KELLOGG, Idaho, Oct. 8, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- New Jersey Mining Company (OTCBB:NJMC) is pleased to announce that it has signed a Letter of Intent with United Mine Services, Inc., a subsidiary of United Mining Group, Inc. (UMG.TO) to expand its New Jersey flotation mill in order to process ores from the nearby Crescent mine as well as ores from the Company's mines.
UMG would pay all the expansion costs, estimated to be $2.3 million, to expand the mill to a processing rate of 15 metric tonnes per hour or 10,000 metric tonnes per month (mtpm). UMG would have the right to 7,000 mtpm with NJMC retaining the right to the remaining 3,000 mtpm. Either party may use the other's milling capacity, if the other party is not using it.
The Company believes the proposed mill expansion will provide benefits of lower milling costs and higher capacity than at present.
A definitive agreement is to be signed by December 31, 2010. The form of the arrangement will be a joint venture with NJMC being the operator and owning 2/3 of the joint venture. NJMC would receive a fixed per tonne fee for acting as the manager of the milling operation.
New Jersey Mining Company is involved in exploring for and developing gold, silver and base metal resources in the Coeur d'Alene Mining District of northern Idaho. New Jersey Mining Company has a portfolio of mineral properties in the Coeur d'Alene Mining District including the Toboggan project, the Niagara copper-silver deposit, the Golden Chest mine, the New Jersey mine, and the Silver Strand mine. The New Jersey mine includes a fully-permitted flotation mill and concentrate leach plant.
This release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended that are intended to be covered by the safe harbor created by such sections. Such statements are based on good faith assumptions that New Jersey Mining Company believes are reasonable but which are subject to a wide range of uncertainties and business risks that could cause actual results to differ materially from future results expressed, projected or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ from those anticipated are discussed in New Jersey Mining Company's periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Further information about New Jersey Mining Company and its properties can be found at the company's website at www.newjerseymining.com .