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Anatolia Minerals Development Ltd. (ANOU) |
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CEOCFO Current
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This is a printer friendly page! Anatolia
Minerals Development has the dominant position for exploration in Turkey - a country with
prolific mineral belts, surprisingly good infrastructure for mining, and a pro-business
attitude Anatolia Minerals Development
Ltd.
BIO: Mr. Moores has been active for 25 years in locating
and acquiring, defining, evaluating, financing, permitting and developing base and
precious metal deposits in North and South America, Russia, Central and Southeast Asia and
Africa. Positions held by Mr. Moores include: President of
RCM International; President and Director of RCM Mining Inc. (1989- present); Vice
President, Director and CFO of AZCO Mining (1988-1993); Financial Advisor with
Shearson-Lehman Bros. (1986-1987); Planning and Acquisitions Specialist for Mobil Mining
& Coal (1978-1986); and Explorationist, Economist and Planner for Conoco Minerals
(1971-1978). Prior to this, Mr. Moores worked for AMAX and ASARCO. Mr. Moores received an A.B. in Geology from Cornell
University and both an M.S. and an MBA from the University of Arizona.
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현pler gold/copper porphyry prospect - a joint venture with Rio Tinto. A resource of over 4 million ounces of gold grading 3.1 grams per tonne has been inferred at the 현pler property in central Turkey, and drilling continues. Recent results - which expanded the mineralization at depth and beyond the previously assumed boundaries of the inferred resource - could increase the size of the gold zone. Tunceli – this exciting new prospect in east-central Turkey where 5 large copper/gold systems have been identified, is also a joint venture with Rio Tinto. The first drill hole is underway, and 2003 promises to be a busy exploration season on this high priority target. The K-C District copper/gold prospect - exploring a cluster of porphyry copper/gold targets, in joint venture with Rio Tinto, including more than 100,000 hectares of a previously unrecognized copper/gold province. Kabatas copper/gold porphyry prospect - drilling in early 2001 by the Rio Tinto/Anatolia JV confirmed the presence of a large, low-grade porphyry copper-gold system. 峯kapili gold prospect - a historic mining
district, mined for copper and gold by Phoenicians, Greeks and Romans, and includes the
world's oldest known tin mine. A broad range of metals occurs within the license,
including iron, tin, tungsten, copper, zinc, lead, antimony, arsenic, mercury, silver and
gold. CEOCFOinterviews: Mr.
Moores, please tell us about Anatolia Minerals Development and how the company was
started. Mr. Moores: “Anatolia is an exploration company that started back in the mid 1990s. The objective of Anatolia is to find, explore and develop mineral properties in Turkey. We acquire properties and advance them to the point that we can attract major mining companies which are willing to invest their money. Anatolia then partners up with the major company to advance the property, at their expense, to the benefit of both companies. This has worked very well. Right now, the full partner is Rio Tinto Mining and Exploration. Rio Tinto is the largest mining company in the world. Currently, Rio Tinto is working exclusively through us in Turkey, although we have the ability to work with other third-party companies. We have the best and largest exploration team in Turkey.” CEOCFOinterviews: Why are you in Turkey, and what are the working conditions there? Mr. Moores: “I have previously worked on many large projects worldwide, including South America, Africa, Asia, the former Soviet Union, North America and Turkey. Our management and directors believe that Turkey is a very good country in which to work. Despite a millennia old mining tradition, Turkey has been overlooked in modern times – creating an opportunity for us. There are a prolific series of mineral belts across the country; the government and the people are very pro-business and pro-western; Turkey has a very diligent, competent and hard-working work force with a broad middle-class. It is a wonderful situation and an extraordinary mineral opportunity. That is why we moved quickly to tie up 6,000 square miles of highly prospective properties.” CEOCFOinterviews: Will you tell us about some of your projects? Mr. Moores: “Our most advanced project is the 현pler gold deposit. It is near the Euphrates River, with power nearby and good access to the railroad within five kilometers to the property. This property has an inferred resource of four million ounces of gold. Mineralization averages about three grams of gold per tonne. Many mines in the world are running successfully at below two grams of gold per ton. Besides 현pler, we have over fifteen projects throughout Turkey.” CEOCFOinterviews: How do you decide which properties to focus on at any given time? Mr. Moores: “We do geo-chemical sampling and decide what type of deposit we are looking for. Our primary targets are large copper/gold deposits and our minimum target is a billion dollars worth of metal in the ground. If we don’t see potential for that, we won’t take it further. We focus on copper and gold, although when you explore you also find other metals and other types of minerals. We develop a geological model and then we follow that throughout the country.” CEOCFOinterviews: Are you buying properties? Mr. Moores: “We are acquiring properties through the Turkish licensing system. We file a request for a license and we can buy up to 40 square kilometers at a time. It is a low-cost activity to acquire property in Turkey. The trick is to acquire those that have mineral deposits in them, and that is where our strength lies.” CEOCFOinterviews: Do you need to bring in much equipment and is how is the infrastructure? Mr. Moores: “In Turkey, the infrastructure is excellent. For the last 60 years, they have had a program of developing communication, transportation, and education throughout the country. There is a network of wide, developed and maintained roads in Turkey. They are always laying pavement, improving all the systems; there are telephones and power lines. There are schools everywhere and it is a progressive country. Many countries, including those considered ‘first world’, could take a lesson from Turkey as far as development. Anything that can be obtained in Europe can be obtained in Turkey.” CEOCFOinterviews: How you do obtain funding for your projects? Mr. Moores: “We have recently raised money through a couple of large private placements. The last funding we did was a placement that raised three million dollars. Right now, we have three-and-a-half million U.S. dollars in our treasury. The strategy is to have our partners fund advanced exploration expenses and development expenditures on our properties. Most of our advanced exploration expenses and development expenditures are under-written by Rio Tinto. This year, they are budgeting two-and-a-half-million dollars for us in Turkey. This means Anatolia's share of the over-head is very small. In addition, Rio Tinto gives us eighteen thousand dollar a month towards over-head, so our burn rate for a year is only four hundred thousand to five hundred thousand dollars.” CEOCFOinterviews: What is the current political situation in Turkey, and how has the general interest in gold impacted the company? Mr. Moores: “There is a new government, and it is a big change for the country because there is a single party in power now. Implementation of the transition caused a delay in the industry. Other than that, the system seems to work, with no negative change. We have seen proposed legislation that will improve the situation for us, by making foreign investment more attractive, lowering tax rates, and making more incentives for mining development. We are looking forward to that legislation being passed. Gold had a very lean four years, and now that is starting to change. We also have copper and other minerals in our portfolio.” CEOCFOinterviews: What would you like to say to potential investors? There are a lot of similar companies to Anatolia, what sets you apart from other companies in your area? Mr. Moores: “Several things set us apart from other companies in this sector. We are focused strictly on one very prolific country, Turkey, which has been largely overlooked, and we have the dominant land position for exploration. We have an extremely highly regarded team of exploration professionals, all of which are Turkish. Our local knowledge and expertise allow us to execute things in the right way, and we have been very successful. Given the quality of our properties and our joint venture with one of the world’s premiere mining companies, I see a lot of potential. We are well financed, management has significant equity ownership, and there is a lot going for Anatolia.” CEOCFOinterviews: What are your challenges as you go forward? Mr. Moores: “Our success has given Rio Tinto the luxury of choice of which projects to get into. As large as they are, they still have limitations as to how many projects they can evaluate at one time and the amount they invest in any one company at a time.” CEOCFOinterviews: Given everything you have said about the opportunities, what are you competing with to gain their interest? Mr. Moores: “There are wonderful deposits in South America, but they are getting harder to get to and more expensive to develop. There is a lot of institutionalization of the exploration projects down there. It is hard to get people to redirect themselves into a new country. They don’t know the country or the laws or how good the deposits are. When you talk to a company, it takes time to get them comfortable with a new area, even though Turkey has many advantages.” CEOCFOinterviews: In closing, what would you like readers to remember about Anatolia Minerals Development? Mr. Moores: “I think that we are now poised to advance. We are getting the first hole drilled in Tunceli, and it is looking very interesting. We are looking forward to expanding the gold zone at 현pler, given mineralization is open at depth and on three sides, beyond the previously assumed boundaries of the inferred resource. Hopefully this should mean good things for our shares – trading of which was recently upgraded to the Toronto Stock Exchange, by the way.” disclaimers |
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