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Gold/Mining/Energy : Platinum Group Metals (PGMs) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bob Howarth who wrote (137)	9/20/1999 2:49:00 PM
From: Ptaskmaster	Respond to of 529

RUSSIA'S NORILSK HAS NOT EXPORTED PLATINUM THIS YEAR: OFFICIAL New York--Sep 17--Russian giant platinum group metal producer Norilsk Nickel has not exported any platinum so far this year, Evgueni Ivanov, told Bridge News. Ivanov is deputy chairman of Ross Bank, which is owned by the Interros group, Norilsk's biggest shareholder. The exports are being held up by a legal catch-22 situation which Norilsk is hoping to soon rectify, he said. (Story .17688) crbindex.com

To: Bob Howarth who wrote (137)	10/4/1999 1:25:00 PM
From: Ptaskmaster	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 529

US DLA SOLD PLATINUM, IRIDIUM AT $2.5 MILLION VALUE IN SEP Washington--Oct 1--The US Defense Logistics Agency said today it sold in September 5,972.911 ounces of platinum and 800,000 ounces of iridium at a market value of $2.5 million. The companies awarded the material were Crystal Bay Trading, Heraeus Precious Metals Management Inc., Johnson Matthey Inc. and Mitsubishi International Corp. (Story .20468) crbindex.com _____________ No Palladium sales mentioned for weeks now. Notable amount of Iridium. Don't recollect seeing Johnson Matthey listed often as a buyer. Apparently the successful bidders bought the Platinum and got the Iridium for free. Ptask

To: Bob Howarth who wrote (137)	12/8/1999 9:12:00 PM
From: Ptaskmaster	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 529

Idaho Consolidated Metals' (ICMC) ownership of claims over ground through which Stillwater Mining Company (SMC) is tunneling: __________ "Idaho Consolidated Metals continues to assert its ownership over a group of claims straddling a portion of ground through which Stillwater Mining Company is tunnelling its twin-adit East Boulder development block. The East Boulder project is part of an expansion that will see Stillwater produce approximately 1.2 million ounces of platinum/palladium annually. ICMC president, Del Steiner, said: "We uncovered this claim group error in the course of our normal exploration activities. It's an asset now, and we owe it to our shareholders to pursue the matter further. We asked Stillwater in our July meeting and subsequent correspondence to show us any defects in our title. They never responded until their Sept. 9 release, which we feel is inadequate." "As previously announced, ICMC has staked a total of 214 contiguous claims covering 3,725 acres known as the Picket Pin zone. The 12-mile-long block runs in a northwesterly direction transecting the northeasterly trending Stillwater claims. The Idaho Consolidated land package, as it crosses the now-disputed Stillwater ground, covers approximately 3,000 feet of the Stillwater property strike length, including 2,800 feet of the East Boulder twin adits. "By way of background, senior executives from both companies met in early July at the Stillwater offices in Columbus, Montana, to discuss the matter. Specifically, the discrepancy involves 10 active Ian claims, controlled by Stillwater. Using the data provided by Stillwater (and its predecessors) to the Bureau of Land Management in the form of maps, location notices and rental fee payments (most recently dated Aug. 20, 1999), the documentation on the Ian claims places them in the south portion of Section 22 and the north portion of Section 27 about one mile south of the location claimed by Stillwater. This places the claim group substantially east of the strike of the East Boulder adits. This location by Stillwater and its predecessors of the Ian claims has been continuous from 1979 based on filings with the BLM and Sweetgrass country. Stillwater received its exploration and plan of operations approvals from the U.S. Forest Service with the agency's assumption that the adits would be constructed on SMC's mining claims. It is ICMC's contention as to the disputed 2,800 feet that this assumption was incorrect and that based on U.S. and Montana mining law SMC has no authority to run tunnels through ICMC's claims without paying compensation. "On Sept. 8 of this year, ICMC issued a press release announcing that a portion of its claims in the Picket Pin block cover approximately 2,800 feet of Stillwater's East Boulder development adits and that these claims are valid and superior to any claim by Stillwater. On Sept. 9, Stillwater issued a release disagreeing with ICMC's Sept. 8 statement, noting, "Independent counsel has advised that Stillwater Mining's access rights are valid and have priority over any such competing claim." Additionally, Stillwater concluded in its release that the Picket Pin horizon is not commercially viable. "We find that puzzling," said Mr. Steiner. "We are aware of past exploration on the zone and we concluded through both independent and in-house evaluations that any decision concerning commercial viability is premature." Exploration in the mid-1980s on the zone was minimal and reconnaissance in nature. However, some grab samples and drill samples returned values of up to six grams per tonne (0.175 of an ounce per ton) of platinum + palladium. "Currently, ICMC is conducting reconnaissance mapping and sampling on the Picket Pin zone. ICMC has received assays from Chemex Labs of Vancouver on samples collected on the Picket Pin zone west of the east fork of the Boulder River. The majority of the samples were anomalous for PGE (platinum group metals) and four were greater than 0.035 of an ounce per ton combined PGE. The best samples read 0.263 of an ounce per ton combined PGE. The company is encouraged with these results as they confirm and exceed assays from historical work. The geologic mapping also indicates greater continuity along strike, which potentially increases the size of the target." Press Release Sept. 22, 1999 as posted on Idaho web site: montanaplatinum.com _______ The Idaho web site also has a section on the Picket Pin property giving a color map with clearly marked delineations of the Stillwater Complex, the SMC Mine, ICMC claims, the J-M Reef, and the Picket Pin Horizon: montanaplatinum.com I think the J-M Reef takes its name from Johns-Manville Corporation, along with Chevron one of the previous owners (not Johnson Matthey as some pgm aficionados might surmise). The SMC twin adits are described but not shown on the map. The East Boulder Adit is shown relative to the Frog Pond Adit in a geological section illustrated in color on the Stillwater web site stillwatermining.com at: Mine Orientation > Geology > J-M Reef. Ptask