Banro issues corporate update
05 March 2008 - 12:41AM
PR Newswire (US)
TORONTO, March 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Banro Corporation
("Banro" or the "Company") (AMEX - "BAA"; TSX - "BAA") is pleased
to provide the following corporate update. Peter Cowley retired on
March 1, 2008 as President of the Company but remains on the Banro
board of directors. The Company thanks Peter for his valued
contribution over four years to the growth and development of the
Company. Mike Prinsloo, Chief Executive Officer of Banro, will be
assuming Mr. Cowley's position as President and will be appointed
to the Company's board of directors. Following a comprehensive
review of Banro's strategic alternatives by the Company, it has
been determined that, in view of the Company's mineral potential
and the current fundamentals of the gold market, the Company will
aggressively pursue development of new mines at its wholly-owned
Twangiza and Namoya gold projects. Pre-feasibilty studies of both
of these projects are well-advanced and are scheduled to be
completed in June 2008. A number of development scenarios, each of
which is flexible and not dependent on economies of scale, are
being considered. The pre-feasibility studies follow on the
Preliminary Assessment Studies of Twangiza and Namoya, the results
of which were announced on July 30, 2007 and July 3, 2007
respectively. The engineering companies engaged in the
pre-feasibility work have agreed to commence full feasibility
studies immediately upon completion of the pre-feasibility studies.
It is expected that this will reduce the time required to complete
full feasibility studies by three to five months and, based on the
current timetable, result in the completion of the two bankable
feasibility studies by December 2008. Discussions with respect to
various options for financing mine development are well advanced
and it is expected that a decision will be announced shortly. It is
the Company's intention to place orders for certain long-lead items
in the second quarter of 2008 in order to meet the timelines which
have been targeted for mine construction and production. Banro is a
Canadian-based gold exploration company focused on the development
of four major, wholly-owned gold projects along the 210
kilometre-long Twangiza-Namoya gold belt in the South Kivu and
Maniema provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (the
"DRC"). Led by a proven management team with extensive gold and
African experience, Banro's strategy is to unlock shareholder value
by increasing and developing its significant gold assets in a
socially and environmentally responsible manner. Forward-Looking
Statements: This press release contains forward-looking statements.
All statements, other than statements of historical fact, that
address activities, events or developments that the Company
believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future
(including, without limitation, statements regarding the Company's
mine development plans and objectives with respect to its Twangiza
and Namoya projects) are forward-looking statements. These
forward-looking statements reflect the current expectations or
beliefs of the Company based on information currently available to
the Company. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of
risks and uncertainties that may cause the actual results of the
Company to differ materially from those discussed in the
forward-looking statements, and even if such actual results are
realized or substantially realized, there can be no assurance that
they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on the
Company. Factors that could cause actual results or events to
differ materially from current expectations include, among other
things: uncertainty of estimates of capital and operating costs,
production estimates and estimated economic return; delays in the
development of a project caused by the unavailability of equipment,
labour or supplies, limited capacity among service providers,
climatic conditions or otherwise; failure to establish estimated
mineral resources; fluctuations in gold prices and currency
exchange rates; inflation; gold recoveries being less than those
indicated by the metallurgical testwork carried out to date (there
can be no assurance that gold recoveries in small scale laboratory
tests will be duplicated in large tests under on-site conditions or
during production); changes in equity markets; political
developments in the DRC; changes to regulations affecting the
Company's activities; uncertainties relating to the availability
and costs of financing needed in the future; the uncertainties
involved in interpreting drilling results and other geological
data; and the other risks disclosed under the heading "Risk
Factors" and elsewhere in the Company's annual information form
dated March 30, 2007 filed on SEDAR at http://www.sedar.com/. Any
forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is
made and, except as may be required by applicable securities laws,
the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update any
forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information,
future events or results or otherwise. Although the Company
believes that the assumptions inherent in the forward-looking
statements are reasonable, forward-looking statements are not
guarantees of future performance and accordingly undue reliance
should not be put on such statements due to the inherent
uncertainty therein. DATASOURCE: Banro Corporation CONTACT: visit
our website at http://www.banro.com/, or contact: Mike Prinsloo,
CEO, South Africa, Tel: (27) 82 825 5986; Arnold T. Kondrat,
Executive Vice-President, Toronto, Ontario, or Martin Jones,
Vice-President, Corporate Development, Toronto, Ontario, Tel: (416)
366-2221 or 1-800-714-7938
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