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TAW - Tawana Resources NL - Chairman`s address
Tawana Resources NL
(Incorporated in Australia)
(Registration number ACN 085 166 721)
Share code on the JSE Limited: TAW
ISIN: AU000000TAW7
Share code on the Australian Stock Exchange Limited: TAW
ISIN: AU000000TAW7
("Tawana" or "the Company")
16 May 2008
Chairman`s Address
Welcome to the 2008 Annual General Meeting.
A lot of activity occurred during the year, as highlighted in both the Annual
Report, and more recently in the 27 February 2008 Prospectus for the rights
issue.
To summarise the key points:
In April 2007, we announced that Tawana, through its 26% holding in Rakana
Consolidated Mining (Proprietary) Limited, which is in Joint Venture with ASX-
listed Aquila Resources Limited, now holds an effective 6.8% interest in a suite
of iron-ore and manganese exploration tenements granted in the name of Aquila in
the Northern Cape and Thabazimbi areas of South Africa, strategically positioned
adjacent to existing iron-ore mines and associated infrastructure.
Significantly, recent drilling in the Northern Cape has identified two
mineralised manganese prospects some 20km apart
Also in April 2007, we announced that Tawana had been granted a New Order Mining
Right over the Kareevlei Wes Diamond Project. This enabled us to commence
construction of the plant and infrastructure in preparation for trial mining.
Again in April 2007, we announced that Tawana and its partner in the Flinders
Island and Venus Bay projects in South Australia had signed a joint venture
agreement with Flinders Diamonds Limited whereby that company could earn up 70%
of the projects by sole funding ongoing exploration. Since then substantial work
has been conducted and we look forward to results in the near future.
In May 2007, we announced that Tawana has been granted a 3 year prospecting
licence over 8 kimberlites (BK19 - BK26) in the Orapa Kimberlite Field in
Botswana, one of the largest diamondiferous kimberlite fields in the world with
79 known kimberlites. During the year we conducted geophysical surveys and
drilling to confirm the size, location and geology of the 8 kimberlites in
preparation for bulk sampling.
In September 2007, we announced that Tawana had acquired a 30% stake in the St
Augustines kimberlite (via its shareholding in Vecto Trade 436 (Proprietary)
Limited) located 600 metres west of the famous Kimberley Mine ("the Big Hole")
in Kimberley, South Africa.
In February 2008 we announced the signing of a joint venture agreement with
Nowak Investments (Pty) Limited ("Nowak") over the Orapa, Borolong and Moshaiwa
projects in Botswana. Nowak has commenced a bulk sampling program of the BK24
kimberlite, the largest in the cluster at 3.7ha.
Several other initiatives were also taken, including the evaluation of
kimberlite targets owned by Taormina Mining, and others owned by Kimberley
Consolidated Mining.
In September a placement raised $750,000. In the first quarter of this year we
raised a further $540,000 through a rights issue. While these funds have
supported our exploration and Company administration activities, they have not
been sufficient to allow commencement of the Kareevlei trial mining program.
Several initiatives are being pursued to put the Company`s funding in a stronger
position, and I expect that shareholders will be advised the details in near
future.
A number of mining projects around the world have been delayed or seriously
affected by the shortage of experienced professionals at all levels of the
industry. Tawana is indeed fortunate to have the continuing support of its key
people - Wolf Marx, who oversees all of the Company`s geoscience as well as
administrative activities, Craig Bailey, our General Manager of the Southern
African exploration and trial mining work, Adrian Berryman, who manages our
Melbourne laboratory (acknowledged as amongst the most respected, highest
quality diamond assessment facilities in the world), Knowledge Whacha, our
Mining Engineer who is overseeing the construction and commissioning of our
processing plant at Kareevlei, and a wonderful group of support people. In
particular, I would like to thank Adrian Horwitz, our legal representative in
Kimberley, South Africa, who provides unfailing support to Craig and Wolf. In
Melbourne, we have terrific support from Wilmoth Field Warne (the Company in
which Euan Luff is a Partner), and ongoing commitment from our small team at 60
Wilson Street.
I hope that with new funding in place in the near future, we can commit to the
Kareevlei program and continue the assessment of the Tawana Alluvials and St
Augustines.
Brian Phillips
CHAIRMAN
All press releases and announcements may be inspected on the Company`s web site,
namely: www.tawana.com.au
Sponsor
PricewaterhouseCoopers Corporate Finance (Pty) Ltd
Date: 16/05/2008 09:38:30 Supplied by www.sharenet.co.za
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