Asian Mineral Resources announces appointment of GM of operations and project update

Asian Mineral Resources is pleased to announce the appointment of Simon Booth as General Manager of Operations for its Ban Phuc Nickel Project. Mr. Booth will oversee all aspects of the operations of the project, including the completion of construction, commissioning of the processing plant, and establishment and management of mining operations.tunnel sponge iron kiln process

Mr. Booth has extensive international experience in construction and operating mining operations in the Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, Guinea and Greenland. He brings over 30 years of experience with major mining groups, including Newmont, Normandy Mining, Xstrata, Rio Tinto and Crew Gold, having been involved in strategic planning, exploration, construction, and underground and surface mine operations. Mr. Booth is a Member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, Australian Institute of Company Directors, Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration and a former Vice President of the Northern Territory Minerals Council.

Mr. Jan Castro, Chairman of AMR, stated, "We are delighted that Simon is joining the Ban Phuc Nickel Project's management team. His operational and management experience will be extremely valuable to AMR as we continue to move to complete construction and bring the project into commercial production."

AMR is also pleased to provide the following updates on the development of the Ban Phuc Nickel Project:

Smelter feasibility study
AMR recently commissioned Runge to carry out a conceptual study for a smelting operation. The results from the study indicated that the construction of a smelter would produce attractive economics for the Ban Phuc Nickel Project. The incorporation of a smelting operation is consistent with the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam's desire for more in-country processing and its national mineral resources strategy to 2020, with a vision to 2030, adopted in December 2011, where one of the key objectives is the construction of a smelter in the Son La Province. AMR has, therefore, decided to proceed with commissioning a detailed engineering and feasibility study for a smelting operation and will provide a further update once such study has been completed.

Land use rights
AMR is also pleased to announce that its subsidiary, Ban Phuc Nickel Mines, has been granted the land use rights from the People's Committee of Son La Province for areas which will house the pump stations and pipe lines to the project site and camp areas. Ban Phuc has also been granted permission by the Muong Khoa Commune to store top soils associated with the construction of the tailing storage facility, which is expected to begin later this year. The receipt of the land use rights is crucial for the advancement of the construction and also demonstrates the local government and community's continued ongoing support for the project.

Power design, supply and installation

Ban Phuc has engaged Aurecon (Vietnam) to assist with the power and electrical design work for the project site and processing plant. In addition, Son La Power Company has completed preliminary design work for the high-voltage power line and primary substation from the national power grid to the project site. Discussions with Son La Power Company for the installation works are in advance stages, with the works expected to commence in August 2012. With the installation of the high-voltage power line, the Ban Phuc Nickel Project will benefit from access to low cost hydro-electrical power from the Vietnamese power grid. AMR intends to continue maximizing the use of local content, particularly where it would result in further investment within the local community.