Sydney, July 28, 2011 (ABN Newswire) - Kimberley Metals Limited (ASX:KBL) is pleased to announce that a Sales Agreement has been reached with Yunnan Copper Company Limited (YC) (SHE:000878) to sell to YC copper concentrate from the Company's Mineral Hill Mine.
The Sales Agreement has been struck on favourable terms covering four to five shipments of 4,000 to 6,000 metric tonnes of copper concentrate to Yunnan Copper's smelter between August and December 2011.
YC, based in Kunming, Yunnan, is the third largest copper producer in China. YC is also the largest silver producer and ninth largest gold producer in China.
The Sales Agreement reinforces Kimberley Metal's elevation to production status with forecast cash flows from the Parkers Hill underground mining operations commencing in late August 2011.
About Kimberley Metals Limited
Kimberley Metals Limited (ASX:KBL) became an independent entity in May 2008 when the shareholders of CBH Resources Limited agreed to the distribution of its 100% shareholding in Kimberley to CBH shareholders and was listed on ASX in February 2010. Kimberley’s aim is to quickly become an established precious and base metal producer and has assembled a balanced portfolio of assets to achieve this goal.
The Mineral Hill Mine is located in the northern part of the Lachlan Fold Belt in central-western New South Wales. Base metal mineralisation was discovered in the Mineral Hill area in 1908, with limited mining and prospecting occurring until the 1950s. Modern mining operations at Mineral Hill Mine were commenced in 1989 by Triako which operated a 200,000 tpa concentrator/CIL plant producing gold in copper concentrate and gold bullion. Mining ceased in late 2005 after producing in excess of 360,000 ounces of gold from at least five different ore zones. Kimberley has a substantial, wholly-owned, tenement holding at Mineral Hill, totalling 49 km2.
Since establishment, Kimberley has focused its efforts on identifying sufficient resources to support a re-start of operations at Mineral Hill. Exploration work to date has resulted in the discovery of high grade gold mineralisation at Pearse plus the evaluation and upgrade of the Parkers Hill Cu-Pb-Zn-Ag resource. Many additional near mine exploration targets with the potential to provide ore feed to the Mineral Hill process plant have been identified.
The Company (75%) and Henan Yuguang Gold & Lead Co. Ltd (HYG&L) (25%) own the Sorby Hills silver-lead-zinc deposit in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, which is one of the world’s largest near surface undeveloped lead deposits, close to port infrastructure and a short distance from Asian markets. Sorby Hills was discovered in 1971 and consists of 13 separate but adjacent carbonate hosted, near surface lead-silver-zinc deposits.