London Africa Limited has published a Report on the Geology and Mineral Potential of the Akordat Gold – Copper Exploration License, Western Eritrea and a presentation delivered at the Asmara Geocongress 2010 in Eritrea.

1. Report on the Geology and Mineral Potential of the Akordat Gold-Copper Exploration License.
2. London Africa Limited Presentation Asmara Geocongress 2010.

For more information visit: www.londonafrica.co.uk

Eritrean Foreign Minister, Mr. Osman Saleh told the UN General Assembly that Eritrea remains focused on broad-based and people centered political, economic, social and cultural development that will enable the Eritrean people to live in dignity and prosperity, entering its 20 years of independence.

Eritrea has created a solid base for sustained economic growth after several years of consistent investment in health, education, agriculture and other essential infrastructure.

The Minister said it is expected that trade as well as domestic and foreign investment will provide additional stimulus for the growth of the Economy.

He added, that Eritrea is welcoming and inviting all interested countries and enterprises to become Eritrea’s partners in investment and development.

Eritrea’s Foreign Minister today told the General Assembly that the United Nations “continues to ignore” Ethiopia’s failure to comply with the ruling of an international commission that delineated the border between the two countries after their 1998-2000 war.

“While the United Nations grapples with Sudan and Somalia, it continues to ignore grave consequences of Ethiopia’s continued occupation of sovereign Eritrean territory, eight years after the ruling of the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission (EEBC), and three years after the Commission ended its work by depositing in the United Nations the demarcated boundary between the two countries,” Osman Saleh told the Assembly’s high-level segment.

To end the border war, both parties agreed to abide by the ruling of the border commission, which was reached in April 2002. However, Ethiopia’s rejection of the decision stalled the physical demarcation of the border in 2003.

“Ethiopia’s illegal occupation and the United Nations silence, which mean the continuation of the conflict, is exacting a heavy price on the peoples of Eritrea and Ethiopia and complicating the regional situation.

“I wish to remind the United Nations that Eritrea awaits responsible and urgent action to end Ethiopia’s violation of international law and its threat to regional peace and security,” Mr. Saleh told the General Assembly’s high-level debate.

Gippsland

Gippsland Limited (ASX: ‘GIP’; FRA: ‘GIX’) (‘Gippsland or the Company’) advises that the Board of Gippsland has resolved to pursue the spin off via an IPO and listing on ASX Limited (‘ASX’) of Gippsland’s 100% owned Adobha Project located in the State of Eritrea and Gippsland’s 40% interest in the Heemskirk Tin Project located in Tasmania.

Gippsland’s primary focus is on the development of its flagship 44.5 million tonne Abu Dabbab Tantalum-Tin-Feldspar Project located in Egypt and to progressing the financing and construction of Abu Dabbab, which has the potential to be the world’s largest single source of highly strategic supermetal tantalum.

The new public company (‘Newco’) that will seek to list on ASX will purchase from Gippsland, the Adobha Project and Gippsland’s 40% interest in the Heemskirk Tin Project, in exchange for equity in Newco. Newco will seek to raise sufficient funds to explore the Adobha Project via an underwritten IPO prospectus, with Gippsland shareholders to be offered on a pro-rata basis, the opportunity to subscribe for this equity in Newco.

It is the Board of Gippsland’s view that the Adobha Project and Gippsland’s 40% interest in the Hemskirk Tin Project are not currently attributed a significant valuation by the market and also believe that those two assets would benefit from dedicated funding via an IPO of Newco on ASX.

Adobha Project

The Adobha Project is comprised of a 2,100 km2 Exploration Licence plus three 100 km2 Prospecting Licences in the Adobha region of the State of Eritrea, all of which are 100% owned by Nubian Resources Pty Ltd, which is a 100% owned subsidiary of Gippsland.

These four tenements secure a large area encompassing a number of promising base metal prospects discovered by Gippsland during recent reconnaissance geochemical and geological surveys.

The geochemical surveys and subsequent follow-up exploration involving rock-chips sampling and geological mapping identified large areas of visible copper mineralization, some of which contain associated lead and zinc. The geochemical surveys targeted the highest ranked of the interpreted Thematic Mapper (TM) satellite image anomalies.

A number of anomalies are still to be examined and the vast majority of the funds raised by Newco via the IPO will be used to undertake this further exploration.

A map of the 2,400 km2 area that the four tenements cover and which constitute the Adobha Project and a detailed document can be found here  http://www.gippslandltd.com/.

By Tim Boreham – The Australian-

SHORT of an outbreak of world peace, can anything halt the march of bullion?

Spot gold hit a record $US1268/oz yesterday, if only because of $US weakness.

Combine this price strength with the local consolidation activity and there’s no wonder there’s a surge of interest in the sector. But investors shouldn’t assume every two-bit play is a takeover target.

Nor should they resort to sector big-daddy Newcrest Mining (NCM, $39.50) as the default gold-price exposure. As Citi notes, Newcrest’s 3.1 million oz production (post Lihir merger) eclipses that of other stocks. Citi compares Newcrest to Westfield, which dwarfs the property trust sector. Far from being a reliable outperformer, Westfield has had long spells of underperformance.

“We see the potential for the same situation to occur in the gold sector,” Citi says. “Newcrest is clearly the most liquid company with the premium asset base.

“However, given its size there is unlikely to be M&A potential and its large production base means operational matters (better grade, lower cost and more volume) are unlikely to significantly change the direction of the company.”

So what stocks are better leveraged to the gold price? Take your pick (or shovel). Last week, we mentioned Medusa Mining (MML, $4.85), which is producing at its Philippines Co-O mine.

Since then, Criterion’s in-box has bulged with more suggestions from the gold bugs. One is Dampier Gold (DAU, 58c), which is on the path to production at its Plutonic Dome project in WA.

Dampier has struck a “framework agreement” deal with its neighbour and cornerstone investor Barrick Gold to process ore at Barrick’s Plutonic mine. Dampier has a modest resource of 290,000oz, but can be boosted with further drilling.

In terms of existing producers, there’s been solicitous eyes cast at the reliable Kingsgate Consolidated (KCN, $11.41), which is producing at the rate of 130,000oz from its Chatree mine in Thailand.

Then there’s CGA Mining (CGX, $2.64), which owns Masbate, The Philippines’ biggest gold project about 350km from Manila.

CGA yesterday duly reported the archipelago’s lofty ascent in the Fraser Institute’s updated annual survey, which ranks nations and states according to their desirability for miners.

The Philippines’ ranking improved to 35th from 49th previously — not far behind Australia which plummeted from 18 to 31, courtesy of the mining tax.

Masbate, which poured its first gold in May last year, has probable reserves of 3.03 million oz and is pitched at being a 200,000oz operator (having produced 150,000oz in 2009-10.

In other news, Southern Cross Equities won’t be fazed about incurring a 6.6 million shortfall of Chalice Gold (CHN) shares, the result of underwriting its rights raising to develop the 840,000oz Koka project in Eritrea.

The one-for-six offer was priced at 42c, compared with last night’s close of 62c. A further guide to Chalice’s potential is that management has also ditched a proposed broader Eritrean JV with heavyweight Newmont Mining, arguing its holders would fare better on a go-it-alone basis.

Amid all this lustrous intrigue, we rate the Toronto and locally listed CGA as a speculative buy, as is the case with Chalice and Dampier (Wilson HTM values the stock at 79c). Newcrest is a sell: the stock always gets the wobbles at the $40 mark. We’ll also take profits on Kingsgate, which we had as a spec buy at $8.60 in May.

Axa Asia Pacific (AXA) $5.19

WE can’t accuse Axa’s ad gurus of being flat-footed, yesterday rushing out poster ads proclaiming its North platform as “the one investment offer so hot the ACCC didn’t want a bank to NAB it”.

Perhaps too much of an in-joke for harried commuters, but a cheeky take on the competition regulator’s concerns which resulted in National Australia Bank dropping its Axa bid on Tuesday.

The sub-text of Axa’s ad blitz is that it’s business as usual — but that’s not what the market is punting on given Axa shares closed mirror-flat yesterday.

But don’t assume anything will happen in a hurry: likely suspect AMP is disciplined on acquisitions, French parent Axa SA is patient, while the reluctant local Axa board said no to four buyout attempts (including Axa SA’s earlier efforts) before endorsing NAB’s tilt.

It’s a reasonable punt something will happen — eventually. But forget the notion of AMP returning with something less than its previous $5.40 share-scrip effort. However, an offer above $6 a share, we can see the Axa board’s resolve melting (if only because everyone’s heartily sick of the whole thing).

Criterion last week had Axa as a speculative buy at $5.08 and maintain the call. But investors need to be patient and disciplined.

The Australian accepts no responsibility for stock recommendations. Readers should contact a licensed financial adviser.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Asmara, 15 September 2010 – Eritrean Ministry of Foreign Affairs -

In the last issue of its bulletin, “Week in the Horn”, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, falsely alleges that Eritrea provided “a plane load of weapons and medical supplies to Al-Shabaab in Kismayo… at the same time as President Isaias was talking to Mr. Pascoe ( the UN Under Secretary-General for Political Affairs) and Ambassador Mahiga”, ( the Special Representative of the Secretary-General to Somalia).

The statement goes further to claim: “about thirty wounded Al-shabaab fighters, including five foreigners, were then loaded onto the plane flown back to Asmara… An Eritrean official who flew down from Asmara in the plane also traveled to Afgoye to meet with Sheik Aweys.” To give a semblance of “credence” to these preposterous accusations, the Ministry attributes the story to anonymous “sources close to Al-Shabaab.”

This is not the first time the Foreign Ministry’s weekly bulletin is peddling propaganda against Eritrea. For reasons better known to Ethiopia, the misinformation campaign seems to have increased in the past few weeks with a litany of lopsided editorials on the well-known rulings of the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission, the Qatar mediation process, as well as innuendos and outright lies on the visits of foreign dignitaries to Eritrea. Dignifying these malicious distortions and/ or groundless accusations with responses will not serve any purpose and Eritrea has not bothered to address them.

The timing and intent behind this “Al-Shebaab” story has, however, two dimensions that must be addressed to put the record straight. Ethiopia Foreign Ministry has fabricated this story this week precisely in order to misinform and wrongly influence the Somalia Monitoring Group that is touring the Horn of Africa region and who arrived in Asmara this Sunday (Septmebr 12). The other probable reason might have to do with Ethiopia’s desire and pending plans to intervene again in Somalia. Indeed, when Ethiopia invaded Somalia in December 2006, to oust the UIC of the same Sheik Sherif that was then accused of extremism and is now embraced as “moderate”, one of the pretexts it peddled was Eritrea’s deployment in Somalia of 2000 troops. Unfortunately, this total fabrication was not properly verified at the time and recycled as truth even by the Somalia Monitoring Group. We see now the same tape being played again.

In conclusion, as Eritrea has repeatedly explained, the crises in Somalia can only be solved through an all inclusive political peace process. Ethiopia’s repeated and failed invasions of Somalia and other political machination to keep Somalia weak and fragmented have not only proven futile but become a source of the problem rather than its solution.

Rome, 14 September 2010 – The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is supporting a grant in Eritrea with the goal of raising production and productivity in the fisheries sector, while conserving fish stocks and the marine ecosystem.

This grant agreement for the Fisheries Development Project of US$12.6 million was signed today at IFAD headquarters in Rome by Zemede Tekle Woldetatios, Ambassador of Eritrea and Kanayo F. Nwanze, President of IFAD.

Eritrea’s coastal area, once home to a strong fisheries sector, has been destroyed by decades of war. The country has some of the few remaining underexploited fish stocks in the world, however, little support has been provided to the country’s fishing communities to take advantage of these rich resources.

IFAD’s supported project aims to strengthen the artisanal fisheries sector and ensure sustainable resource management, this will contribute to reducing poverty by increasing the fishery sector’s contribution to the national economy, as well as improving food security in the region.

The project will reach about 6000 households made up of poor artisanal fishers, foot fishers, women, young people and demobilized soldiers living in the regions of Assab, Massawa and the 70 villages along the Red Sea coast. Target groups will receive support to form cooperatives in order to access boats and equipment on credit. Training will be provided to fishers both men and women, to carry out shore-based activities such as net-making. They will also have the possibility of owning boats.

With this new programme, IFAD will have financed 4 projects in Eritrea for a total investment of US$ 55.8 million.

Khartoum, Sept. 14 (SUNA)- A high- level Eritrean delegation, headed by the Advisor of the Eritrean President, Yemani Gabrab, and accompanied by the Foreign Minister, Osman Salih, Tuesday arrived in Khartoum to hold talks for consolidating the relations and cooperation between Khartoum and Asmara.

In a statement to SUNA, the spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs , Muawiya Osman Khalid, said that the visit of the Eritrean delegation comes in the context of the distinguished relations between Sudan and Eritrea He said that the Eritrean delegation will hold talks with a number of senior officials on issues of mutual concern, especially the peace efforts in Sudan , the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) and situation in Darfur on the light of the new government strategy for Darfur issue. He indicated that the two parties will also discuss coordination of stances of the two countries during the meetings of the UN General Assembly in New York, which are scheduled to begin in the third week of current September.

Asmara, 12 September 2010 – (Shabait) – Over 95% of traffic accidents in Eritrea are occurring due to negligence, stated Captain Girmai Gebremedhin, head of traffic accident control in the Eritrean Police Traffic.

He said that 1,704 accidents have taken place in the past few months in general in which 51 lives were lost, while 859 sustained serious and minor injuries, and property estimated at more than 17 million Nakfa was destroyed.

Captain Girmai further explained that 70% of the traffic accidents happened in the Central region. He went on to state that of all the accidents, 885 vehicles crashed into other vehicles, 184 collided with pedestrians, 94 with bicycles and 163 tumbled to the ground.

Pointing out that unviable roads, unsafe vehicles and disregard of traffic regulation are additional causes for accidents; he called on every citizen to drive responsibly and abide by rules and regulations.

Captain Girmai, said that the Eritrean Police Traffic is making relentless efforts with its partners to minimize traffic accidents, and stressed the need for constant training to enhance awareness among the society.

The public on their part emphasized the importance of continuous and intensive campaigning at national level.

Chalice Gold Mines

Chalice Gold Mines Limited (ASX: CHN) today announced that it has discovered a significant new zone of gold mineralisation at the Konate prospect, located 5km south of, and along strike from, the 840,000oz Koka Gold Deposit at its Zara Project in Eritrea.

Konate is the first prospect to be drill tested within a 6km long highly prospective corridor, extending to the south of Koka. Chalice believes this corridor has the potential to host additional high-grade gold deposits, similar to that at Koka, where the Company is proposing to develop a high grade, low cost open pit gold mine.

As announced on July 13, 2010, Chalice completed a Feasibility Study on the Koka Gold Deposit in July confirming the potential for a robust and viable gold development based on open pit probable reserves of 760,000oz grading 5.1g/t gold.

The first results from diamond drilling at Konate reveal significant grades and widths of gold mineralisation, with best intersections to date of 3m @ 12.79g/t gold from 120m (drill hole ZARD 177) and 4m @ 11.65g/t gold from 109m (drill hole ZARD 185) within broader zones of lower grade gold mineralisation.

ZARD 185 intersected fresh quartz stockwork mineralisation in a microgranite host over a down-hole width of 30m (close to true width) from 109m depth. Better grade mineralisation is associated with higher concentrations of sulphides, predominantly pyrite, including the high grade intersection 4m @ 11.65g/t. This is a style of mineralisation similar to that hosting the high grade mineral resources and mineral reserves in the Koka Gold Deposit.

ZARD 177 was drilled 65 metres north of ZARD 185 on an oblique 40 metre section and intersected quartz stockwork mineralisation over a 22m width. Better intersections were again associated with pyrite concentrations and included the high-grade intersection of 3m @ 12.79g/t.

The Company currently has a diamond rig drilling double-shift at Konate and is considering adding an additional rig to expedite evaluation of the 600 metre long zone defined by extensive past artisanal workings.

Commenting on the results, Chalice Managing Director Doug Jones said:

“While it’s still early days at Konate, these first results are highly encouraging as they demonstrate significant gold grades and widths. Drilling to date suggests that the system is open at depth and to the south, so we are continuing an aggressive drilling program to further delineate the geometry and characteristics of this very promising new discovery.

The location of this high grade gold discovery just 5 kilometres south of the planned Koka operation means that it has the potential to positively impact the already robust economics of our core project by providing additional feed to the Koka mill.

It also reinforces the broader prospectivity of our tenement holdings at Zara and in particular the enormous exploration upside within the 6km long Koka-Konate corridor, where we are currently focusing much of our exploration attention – with drilling underway at Konate and a major deep-penetrating IP survey set to commence within weeks.”

EMEC

Mining companies and energy experts from industry, government and science are to meet at the annual Asmara GeoCongress 2010 scheduled for September 22 – 27, 2010 in Asmara.

The annual congress sponsored and hosted by Eritrean Mining and Exploration Companies (EMEC) and the Eritrean Ministry of Energy and Mines brings together exploration experts and companies with focus on Eritrea and the Arabian-Nubian Shield – Eritrea, Sudan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

In recent times the Arabian-Nubian Shield has attracted growing business interest from mining companies because of promising exploration discoveries and several new world scale projects, particularly in regard to gold, copper, and Volcanic Massive Sulphide. The flow of global exploration dollars into the region is attracting more investment as a result of underexplored mineral richness.

The increasing number of mining project starups might indicate that conditions for doing business in the region have improved significantly for foreign companies. Eritrea’s success in stimulating mining investment is based on a legal frame work for international mining companies with the aim to rebuild the country’s economy and to secure social and economic progress in a sustainable manner.

EMEC companies are Andiamo Exploration Ltd, Bisha Mining Share Company, Chalice Gold Mines Ltd, China-African Huakan Investment Company, Eritrea-China Exploration & Mining Company, Eritrea- Libya Mining Share Company, Land Energy Group (China) Ltd, London Africa Ltd, Gippsland Limited, Sahar Minerals Ltd, Sanu Resources/NGEx Resources, South Boulder Mines Ltd, Sunridge Gold Corp, Thani-Ashanti Alliance Ltd and Zong Chang Mining Company Ltd.

For more information visit:http://www.emeceritrea.com/index.htm

Eritrea Mining

By Matthew Walls – The Wall Street Journal

Gold miners are expanding their focus in Africa to the northeast of the continent, a region they largely bypassed during the decade-long rally in gold prices.

Big-name gold miners such as AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. and Newmont Mining Corp. are exploring for gold in Eritrea and Egypt on a promising geological belt known as the Arabian-Nubian Shield. African Barrick Gold, Barrick Gold Corp.’s recent spinoff, is also looking at Eritrea for potential acquisitions, Chief Executive Greg Hawkins said recently.The miners’ entry marks a departure from their recent drive into western and southern Africa and could create a major new gold-mining region. Already, northeast Africa is home to a few gold deposits of a million troy ounces—a threshold size for bigger miners—that hint at its potential. “The region is pretty much under-explored compared to West Africa and Tanzania,” said geologist Michael Robertson, a consultant at Johannesburg-based MSA Geoservices. “From a prospectivity point of view, it’s a good place to be.”

For governments, a thriving gold industry would bring revenue and a better investment profile, as it has in West Africa, where the gold boom has transformed countries such as Mali and Burkina Faso into popular investment destinations for miners. The region’s gold output doubled in the ten years to 2008 and discoveries of deposits of one million troy ounces have become an annual occurrence, says U.K. investment bank Ambrian Capital.

But mining in West Africa is moving out of an early-stage exploration phase into a period of consolidation as companies merge or buy out miners that have already made discoveries. Miners such as Randgold Resources Ltd., Severstal JSC and Endeavour Financial Corp. are taking a bigger share of the region’s output. In comparison, northeast Africa remains under-explored and competition limited to small miners. Border wars between Ethiopia and Eritrea, autocratic governments and onerous mining regulations kept miners from venturing into the region in recent decades.

Those fears have not vanished, but calmer relations between Eritrea and Ethiopia, a new mining code in Eritrea and a handful of gold discoveries by smaller miners such as Centamin Egypt Ltd. have enticed those looking to find big deposits at little cost.

Centamin Egypt’s seven million troy-ounce Sukari gold deposit is in Egypt, on the Arabian-Nubian shield that ancient Egyptians mined for gold. The shield encircles the Red Sea and runs along the coastal sides of countries bordering it: Egypt, Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Jordan and Israel. “I think the success of Centamin Egypt peaked a lot of interest in the region,” said Leon Esterhuizen, a mining analyst at RBC Capital Markets.

AngloGold’s exploration efforts, guided by the company’s airborne electromagnetic imaging system Spectrum, are targeting Egypt, Eritrea and Saudi Arabia. The miner established a joint venture last year with the privately-held Saudi Arabian company Thani Investments. AngloGold Chief Executive Mark Cutifani told an audience at the miner’s second-quarter earnings results last month that the joint venture has found an exciting early-stage discovery in North Africa, and will deliver news on its exploration in Eritrea and Saudi Arabia next quarter.

Newmont stepped into Eritrea in July in a joint venture with Australian gold miner Chalice Gold Mines Ltd, though Chalice said Monday it wouldn’t proceed in the project.

Both AngloGold and Newmont declined to comment for this story, with Newmont citing the confidentiality of its exploration efforts.

The majors would be joining over a dozen small miners that are developing or exploring for gold. Next year, Canada’s Nevsun Resources Ltd. will open Eritrea’s first gold mine in decades at its one million ounce gold-copper-zinc deposit at Bisha, 150 kilometers (93 miles) west of the national capital of Asmara.

Despite the attractive geology, miners still face some prohibitive requirements and the possibility that governments will revise mining laws. Egypt and Sudan require that the state holds at least a 50% stake in any mine, which miners may try to renegotiate if they make a discovery. Ethiopia is considering raising royalties on gold mining to between 5% and 8%, from 2% to 4%.

“It’s been voiced by mining companies that this is very negative for mining,” said Bob Foster, CEO of Stratex International PLC, a London-listed miner that is buying up property in Ethiopia near hot springs rich with gold mineralization.

Some observers worry that a mining boom won’t benefit local populaces and revenues will be diverted by the region’s governments to military budgets or to elites. For nearly two decades, Eritrea has been run by an unelected former independence fighter and ranks among the most repressive states in the world, according to the U.S.-based group Freedom House. In Ethiopia, the ruling government has grown increasingly dictatorial and combative with opposition parties and the media. The U.S.-government funded organization United States Commission on International Religious Freedom this year urged the government to prohibit any foreign companies mining in Eritrea from raising capital or listing its equities in the U.S.

To miners, these are substantive issues. After the U.N. sanctioned Eritrea last December for instigating insurgents in Somalia, banks declined to lend to Nevsun, forcing it to issue shares to finance the Bisha mine. A Nevsun employee was killed by rebels in 2003, and tensions between rebels and autocratic governments continue to simmer across the region. Border clashes with militants in Sudan and Somalia remain common in both Eritrea and Ethiopia.

“The market is still skeptical because of the jurisdiction it’s in,” said Nevsun’s Chief Executive Cliff Davis. “But we’ve mitigated that by making sure they [the Eritrean government] have a big stake in this.”

Eritrea’s mining law allows the government a minimum 10% free-carry stake in any mine, which means the government doesn’t have to pay for the stake up front or fund exploration costs. It also holds an option to add another 20% at market prices for a maximum 30% stake, but it must fund exploration costs, a rare arrangement in any mining jurisdiction. In Nevsun’s case, the miner and the government negotiated a 40% stake for the government, above what the law stipulates, at the request of the government, said Mr. Davis. Soft loans from China’s Export-Import Bank of China have allowed the government to pay for its share of the exploration costs.

Tim Williams—whose company Andiamo Exploration Ltd. is exploring in Eritrea—praised the government for honoring its obligations, and said miners can’t worry about what a government will do with its revenues. “We’ve got to accept the laws of the country,” Mr. Williams said. “As long as the government keeps its word and you can trust it to continue to do so, then the mining industry will invest.”

But the region also presents problems of a more technical kind to gold miners. While sand cover is not an issue as it would be in Saudi Arabia, where mineral outcrops are often buried, the grounds hosting gold are typically arid. Gold mines use copious amounts of water to wash gold from the ore, and without a nearby source, pipelines would need to built to carry water, adding to costs. More worrisome, analysts said, would be conflicts with communities over water in regions with scarce water supplies.