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Gold/Mining/Energy : Atacama Minerals -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: M. Merriam who wrote (88)	9/21/2000 9:48:19 AM
From: kfdkfd	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 105

SEPTEMBER 21, 2000 - 09:38 EDT Atacama Minerals Corp.: ACF To Accelerate Development At Aguas Blancas VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--Atacama Minerals Corp. (the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has finalized its agreement with ACF Minera S.A. for the development and operation of the Aguas Blancas industrial minerals project, located 100 kilometres from the major northern port of Antofagasta in the second region of Chile. Please see attached map. Under the terms of the final agreement, ACF, at its sole cost, will accelerate development of the project through the construction of a larger capacity heap leach operation which will allow production to commence immediately at 720 tonnes of iodine per year. ACF will be responsible for Aguas Blancas facility construction, full operations and the marketing of processed iodine. Initial iodine production is anticipated in the second quarter of 2001. Further, within the next four years ACF will, again at its sole cost, expand production at Aguas Blancas by the development of an agitated (mechanical) leach facility capable of processing an additional 720 tonnes of iodine per year. Pursuant to the agreement, Atacama will transfer to ACF Minera a 50% interest in Atacama Minerals Chile S.C.M., a wholly owned subsidiary of Atacama. ACF is one of the most experienced industrial mineral producers in Chile having carried on operations since the early 1900's. ACF currently produces in excess of 1,000 tonnes of iodine annually at its Lagunas mine in Chile. Among many successful projects, ACF was also responsible for the development and initial operation of the iodine facilities of DSM Minera, a subsidiary of the Dutch chemical conglomerate DSM Fine Chemicals B.V. The decision to commence production at Aguas Blancas by heap leaching follows an extremely successful joint ACF/Atacama heap leach pilot project carried out over the last three months. Iodine and sodium nitrate recovery rates realized from this large scale test were much higher than projected, contributing to an increase in the repasos reserves to 10 years. This is in addition to the proven/probable virgin ore reserves which stand at 44 million tonnes, supporting a 15 year mine life. Further extensive mineral holdings at Aguas Blancas also hold potential for the development of additional repasos and virgin ore reserves and, therefore, a substantially increased mine life beyond 25 years. Following successful development of the iodine facilities at Aguas Blancas, Atacama and ACF intend to aggressively commence the processing of nitrate and sulphate reserves. Initial annual production of nitrates is projected at +100,000 tonnes and sulphates +200,000 tonnes. At full production Aguas Blancas will be one of the largest and lowest cost industrial mineral projects in Chile. Adolf H. Lundin, Chairman of Atacama commented, "The success of final reserve testing at Aguas Blancas has led to the expansion of our venture with ACF and the expectation of early iodine production at higher rates than previously contemplated. The quality of the reserves at Aguas Blancas, combined with ACF's experience as a leading iodine producer with nitrate and sulphate production background, will ensure that Aguas Blancas reaches its full potential as one of the world's most important new industrial mineral projects."