Asuncion, 29 Apr. ABN .- Paraguay signed a joint communique to establish diplomatic relations with Senegal, Georgia and Eritrea, planning to extend diplomatic relations also to Burkina Faso and Uganda in the near future, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the South American country.

The permanent ambassador of Paraguay to the United Nations, Jose Antonio Dos Santos, signed the documents with representatives of these States, which formalizes the decision of governments to establish diplomatic relations at ambassadorial level.

These agreements are signed under the terms of the Vienna Convention of April 18, 1961 and reflect the desire to promote mutual understanding, strengthening friendship and cooperation between nations.

Particularly, aiming to respect and promote international peace and security, equality among states, national sovereignty and independence as well as international treaties, territorial integrity and noninterference in the internal affairs of States.

In the near future the government of Paraguay will enter into similar agreements with Burkina Faso and Uganda in Africa. Source: (ABN)

Tunis, 28 April 2010 – The Board of Directors of the African Development Fund (ADF) on Wednesday, 28 April 2010 approved a ADF grant of UA 12.9 million* (equivalent to USD 20 million) to support a higher education development project in Eritrea.

The project is aimed at scaling up human resources development in order to further enhance economic growth programmes and reduce poverty in the country. The project will specifically contribute to building capacity for teaching, research and service in the country’s higher education institutions.

The project is estimated at UA 15.66 million. The Eritrean government will contribute UA 2.76 million. The activities to be supported by the ADF grant are so vital to the country that they are being closely coordinated in line with those provided by other development partners.

Commenting on the Board’s approval, the Chief Education Specialist, Abdi Younis, explained that Eritrea’s higher education sub-sector had been facing several challenges, which the ADF project would address.

These include, in particular, the shortage of qualified national staff and inadequate infrastructure.

“The Project will contribute to the building of capacity for teaching, research and service at the country’s higher education institutions, through assistance in staff development for teaching and research at the seven higher education institutions in the country,” Mr Younis said.

“The provision of technical assistance for these institutions in the areas where competencies are not currently available in the country as well as the necessary infrastructure development for teaching and research at two of the institutions are also imperative for the sustainable development of Eritrea,” he added.

* UA1 = USD 1.51824 as at 28/04/2010

Asmara

Centric Energy Corp. (TSX VENTURE:CTE) is in talks to kick-start oil exploration activities off the cost of Eritrea. The company is in negotiations with the Government of Eritrea and other exploration corporations.

Centric Energy has submitted an application for a production sharing contract (PSC) to the Eritrean Government in October 2009, according to media displays on the company’s web site.

While the final agreement has yet to be worked out, the Eritrean Ministry of Mines and Energy in Asmara granted Centric exclusivity for the application area.

The geographic area of interest includes the Dahlak Block in the Red Sea, where Italy’s Agip conducted field surveys and drilled wells on the Dahlak archipelago in the 1930s.

The wider terms of the PSC are said to include an initial four-year exploration period followed by two optional extension periods each of two years.

According to the Chief Executive of the company, the key to unlocking Eritrea’s petroleum potential has yet to be found. However, he is confident that with serious determination oil and gas potentials can be uncovered, given that a lot of work had been already started earlier and given that the existence of oils shows and gas blow-outs can be regarded as evidence for untapped resources.

“The discovery of gas only would not impact negatively the attractiveness of Eritrea as a offshore destination, given that the increasing number of mining companies will boost the demand for power,” he adds.

He estimates the need for power in Eritrea will increase at an rate of 10 MW per each mine under production.

Centric Energy has been introduced to Eritrea by Canadian mining company Sunridge Gold, supporting the Eritrean Governments efforts to build a strong oil, gas and mining industry.

International Monetary and Financial Committee Twenty First Meeting April 24, 2010.

Statement by Honorable Olusegun O. Aganga Minister of Finance of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. On behalf of Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Eritrea, Ethiopia, The Gambia, Kenya,Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe

A. The global economic and financial markets

Global economic developments

• We are encouraged by the global economic recovery, which seems to be better than was earlier envisaged and is being well supported by accommodative macroeconomic policies. However, the pick-up in activity has been uneven across countries and regions. Recovery in the major advanced economies is sluggish compared with that in the emerging and developing economies. While a variety of risks have receded, the growth outlook remains uncertain and there continue to be some near-term risks. Public debt in advanced economies cannot rise much farther and already limits the scope for policy maneuver. Further, heightened concerns about sovereign risks, though not so widespread in major advanced economies, are dampening investor confidence and threatening the resurgence of financial stability. Although a stimulus-led recovery is under way in the United Sates, private demand remains subdued. In the euro area, recovery is lagging. A number of countries in Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States are also lagging. Among emerging and developing economies, Asia is leading the recovery and is, as a result, attracting large capital inflows. Sovereign risks notwithstanding, we consider that accommodative policies in the advanced countries should be continued until recovery is clearly taking hold.

• Strong fundamentals and policies had enabled sub-Saharan Africa to weather the crisis well, and recovery from the 2009 slowdown is expected to be faster than from past global downturns. Although some middle-income and oil-exporting countries were hit hard by the collapse in export and commodity markets, the region managed to avoid contraction. Shocks that hit the region mainly emanated from the trade channel because the region is now more open to trade. The outlook, however, is not clear due to uneven global recovery and resurgence of high energy prices. While higher than expected energy prices would benefit oil exporters, it would trigger another round of dampened growth and higher inflation in the region’s oil importers. In addition, though bilateral aid held up well during the global downturn, the outlook for official aid as a whole is mixed because of the large output declines, possibly protracted recoveries, and heightened fiscal pressures in major donor countries. Thus, though recovery in the region seems to be relatively robust, we consider that African countries should maintain supportive macroeconomic policies in the near term to weather the tail risks of sluggish global recovery and the resurgence in energy prices

Financial market developments

• While the risks have eased as the recovery gained traction, the global economy has not yet stabilized. Vulnerabilities in the financial sector now emanate from concerns about the sustainability of sovereign balance sheets. It is feared that in many advanced economies longer-run solvency concerns could translate into short-term strains in funding markets and intensify the funding challenges facing banks. Slow progress in repair of bank balance sheets and an increase in public borrowing needs may further constrain credit supply and prolong the recovery. Pressing ahead with financial sector reforms to make the global financial system more resilient is essential. Further, it will be important to strike the right balance between protecting the stability of the financial system and ensuring that it is innovative and efficient. Regardless of how regulation is structured, regulators’ toolkits will likely need to be augmented to mitigate systemic risks.

B. Challenges for low-income-countries (LICs)

• We reaffirm that the Fund should remain a quota-based institution, and finance the bulk of its lending from its quota resources. Members’ quotas are relevant for access to Fund resources, including general SDR allocations, and for dividend distributions. The reform of quota shares is therefore of critical importance to the LICs since the IMF reformed its financing instruments in 2009. A core objective of the LICs is also to have more voice and representation at all levels of the Fund.

Access to Fund financing

• We appreciate the relentless efforts of the Fund’s management, staff and the Executive Board to activate the new lending architecture for the LICs under the Poverty Reduction Growth Trust created in July 2009. We especially thank the lenders to the trust for their consent to the new framework, which made it possible for the three financing instruments—the Extended Credit Facility (ECF), the Stand-by Credit Facility (SCF), and the Rapid Credit Facility ( RCF)—to become operational this year. These instruments— together with the enhanced access levels—will go a long way in meeting the financing needs of the LICs. We urge the Fund and its lenders to further enhance the concessional lending facilities based on the core principles of the Fund.

Crisis prevention facility

• We acknowledge that our first line of defense is to increase our resilience through improved policies, institutions and, above all, fundamentals. We have done most of these and are committed to persevere with additional measures going forward.

• That record notwithstanding, we are aware of the efforts in response to the lessons of the crisis to develop crisis-prevention financing instruments for a cross-section of Fund members. While we fully support these efforts, with a caveat for streamlining the number of instruments, we strongly urge that similar crisis-prevention instruments be tailored to the LICs and lower- middle-income countries. A Flexible Credit Line (FCL)-like financing instrument would be appropriate for such countries that have strong fundamentals and policies. We thus support the proposal for broadening qualification for the FCL to meet this objective, while keeping commitment fees and charges at a reduced level.

C. Quotas, size, and the Fund financing role

• We wish to recall that, on quotas, the 2008 reform package resulted in significant losses for the LICs as a group and for a very large number of individual countries. Once this package has been fully ratified, the level of LIC access to Fund resources will significantly diminish. Therefore, the IMFC’s guide for protecting the quota shares of the LICs from further declines should remain a target outcome of the current quota reform.

Quota reform and size of the Fund

• We reaffirm our welcome to the commitment of the G20 leaders and the IMFC to a fasttrack new round of quota and voice reform. It offers IMF members the opportunity to make prompt progress on this critical governance issue and to quickly address legitimacy and governance deficits. We realize fully that achieving these objectives is a daunting task, given the intensity of engagement required and the need for a spirit of compromise from all parties. Nonetheless, the lessons learned from the current crisis and the measures taken to enhance the effectiveness and legitimacy of the Fund in responding to member financing needs, give us a sound basis to use the 14th review of quotas to make a major step forward.

• Mindful of our efforts to make the IMFC a platform for effective Ministerial engagement, we urge the members of the IMFC to rise to the challenge and guide the process further in three key areas: size of quota increase; size of shift in the quota realignment and the beneficiaries of this shift; and the level of quota protection for the LICs. We believe there is political will to achieve an ambitious outcome: the G20 leaders’ commitments and the IMFC communiqué attest to this. To that end, and to achieve the twin objectives of keeping the Fund a quota-based institution while effectively meeting members financing needs in the post-crisis economy, we are of the view that the 14th review should entail a substantial quota increase.

• Should the time factor prevent fully addressing the deficiencies in the quota formula, we would support the proposal advanced by some members that an aggregate shift in quota shares on the order of 5–7 percentage points is necessary both to enable the Fund to enhance its effectiveness as a quota-based institution and to meaningfully rebalance the distribution of quota shares. Quota reform should therefore target at least a 5 percent shift to emerging markets and developing countries (EMDCs) and protection of the quota shares of the LICs members of the IMF at the levels of the 2008 package. Eventual realignment of the largest quotas would also be in concert with the objectives of the quota reform.

• We see merit in the case for a quota increase between 130 to 200 percent to meet these objectives and also to restore quotas relative to averages across traditional global indicators, such as trade and capital inflows to EMDCs. We would support an increase in the upper range and invite the IMFC members to support this level of quota increase. Such a quota increase together with the recently approved expanded new arrangement to borrow (NAB) would give the Fund a commitment capacity of about US$1 trillion. We share the view that this level of commitment would enable the Fund to support members and cope with the additional resource implications of an eventual enlarged Fund mandate.

Future financing role

• The crisis has offered valuable lessons that can be used to strengthen the global financial safety net. There is certainly merit in countries’ desire to increase their resilience to shocks as the first line of defense. We are committed to pursue this objective, and thank the Fund and our development partners for their understanding and support.

• As part of the second line of defense, we are aware that proposals on the future financing role of the Fund include the present crisis-prevention instruments, especially the modernized FCL, and new instruments, such as the Precautionary Credit Line (PCL), the Multi-country Swap Line (MSL), and the co-financing of the Reserve Pooling Arrangements (RPAs). As we have indicated, there is clearly need for crisis-prevention financing instruments and enhancement of concessional instruments for LICs. 15. While the Fund’s proposals for crisis-prevention financing instruments are in the right direction, we urge that more effort be given to modernizing existing instruments, and restrict the new instruments to those that are less stigma-intensive. We fully endorse the caution advanced by other members that all financing instruments, old and new, should be streamlined in line with earlier institutional decisions. This also underlines the need to rationalize the financing instruments. Further, we emphasize the need for greater international cooperation.

D. Governance framework

• We are encouraged by the progress made thus far on governance reform, and would urge the IMFC and Executive Board to address the remaining issues expeditiously, preferably before the next Annual Meetings. We reiterate that governance reform should proceed in parallel with the reform on quotas to enhance legitimacy of the entire process.

• IMFC reform process: We fully support the proposals for strengthening the IMFC as a vehicle for enhancing Ministerial involvement. To that end, we urge that the IMFC meetings and deliberations be adjusted to meet this objective. Strengthening the role of the IMFC as a decision-making body would demand clear delineation of the separate responsibilities of the IMFC, the Executive Board, and management.

• Selection of Fund management: We strongly support the proposals for a transparent, non-region-specific process for selecting the Fund’s management. However, we share the doubts about the efficacy of these proposals unless there is a commitment to quota realignment and clear understandings by all without any “unwritten” rules.

• Functioning of the Executive Board: We support the objective of making the Executive Board stronger while maintaining its current size. We look forward to a decision that will enable the sub-Saharan Africa region to have parity in the representation at the BWIs following the decision of the World Bank to establish a third chair for this region.

E. Strengthening Fund surveillance and mandate

• Surveillance needs to evolve with the global economy. Given the changes in the global economic landscape over the past few years, modernizing surveillance and making financial sector issues core to it have become necessary and inevitable. The importance of evenhandedness in the conduct of Fund surveillance, especially for advanced economies, cannot be overemphasized. Because it is an institution seeking to promote global stability, it is in the best interests of the Fund to strive to overcome the fundamental problem that it seems to have least value and traction with those members that are systemically significant for global stability. The financial sector was at the epicenter of the recent global economic and financial crises. It is therefore of utmost importance to bring financial sector issues and policies to the core of the Fund’s surveillance framework.

• Improving multilateral surveillance and outward spillovers would promote global stability and improve the traction of Fund surveillance. We also believe it would be effective to use outward spillovers as a bridge between multilateral and bilateral surveillance. However, even with greater attention on multilateral surveillance and outward spillovers, bilateral surveillance should continue to remain a pillar of the Fund’s activities. Also, we urge that the ambition to widen the scope of surveillance should be matched by expansion of the Fund’s resources to deliver on its core mandate.

F. Early warning exercise (EWE)

• A key lesson the world has learned from the current crisis is the need for better analysis of risks to the global economy. The EWE is an important toolkit for providing an integrated perspective on global risks and vulnerabilities. The collaboration of the Fund and the Financial Stability Board in both operational and technical issues is commendable. The progress made so far with the EWE should now be accompanied by concrete steps to explore how best to communicate the results of the exercise to the membership and the public at large.

• It will be crucial that EWE results find their way into the Fund’s policy advice in both bilateral and multilateral surveillance. As is often pointed out, identifying vulnerabilities is relatively easy—what is harder is the policy action that is crucial to prevent a risk from becoming a reality. Each EWE round therefore needs to assess policy actions taken by authorities in response to previous warnings.

Asmara, 27 April 2010 (Shabait) – The Cooperative Association of Tanners called on the general public to demonstrate proper handling of hides and skins in the view of the fact of that tannery products are important source of foreign currency earnings.

Stressing the need for living up to such responsibility so as to make the nation’s hides and skins products competitive in the world market, the Chairman of the Association, Mr. Semere Petros, said that tannery factories have introduced modern machineries and upgrading manpower so as to boost production.

Mr. Mengisteab Teklai, one of the shareholders of Dahlak Shoe Factory, on his part indicated that tannery production in Eritrea has high market demand, and that the factory has managed to export about 70,000 shoes through effectively competing with foreign factories.

Meanwhile, the manager of Asmara Tannery Factory, Mr. Michael Gebru, said that the factory has a capacity of producing about 3,000 hides and skins of sheep and goats, as well as about 500 related items of cattle.

The Tanners Cooperative Association was set up in 2001.

In 1988 the top songs from the US single charts came from artists like Guns N’ Roses, Tracy Chapman, George Michael and Neneh Cherry – “Bufallo Stance”. This was three years before the Eritrean war of independence ended and Eritrea was freed from Ethiopian occupation.

At that time, I was a 13-year-old boy living with my family a typical Eritrean Diaspora life between two cultures.

As a teen, Sundays were usually extremely tiring and again on this particular Sunday, apart from a boring day, there was nothing special going on, except the usual Eritrean coffee ceremonies where parents light a fire in the living room together with friends.

Trying to ignore the group of grownups discussing about life and their beloved country with emotional gestures, I sat on the floor moving closer to the TV screen. This was my way of demonstrating against the intruders, their noise and the aggressively smelling aroma of Eritrean food and coffee.

All of a sudden this 15-year-old French girl singing “Joe le taxi” and swinging to cha, cha, cha drums appeared on screen.

Her voice blew me away and nothing was able to distract me from staring at the TV, there was no noise just gestures, no smell just fresh air.

There had been nothing, absolutely nothing with girls in my mind until that day and I would not tell anyone that this had changed. As a young boy you do not want to loose your overall coolness by admitting you like girls.

Nine years later, I would arrive in Eritrea for the first time and take a taxi ride from the airport to the heart of Asmara in a yellow Opel with Kidane behind the steering wheel not Joe.

This time, I would fall in love with a whole country and I would not be ashamed to tell and spread the news about this wonderful place.

(African Union) – On 25th April, the African Union (AU) commemorated World Malaria Day. Statistics collected by the AU for the year 2010, show some advances in controlling malaria in Africa. At the same time, the AU acknowledges the urgency in meeting critical milestones in order to eliminate and eventually eradicate the disease on the continent.

The year 2010 is the end of the Roll Back Malaria decade and it coincides with the 5 year review of the Abuja Call. The preliminary results of the review of the Abuja call show that there is increasing coverage of initiatives against malaria and which is leading to substantial reductions in the malaria burden in a number of countries in Africa.

The AU statistics show that in an effort to increase access to malaria services and attain MDGs by 2015, 74% of African nations have waived taxes on anti-malarial drugs, 64% have removed taxes or introduced waivers on Insecticide Treated Mosquito Nets (ITNs) while about half have waived taxes and tariffs on nets, netting materials and insecticides.

Significant strides have been made toward malaria control and the elimination of the disease from many regions, continental eradication is a long-term goal that will require a sustained commitment.

Ten African countries namely: Eritrea, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Zambia, Botswana, Cape Verde, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland and Zanzibar in Tanzania have documented at least a 50 per cent reduction in malaria cases in 2008, compared to the status of 2000.

In prevention of malaria, an increased focus on distribution of ITNs, Indoor Residue Spraying (IRS), and Intermittent Presumptive Treatment (IPT) programs has produced impressive results: ten countries in Africa documented reductions in malaria cases of more than 50% in 2008 compared to 2000.

The AU says, that in efforts of Counting Malaria Out in Africa, national and local governments, parliaments, health and development partners, the private sector and NGO/CBO/CSOs, need to engage in resources mobilization for malaria control and elimination.

However, in spite of the progress made in malaria prevention and control in Africa, the AU notes that Member States still face several challenges. These include issues of delivery of key interventions such as ACTs (Artemisinin Combination Therapy), intermittent presumptive therapy for pregnant women, and enhanced capacity for Indoor Residual Spraying.

KHARTOUM, April 27 (SUNA) — Sudan’s President Omer Al-Bashir has addressed the Sudanese people following the announcement by the National Elections Commission of his re-election, which was held in accordance with the country’s 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA).

In his address to the nation last Thursday, he described the election process as characterized by seriousness, freedom and the commitment to the practice of constitutional rights. The elections were not marred by violence, clashes or confrontations, he noted, stressing that the success of the elections was a victory for all the Sudanese people.

President Al-Bashir asserted his commitment to practise his powers and responsibilities as the president of all the Sudanese nation.

He lauded the role played by the National Elections Commission, and its chairman, Abil Alier, for their patience, persistence, good preparations and efforts to implement one of the most important pillars of the CPA and to hold the large and expensive elections, despite the technical and logistic challenges that faced it, emphasizing that the National Elections Commission had carried out its task with a honesty which was a source of honour all the Sudanese people.

President Al-Bashir thanked the international community for their donation of materials, in kind and administrative support for accomplishment of the historic elections in Sudan which was monitored closely by international and national observers, appreciating the support extended by all the organizations and Sudan fiends world-wide.

President Al-Bashir said that the international media had conducted intensive coverage of the elections in Sudan and was able to be informed about aspects of the election process and to be a witness of its smoothness and lacking to any aspect of violence or undermining of social peace.

He reiterated his commitment to live up to his responsibilities to lead the country with wisdom and to protect its stability and entity. The recent elections provided a good opportunity to all the Sudanese people with their different parties and orientations to express their views and to choose and offer their confidence to their candidates.

President Al-Bashir congratulated the people of his National Congress party who surpassed on of the biggest examinations by winning most of the election constituencies at all levels and obtained the confidence of the majority of the people of Sudan.

He also congratulated all the national political forces who contributed to bolstering the democratic progress in the country. He pointed out that the National Congress will maintain contacts, dialogue and consultations with all forces for establishing a national partnership toward confronting the challenges.

President Al-Bashir affirmed the keenness for holding the referendum on the future of south Sudan in the fixed time, as stipulated by the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) as well as completing realization of peace in Darfur in western Sudan.

Nevsun Mine

(The Northern Miner) – Nevsun pushes towards production in Eritrea Vancouver – Nevsun Resources (NSU-T) is now more than halfway through building Eritrea’s first mine, on schedule to commission the gold silver-copper-zinc operation before the end of the year.

The company began prestrip mining in March at Bisha, which sits 250 km west of the capital city Asmara. The prestrip is expected to take six month, as a hill adjacent to the deposit must be partially removed to make room for the open pit. Nevsun expects to start stockpiling ore early in the third quarter.

Installation of the semi-autogenous grinding (SAG) and ball mills should be finished by the middle of the year, structural steelwork is well advanced, and workers are laying down the impermeable liner of the tailings facility.

The Bisha mine will tap into a layered volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) deposit. The top layer, a goldrich gossan, contains 4 million proven and probable tonnes grading 7.99 grams gold per tonne and 32.85 grams silver per tonne. Those reserves will feed the 5,000-tonne-per-day mill for 2.5 years.

Next, the mill will churn through a 6.4-million tonne supergene layer grading 4.4% copper, 0.83 gram gold, and 35.98 grams silver for three years. Finally, the mine will reach the primary sulphide portion of the deposit, which currently contains 9.7 million proven and probable tonnes grading 7.21% zinc, 1.14% copper, 0.76 gram gold, and 54 grams silver.

The current mine plan only covers ten years of operation but Nevsun is confident Bisha will be active for much longer than that.

First, the pit was designed using very conservative metal prices, including US$400 per oz. gold. With prices currently more than double those used to build the pit shell, Nevsun is redesigning the pit to access the deeper, zinc-rich zone at the south end.

An area known as the Hangingwall Copper zone will likely add resources to the expanded pit, reducing the increase in strip ratio.

And Nevsun has completed some infill drilling at Harena, a satellite zone 9.5 km southwest of the Bisha deposit, and further work is planned to assess its potential for additional mill feed. In particular, the company is probing Harena’s southwest strike extension; the gravity and electromagnetic signatures that revealed mineralization at Harena continue to the southwest but have not yet been fully drill-tested. Nevsun also plans to drill other VMS targets on the Bisha property.

With Bisha’s cost requirements staying under control – in February Nevsun revised the original capex projection of US$250 up by just 4% to US$260 – the company has managed to retain a cash position of $29 million. And Nevsun expects Bisha to start producing positive cash flow in the first quarter of 2011.

Using metal prices of US$900 per oz. gold, US$2.25 per lb. copper, US75¢ per lb. zinc, and US$12 per oz. silver, Bisha should generate a 45% internal rate of return, enabling payback of development costs in 1.6 years.

Nevsun’s share price has spent April ranging between $2.85 and $3.20. The company has a 52-week share price range of $1.21 to $3.66 and has 193 million shares outstanding.

Asmara, (Shabait) 25 April 2010 – The existing favorable atmosphere in Eritrea has a vital role to play in rising productively both in term of quality and quantity, Stated Mr. Stifano Bonazi, an Italian national who is the general manager of the privately-owned ZA-ER Plant.

He explained that the plant has offered various training courses to about 500 Eritrean employees, and that it has managed to produce about 500 shirts and from 150 to 200 trousers on a daily basis.

Mr. Stifano further noted that the plant’s products are not only qualitative but are also being sold at a fair price, and that such products are highly demanded in the European, Asian and African markets. There are also plans to boost production up to 1,300 shirts and trousers on daily basis in the near future, he elaborated. He went on to say that the plant has 7 selling stations in different parts of the country, including 3 in Asmara, and each in Mendefera, Keren, Dekemhare and Tessenei.

The owner of the plant, Italian Zambayeti Jiancarlo, stated on his part that the task requires high caution and efficiency, and that it supplies up to 4,500 threads to the local and international market daily.

ZA-ER is a privately-owned plant set up in 2004, and at present it has about 500 employees.

Asmara, Eritrea

Chalice Gold Mines (ASX: CHN) - This presentation may contain value references and “forward looking statements“ which are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements.

Investors are cautioned that such statements are not guarantees of future performance and results.

This presentation does not include all available Information on Chalice Gold Mines Limited and should not be used in isolation as a guide to investing in the Company.

Any potential investor should also refer to Chalice Gold Mines Limited Annual Reports and to ASX releases and take independent professional advice before considering investing in the Company.

For further information about Chalice Gold Mines Limited, visit the website at www.chalicegold.com

The information in this report that relates to Exploration Results is based on information compiled by Dr Doug Jones, a full-time employee and Director of Chalice Gold Mines Limited, who is a Member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and is a Chartered Professional Geologist.

Dr Jones has sufficient experience in the field of activity being reported to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2004 edition of the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Minerals Resources and Ore Reserves, and consents to the release of information in the form and context in which it appears here.

The Independent Resource Estimate for the Koka deposit was prepared by Mr Brian Wolfe whilst employed as a Specialist Resource Geologist for Coffey Mining Pty Ltd. Mr Wolfe, who is a Member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, has sufficient experience in the field of Resource Estimation to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2004 edition of the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Minerals Resources and Ore Reserves, and consents to the release of information in the form and context in which it appears here.

LINK: CHALICE GOLD PRESENTATION 2010 ‘POISED FOR PRODUCTION IN EAST AFRICA’