Philippines ministerial announcement: CVMR Exploration Rights

20 April 2007, Manila, Philippines

The Honorable Angelo T. Reyes, Secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, announced that the Philippine Government has awarded exploration rights in the Province of Eastern Samar to CVMR® Resources (Philippines) Inc. CVMR® Resources is a subsidiary of Chemical Vapour Metal Refining Inc. (CVMR®), a Canadian corporation specialized in highly integrated mining and refining of nickel, cobalt and PGMs with proprietary, state-of-the-art vapour metallurgy refining technology.

CVMR® expressed its appreciation for the confidence in it expressed by the Philippine Government. CVMR® Resources has undertaken to carry out a regional geological reconnaissance survey in compliance with the 2-year exploration work program that had been previously submitted by the corporation to the Mines & Geosciences Bureau. The surveys will identify regions for exploratory auger drilling to begin definition of the occurrence and nature of the nickel mineral deposit at CVMR® Resources' tenement in Eastern Samar.

It is expected that a nickel laterite resource base will eventually be delineated, that would be sufficiently large to support an economically viable commercial operation, producing at least 30,000 tonnes of nickel products per annum. Such a project would provide direct employment for at least 1500 individuals, and hundreds more support personnel, and would contribute to a robust economic activity in the Province of Eastern Samar, with particular benefits flowing to the three municipalities of Quinapondan, Balangiga and Giporlos. This project will contribute to the advancement of the Philippines' dynamic mining industry by establishing a world class fully integrated processing and refining operation in the Philippines.