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Cameco
and Pitchstone Join Forces with Motapa Pitchstone Exploration Ltd. (TSX-V: PXP) is pleased to announce that together with Cameco Corporation (TSX: CCO; NYSE: CCJ) a Letter Agreement has been signed with Motapa Diamonds Inc. (TSX-V: MTP) to jointly explore Motapa's uranium exploration licenses in Gabon. Motapa has received confirmation from the Gabon Ministry of Mines, Energy, Petroleum and Hydraulic Resources that Motapa's application for exclusive rights to explore for uranium over licenses covering 396,100 hectares of the Francevillian Basin in east-central Gabon has been approved. The licenses were applied for on the basis of results of geochemical analyses of samples collected concurrent with Motapa's diamond exploration work in Gabon. The Proterozoic Francevillian Basin of Gabon is analogous to the Athabasca Basin of Saskatchewan. Deposits in the Francevillian have produced in the order of 100 million pounds of U3O8 ranking it as one of the world's most significant uranium districts. The parties feel the region is under-explored and offers excellent potential. Terms of the Letter Agreement provide Cameco and Pitchstone with the option to earn a 56% interest in the licenses (28% each) by incurring exploration expenditures of C$3,500,000 (C$1,750,000 each) over a four year period. Subsequent to this initial vesting period, Cameco and Pitchstone will have a second option to acquire an additional 24% interest (12% each) by expending a further C$8,500,000 (C$4,250,000 each) within three years following the completion of initial vesting. "We are delighted to involve Cameco and Pitchstone on this project" noted Dr. Larry Ott, CEO of Motapa. "The uranium exploration expertise of both Pitchstone and Cameco, together with the industry strength of Cameco provides an opportunity to aggressively advance the project on the basis of sound technical merit." The Letter Agreement is subject to the satisfactory completion of a due diligence review by Cameco and Pitchstone by May 31, 2006 and is further subject to the waiver by Motapa's alliance partner BHP Billiton to certain back in rights to the project pursuant to a pre-existing agreement. Pitchstone is an aggressive uranium exploration company with eight projects in the eastern Athabasca Basin, Saskatchewan and three in the Hornby Bay Basin, Nunavut and NWT. Cameco is the worlds leading uranium producer with production facilities in Canada, United States and Kazakhstan. Motapa is among
the leading diamond explorers in Africa and has interests in over
11 million hectares of diamond prospective properties located in
Namibia, Zambia, Botswana, Gabon and Mozambique. For further
information contact: Mark T. Brown,
CFO, The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Not for distribution in the United States. |