Oyu Tolgoi Investment Agreement Signed
October 06 2009 - 10:54AM
PR Newswire (US)
VANCOUVER, Canada, October 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Entree Gold
Inc. (TSX:ETG; NYSE Amex:EGI; Frankfurt:EKA - "Entree" or the
"Company") welcomes the signing of the Investment Agreement between
our joint venture partner, Ivanhoe Mines (TSX: IVN; NYSE: IVN;
NASDAQ: IVN - "Ivanhoe Mines"), our largest shareholder Rio Tinto
(NYSE:RTP)(LSE:RIO.L)(ASX:RIO.AX) and the Mongolian government. The
successful conclusion to the negotiations paves the way for the
development of Entree's Hugo North Extension and Heruga deposits as
part of the overall construction and operation of the massive Oyu
Tolgoi mining complex. The Hugo North Extension and Heruga deposits
are located within Entree's Lookout Hill property along the Oyu
Tolgoi trend of copper-gold-molybdenum mineralization. These
deposits are subject to the joint venture between Entree and
Ivanhoe Mines' subsidiary, Ivanhoe Mines Mongolia Inc. Oyu Tolgoi
is the world's largest and richest, undeveloped porphyry
copper-gold-molybdenum project. Some of the highest grade
copper-gold mineralization lies within the Hugo North Extension
deposit and the highest molybdenum grades occur within the Heruga
deposit. Greg Crowe, President and CEO of Entree, stated: "We
congratulate the Mongolian government and our partners, Ivanhoe
Mines and Rio Tinto, on the hard work, patience and perseverance
that all parties undertook to reach this historic moment. Projects
of the magnitude and richness of Oyu Tolgoi are extremely rare and
the successful development of it will bring substantial benefits
not only to the Mongolian people, but to the investors in companies
with interests in this project." Mr. Crowe further commented, "We
have long believed that considerable exploration potential exists
in the region, and this was reiterated earlier today by Bret
Clayton, chief executive of Rio Tinto's Copper and Diamonds group.
We understand that the conversion of our Shivee Tolgoi and Javhlant
exploration licenses to mining licenses is one of the key
conditions to the Investment Agreement. A portion of these licenses
is subject to the joint venture between Entree and Ivanhoe Mines,
and as such, is important to the overall development and upside
potential of Oyu Tolgoi." Application has been made to the
Mongolian government's Cadastre office to convert the Shivee Tolgoi
and Javhlant exploration licenses to mining licenses and the
Company is awaiting confirmation from the Cadastre office. Upon
conversion, the government of Mongolia will be entitled to secure a
34% interest in the properties. ABOUT ENTREE GOLD INC. Entree Gold
Inc. is a Canadian mineral exploration company focused on the
worldwide exploration and development of gold and copper prospects.
The Company flagship property is in Mongolia, where it holds three
exploration licenses comprising the 179,590 hectare Lookout Hill
property. Lookout Hill completely surrounds the 8,500-hectare Oyu
Tolgoi project of Ivanhoe Mines, and hosts the Hugo North Extension
of the Hugo Dummett copper-gold deposit and the Heruga
copper-gold-molybdenum deposit. The Company continues to explore
its large landholdings in Mongolia, including the coal discovery
Nomkhon Bohr. Entree is also evaluating new opportunities
throughout the region and elsewhere in Asia. Entree is exploring
the Huaixi copper project in Zhejiang Province in China, under the
terms of an agreement with the No. 11 Geological Brigade. In North
America, the Company is exploring for porphyry-related copper
systems in Arizona and New Mexico under agreements with Empirical
Discovery LLC, in Nevada through option agreements with HoneyBadger
Exploration Inc. and Bronco Creek Exploration Inc. and in British
Columbia through an agreement with Taiga Consultants Ltd. The
Company is also seeking additional opportunities to utilize its
expertise in exploring for deep and/or concealed ore deposits. With
a treasury in excess of C$40 million, the Company is well funded
for future activities. Ivanhoe Mines and Rio Tinto are major
shareholders of Entree, holding approximately 15% and 16% of issued
and outstanding shares respectively. This News Release contains
forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are
statements which relate to future events. In some cases, you can
identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as "may",
"should", "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes",
"estimates", "predicts", "potential" or "continue" or the negative
of these terms or other comparable terminology. Such statements
include those relating to the development of the Oyu Tolgoi project
and the conversion of the Shivee Tolgoi and Javlant exploration
licence to mining licences. These statements are only predictions
and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other
factors that may cause our or our industry's actual results, levels
of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different
from any future results, levels of activity, performance or
achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking
statements. While these forward-looking statements, and any
assumptions upon which they are based, are made in good faith and
reflect our current judgment regarding the direction of our
business, actual results will almost always vary, sometimes
materially, from any estimates, predictions, projections,
assumptions or other future performance suggested herein. Except as
required by applicable law, including the securities laws of the
United States, the Company does not intend to update any of the
forward-looking statements to conform these statements to actual
results. Readers are referred to the sections entitled "Risk
Factors" in the Company's periodic filings with the British
Columbia Securities Commission, which can be viewed at
http://www.sedar.com/, and with the United States Securities and
Exchange Commission, which can be viewed at http://www.sec.gov/.
For further information: Monica Hamm, Manager, Investor Relations,
Entree Gold Inc., Tel: +1-(604)-687-4777, Toll Free: 866-368-7330,
E-mail: ; Peter Oates, Investor Relations, Entree Gold Inc., Tel:
+1-(604)-687-4777, Toll Free: 866-368-7330, E-mail: / DATASOURCE:
Entree Gold Inc. CONTACT: For further information: Monica Hamm,
Manager, Investor Relations, Entrée Gold Inc., Tel:
+1-(604)-687-4777, Toll Free: 866-368-7330, E-mail: ; Peter Oates,
Investor Relations, Entree Gold Inc., Tel: +1-(604)-687-4777, Toll
Free: 866-368-7330, E-mail: /
Copyright