Neptune awarded foreign investment permit to explore for SMS in Federated States of Micronesia

Neptune Minerals has been granted a Foreign Investment Permit (FIP-006-07) by the goverment of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) to undertake exploration for, and development of, Seafloor Massive Sulphide (SMS) mineralisation over an area of 200,000 km² within the Exclusive Economic Zone of the FSM.

Permit FIP-006-07 specifically authorises Neptune to carry out the following activities within FSM waters:

• "Co-operate with the FSM Goverment and international researchers to guide the speed and focus research and exploration into SMS deposits;
• Undertake meaningful commercial exploration leading to definition and appraisal of SMS deposits;
• Investigate alternative mechanisms and techniques of extraction and exploitation of SMS deposits;
• Attract a large joint venture to take equity share in the capital-intensive infrastructure and ore movement aspects of the project; and
• Create a consortium to economically mine SMS deposits and market the product." 

By agreement with the FSM Department of Economic Affairs, Neptune Minerals (Yap), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Neptune, will be the named permit holder and will limit its area of activities "specifically to the Yap Arc and Yap Back-Arc structures located north and west of the Yap Island group."

This area of 200,000 km² is bounded to the east by the Yap Trench and the Marianas Trench and to the west and north by the boundary of the FSM EEZ. The initial Permit is for a four-year period commencing 9 April 2007, with possible extensions for up to 25 years.

Dr Simon Mcdonald, Neptune's Chief Executive Officer said:

"Neptune's permit to explore in the FSM represents a frontier situation, where publicly available data has been used to make application over an area where no previous research has been conducted. The lack of SMS-specific research is because the Yap Arc is inactive along its length - there are no active hydrothermal processes.

"Neptune considers the Yap Arc to be highly prospective because it shares the same structure as, and adjoins, the hydrothermally active Marianas Arc where high grade SMS mineralisation has been reported and sampled from Guam, immediately adjacent to the north of FSM. Further north the same tectonic processes create the SMS deposits reported from the EEZ of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) and Japan. Neptune has also lodged applications for the exploration over known SMS mineralisation in the waters of Japan and the CNMI."

END

For further information please contact:

Simon McDonald (Neptune MD and CEO):                               This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Olly Cairns (Blue Oar Securities Plc, Nomad and Broker):     T: +44(0) 20 7448 4400
Nadja Vetter/Sofia Reham (Cardew Group, PR):                      T: +44(0) 20 7930 0777

*Blue Oar Securities was formerly Corporate Synergy Plc and acts as Nominated Adviser & Broker for the Company

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