London 18 January 2005 : Beowulf Gold PLC (Beowulf), the OFEX listed gold and copper exploration company, with projects in Sweden, announces that it has had exploration permits confirmed by the Swedish state mining authority, Bergsstaten, for two new areas called Ussalahti no.1 and 2 covering copper sulphide targets. The claims have a total area of 724 hectares and are located in the northern edge of the classical Kiruna Mining District about 40 km north of the town of Kiruna in the north of Sweden.
The permits have drill ready exploration targets and already a major North American base metal mining company and a British exploration company have signed Confidentiality Agreements with a view to forming Joint Venture Agreements over these new licences.
The Kiruna Mining District is one of the great mining districts in the world. The largest mines in the area have been for iron but also the copper production has been very significant. Between 1983-1997 the Viscaria Mine, located five km west of the Kiruna, produced 12.5 Mt of ore from an in-situ mineable tonnage of 14.2 Mt grading 3.5% Cu and 0.30 g/t of Au. Located 10 km to the south of Viscaria mine was the Pahtohavare deposit, which during 1990-1997 produced 1.68 Mt of ore with 1.68% of Cu and 0.88 g/t of Au.
Within the Kiruna district the present exploration scene is intense. A number of junior companies and several world major companies, including Anglo American, BHP Billiton and Phelps Dodge are actively exploring for copper/gold deposits both of IOCG-type (Iron Oxide Copper Gold) and stratigraphic Viscaria-type copper sulphide deposits. The largest holder of exploration claims in the region is the Lundin Mining Corporation.
The new claims form a third project area for the company in Sweden. The other areas are Jokkmokk where a diamond drilling campaign with Phelps Dodge Exploration Sweden AB starts in February 2005 on a major copper gold project, and Grundträsk where diamond drilling starts in January 2005 on a significant gold target.
Commenting on the new permits Bob Young, Chairman of Beowulf stated” We are very excited about the new permits near Kiruna and are part of our steady increasing of assets in Northern Sweden. 2005 will be a pivotal year for the company, with exciting news-flow anticipated from the region.”
