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Gold/Mining/Energy : Solv Ex (SOLVD) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: CharlieChina who wrote (5637)	5/8/1998 2:17:00 PM
From: trenzich	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 6735

UTS Announces Courts Approve Purchase Of Oil Sands Project, The Proposed Terms Of Uts-Irf Merger TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 8, 1998--United Tri-Star Reso (TSE:UTS.) (Alberta Stock Exchange:IRF.) United-Tri Star Resources Ltd. ("UTS") announces that Court approval relating to the sale by the Solv-Ex Group of its 12 percent interest in the "Athabasca Oil Sands Project" (the "Project") to a limited partnership of UTS's has been obtained. The purchase will increase UTS's interest in the Project to 22 percent from its current 10 percent interest. Additionally, the Alberta Court today approved an order for the sale by the Solv-Ex Group of a 78 percent interest in the Project to a limited partnership of Koch Oil Canada Ltd. and the related arrangements that confirm UTS's existing 10 percent interest in the project. The sales to UTS Limited Partnership ("UTSLP") and Koch Oil Sands Limited Partnership ("KOSLP") mark the departure of the Solv-Ex Group from the Project. The Project will be operated by Koch. The sale to UTS closed in escrow in March and all documents and funds to be paid by UTS for the 12 percent interest and by Koch for the 78 percent interest will be released from escrow at the end of May upon the expiration of the Canadian and U.S. appeal periods. UTS funded its cash portion of the purchase price by issuing Special Warrants and expects to file the preliminary prospectus to qualify the underlying common shares with regulatory agencies on or about May 11, 1998. The Project is comprised of two oil sands leases covering 55,874 acres in Alberta's Athabasca Oil Sands Region. The development plan for the leases contemplates a further exploration program to enhance the definition of the bitumen reserves. Dependent on the results of the delineation drilling program, long term production from the leases is anticipated to be between 60,000 and 90,000 barrels of bitumen per day. As previously announced, UTS and International Reef Resources Ltd. ("IRF"), propose to merge. The companies have agreed to a share exchange ratio of 1 (one) UTS share for every 1.75 shares of IRF. The merger is subject to appropriate regulatory approval and the approval of the respective shareholders at their Annual General and Special Meetings on June 25th, 1998. The exchange ratio is within the value of the respective companies established in a formal valuation by Coopers & Lybrand, undertaken in compliance with securities regulatory policies. Upon completion of the merger UTS intends to construct several plants to implement the IRF fine coal recovery process. The first plant should be completed in Pennsylvania by year end. UTS expects to be producing one million tons of coal pellets annually by late 1999. Along with its interest in the Athabasca Oil Sands Project, and the fine coal recovery projects, UTS holds a 35 percent interest in Tri-Star Gold Corp. which has one of the largest mineral property holdings in the Ghanaian gold belts of West Africa.