Eritrea

Chalice Gold Mines Limited (ASX: CHN) has announced that the Company’s 100% owned subsidiary, Keren Mining Pty Ltd has signed agreements with the Eritrean Ministry of Energy and Mines for two new Exploration Licences totalling 830 sq km in northern Eritrea.

The new licences, Mogoraib North and Hurum, add significantly to the Company’s exploration tenure in two highly prospective geological terrains. Intensive exploration programs are planned for the first 12 months of tenure, with an initial budget exceeding US$1 million.

Mogoraib North EL

The 555 sq km Mogoraib North licence lies approximately 10 kilometres north of the world class Bisha polymetallic Volcanic-hosted Massive Sulphide (VHMS) deposit owned by Nevsun Resources Ltd. (TSX:NSU)(AMEX:NSU) (60%) and the Eritrean National Mining Corporation (ENAMCO) (40%) which commenced production in early January this year.

The volcano-sedimentary rocks hosting the Bisha deposit extend northwards beneath the Mogoraib North EL although much of the basement geology is masked by recent alluvial cover. A regional interpretation of Landsat imagery conducted by Chalice in 2009 identified several ‘islands’ of exposed bedrock within these later sediments with Bisha-like spectral signatures and the licence was lodged to cover these anomalies.

Chalice is planning to undertake an initial exploration program involving acquisition and interpretation of further satellite imagery, geological mapping, geochemical sampling and an airborne EM survey using the VTEM system.

Hurum EL

The 275 sq km Hurum licence lies adjacent to and south west of the Company’s Zara South licence.

The property straddles the Elababu Shear Zone, a major regional structure that controls much of the known gold mineralization in northern Eritrea, including the Company’s flagship Koka Gold Deposit (Indicated Resource of 5Mt grading 5.3 g/t) which lies ~40 kilometres to the north east .

Chalice is planning to undertake an initial exploration program involving acquisition and interpretation of satellite imagery, geological mapping, geochemical sampling and an airborne magnetic and radiometric survey.

Zara North and Zara South Licences

Chalice also wishes to advise it has signed agreements for the conversion of the 115 sq km Zara North and 350 sq km Zara South Prospecting Licences to Exploration Licences. These licences lie adjacent to and along strike from the Koka Gold Deposit and are currently the focus of intensive exploration programs (refer to the announcement of 20 December 2010 for further details).

Chalice Chairman Mr Tim Goyder commented that:

“With the granting of these new tenements, and the successful conversion of Zara North and South to Exploration Licences, Chalice now holds Exploration Licences totalling some 1445 sq km in a region that has a demonstrated potential to host substantial high grade gold and base metal deposits. We look forward to implementing intensive exploration programs on these properties and a steady flow of positive news in the coming months.

London Africa Ltd.

Chalice Gold Mines Limited (ASX:CHN) has agreed to invest in the United Kingdom based London Africa Limited (“London Africa”) which holds a number of prospecting licences in Eritrea.

London Africa Limited is a private company registered in England and Wales, originally set up in 2006 to acquire precious and base metal projects in Africa.

Chalice will subscribe for 1.6M shares in London Africa at 12.5p per share for GBP200,000 (A$358,000) which will give Chalice an 11.8% interest in the Company. The funds will be applied to a work program currently being undertaken and managed by London Africa.

London Africa Limited signed in June 2009 a prospecting licence to cover 1562 km² around Akordat - Orota in central Eritrea.

The company says it is the first business in 4 years to sign a new Prospecting Licence in Eritrea. The agreement was signed back in June with the new Eritrean Minister of Mines, Mr Ahmed Haj Ali.

The company’s Web site states that numerous gold-bearing quartz veins systems as well as as alterations zones characteristic of volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) mineralisation have been identified after just two field visits to the southern part of the licence area.

Additional Landsat and Aster image anomalies remain to be visited (field checked) and the company is confident that it will have a series of quality gold and VMS targets to evaluate going forward.

London Africa is aiming to explore and find similar volcanic massive sulphide deposits like those of Nevsun Resources’ Bisha deposit. The four prospects of London Africa are Akordat VMS Prospect, Melih VMS Prospect, Enjehay Kereb Gold Prospect, Adinjera Gold Prospect.

London Africa Limited in Eritrea

Eritrea

Gippsland Limited (ASX:GIP,DB:GIX) today announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Nubian Resources PLC, has been granted three Prospecting Licences in the Adobha region of the State of Eritrea.

It is said that the north-western part of Eritrea belongs to the mineral rich, Precambrian Nubian-Arabian Shield that also covers several other Gippsland exploration deposits in Egypt.

Mining companies made significant gold and base metal discoveries in Eritrea that contained defined Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves in recent years. The two major projects in Eritrea are Bisha and Zara located near Asmara.

Gippsland’s three granted licences are said to cover the area of 300 km² of ground that is prospective for volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) mineralisation and structurally controlled mineralisation. The area was selected following an interpretation of Thematic Mapper (TM) satellite data of a large part of northern Eritrea. The Bisha and Zahra (Koka) mineral deposit areas were used as type examples durng the study. Both deposits were selected because they can represent VMS and Koka deposits that can be expected to occur in the area of interest.

The licences of 100 km² each, are located between 203 and 247 km north of the Eritrean capital of Asmara in a geological setting similar to the Bisha gold-base metal deposit located 174 km to the south that contains 1.44 Moz Au and 0.39 Mt Cu. The structural setting of the area covered by the Licences is also similar to the found at the 0.94 Moz Zara gold project located some 65 km to the south.

The Eritrean Department of Mines granted Licenses on 16th September 2009, however due to delays associated with Ramadan celebrations, the Company received confirmation of the granting on 4th October 2009.

According to the Directors of Gippsland Ltd further steps to be taken are as follows,

Geochemical Sampling Programme

An initial geological sampling program will be undertaken during October-November involving the collection of drainage channel samples within the project area, a technique which is known to be effective in the exploration of both gold and base metal deposits in Eritrea.

The drainage sampling will focus on eleven target anomalies that were identified during the TM interpretation study. Drainage samples will be collected from pre-determined sites designed to test the TM targets within the three licences. All samples will be analysed for CU, Pb, ZN and AU.

Logistics

Road access into the area is available, enabling most of the sampling programme to be completed using two sampling teams in 4WD vehicles. A helicopter will be used for initial reconnaissance of the TM anomalies and collecting samples from the more inaccessible areas.

Personnel

Gippsland personnel will include Gippsland’s Chief Geologist Dr John Chisholm, two o the Company’s Egyptian geologists along with two Eritrean geologists and support personnel.

Potential

As a result of these successful applications, the Company now holds licences totalling 300 km² in a region that has had minimal previous exploration but has the potential to host high grade gold and base metal deposits, similar to recent substantial discoveries immediately to the south.