoye, resulting in considerable cost savings in tailings dam
construction over the life of the mine.

A feasibility study on the development of the large underground ore resource is
nearing completion by AMC Consultants (Perth, Australia). Underground mine
development is expected to begin late in 2008 through a decline roadway
intercepting Orebody 11, a near surface high grade ore zone. This access roadway
will ultimately tie in with the existing underground infrastructure on the 320
level (120 metres below surface), thereby allowing relatively easy access to the
other ore zones.

Mill construction is nearing completion and commissioning activities have
commenced. The crushing plant is already operating to produce gravel for
roadways and other construction purposes but will be switched to crushing ore
once the mill is started. Various items of mill equipment have now been
test-run, including Ball Mill 3, the smaller leach and reagent agitators, sump
pumps, water pumps and the vibrating screens. All the main electrical cabling is
complete, including backup power for emergencies, and water pipelines have been
pressure and leak tested. Following the very late delivery of our main ball
mills, installation is now complete and test running is imminent.

All permitting is in place with the exception of the hazardous chemicals storage
and cyanide use licences, which have been affected by recent changes to
Kazakhstan legislation. We have completed all requirements and are expecting the
granting of the licences by the end of November 2007. Start-up of operations is
expected to commence soon after.

Initial gold production is expected to be 40,000 oz per year increasing to
100,000 oz per year when higher grade underground ore is processed.

Geology & exploration

As part of mining grade control activities, some 220 angle drill holes have been
drilled in the current and near-term mining areas to provide additional
information for the orebody model. As previously announced, a significant
increase in contained gold has been indicated compared with the model on which
the Company's estimate of resources is based.

Exploration drilling has focussed on several significant targets within the main
Sekisovskoye lease area, most of which are known or projected extensions of the
main Sekisovskoye ore zones. Certain targets on the Tserkovka licence area
remain to be explored and a decision will be taken on these next year.

Ognevka processing facility

The processing facility is configured to treat up to 350,000 tonnes per year of
the copper, gold and silver-containing residues (sinter slag or "clinker") from
the zinc smelters in East Kazakhstan and Russia. A single concentrate containing
the copper gold and silver will be produced for sale to copper smelters and
by-product concentrates of iron and coke will be sold separately.

Initial production will involve the re-treatment of 150,000 tonnes of high grade
tailings of previously treated clinker. Thereafter, clinker will be procured
from other companies that have large stockpiles, for which they currently pay
environmental penalties. The flexibility of the plant will allow for the
treatment of various other feedstocks, including feldspar tailings (recovery of
saleable feldspar, lithium and tantalum concentrates), pegmatite ores (tantalum,
tin, mica and feldspar concentrates) or other clinker or smelter slags
containing valuable metals, via gravity, magnetic separation or flotation
methodologies. The plant building has been expanded to allow for an increase in
throughput.

Refurbishment of the processing and infrastructure facilities, including
replacement of key equipment items, is very near completion, and test-running of
all mills, vacuum pumps, tailings pumps, concentration devices, flotation cells,
and the crushing plant has already taken place. Final installation and
commissioning of new filters should be completed in November along with
preparation of the tailings storage facility to allow for the start of
production around the beginning of December 2007.

Although high in grade, clinkers are difficult to treat and expected
metallurgical recoveries are low compared with those obtainable from primary
ore. Although records had indicated the grades of clinker currently on site and
the likely level of metallurgical recovery to be achieved, the Company chose to
sample the clinker and to carry out testwork to confirm the choice of treatment
regime and expected recoveries. Preliminary results have confirmed previous
expectations:

Component   Grade of       Average grade of on-site      Percentage of material
            sample used    clinkers determined from      recovered in testwork
            in test work   sampling
            
Copper      1.15 %         2.1 %                         58 %
Gold        2.6 g/t        1.22 g/t                      32 %
Silver      120 g/t        118.7 g/t                     51 %
Iron        23.2 %         24.3 %                        46 %
Carbon      15.8 %         n.a.                          69 %

Work is outstanding to test the recoveries obtainable from further treatment
regimes developed by the Company and these may result in higher recoveries than
those indicated above.

The copper concentrate produced by this process is of lower grade than standard,
resulting in a discount from customers compared with usual concentrate prices.
Currently available prices are 45% of LME for copper content and 70% of spot
metal prices for gold and silver. Toll-treatment options are being investigated
which are likely to improve these terms significantly. At the expected
metallurgical recoveries and currently available prices, the revenue from each
tonne of clinker treated, including by-products, is expected to be over $75.

First production of copper-gold-silver concentrate is expected in early December
2007.

A sampling and testwork programme has already started on the potentially much
more valuable pegmatite tailings. The pegmatite tailings include not only the
main mineral, feldspar, but also high grades of lithium, beryllium, and other
metals. The deposit, which contains the primary pegmatite, lies underneath the
Ognevka processing plant and although the rights to this deposit are not
currently held by the Company, consideration will be given to applying for these
rights.


Placing

The Company previously announced that it had negotiated a loan facility with a
local Kazakhstan bank for working capital and to complete the commissioning of
the processing facilities. As a result of the international restrictions on the
availability of credit in recent months the expected funds were not available
and the Company sought a more certain means of funding. For this reason, the
Company has placed 22,967,606 shares of newly issued stock to raise
approximately #4 million before expenses. This sum is considered by the
directors to be adequate to cover not just the immediate needs of the company
but also a significant contingency in case of unexpected commissioning problems
in either project. Any surplus will be used to accelerate the development of the
underground mine at Sekisovskoye and the expansion of Ognevka.

Note to editors

Hambledon Mining plc is an AIM-listed gold mining and exploration company which
is developing the Sekisovskoye gold mine and owns the Ognevka processing plant,
both of which are close to Ust
Kamenogorsk in East Kazakhstan.

At Sekisovskoye, the Company is mining from an open pit and constructing an
850,000 tonnes per year treatment plant. Production from the open pit will
average over 40,000 ounces per annum. After the start of open pit processing,
the Company plans to develop the much larger underground resource that is
expected to lead to a combined production rate of around 100,000 ounces per
year.

The Ognevka processing plant is being refurbished and will produce concentrates
containing gold, silver, copper, iron and coke from the re-treatment of zinc
smelter residues.

Ends



                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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