VANCOUVER, Oct. 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Entree Gold Inc. (TSX:ETG; NYSE
Amex:EGI; Frankfurt:EKA - "Entree" or the "Company") announces that its
application for conversion of the Shivee Tolgoi and Javhlant exploration
concessions to mining licences has been approved by the Mineral Resources
Authority of Mongolia and the licences have been received. The eastern portion
of the Shivee Tolgoi licence and the entire Javhlant licence are subject to a
joint venture with Ivanhoe Mines Ltd., through its subsidiary, Ivanhoe Mines
Mongolia Inc. LLC (TSX: IVN; NYSE: IVN; NASDAQ: IVN - collectively "Ivanhoe
Mines"). Mining licences have a 30 year term with two renewals of 20 years
each possible.
Greg Crowe, President and CEO of Entree stated: "The granting of the mining
licences provides the long term security necessary for Entree and its joint
venture partner, Ivanhoe Mines, to advance the known deposits at Oyu Tolgoi
through development to production. It also provides sufficient time for
testing the potential along strike extensions to Entree's Hugo North Extension
and Heruga deposits and for the diligent and systematic exploration of other
copper, gold and molybdenum prospects. The granting of these mining licenses
represents a pivotal moment in the advancement of our Mongolian assets."
Shivee Tolgoi (54,760 hectares) and Javhlant (20,346 hectares) completely
surround Ivanhoe Mines' Oyu Tolgoi mining licence. Conversion of these
licences has now consolidated a sizeable land position upon which the Oyu
Tolgoi mining complex will be established.
Title to the portion of the Shivee Tolgoi licence outside of the joint venture
("Shivee Tolgoi West") is 100% owned by Entree LLC, the Company's Mongolian
subsidiary. The Company believes that further exploration is warranted on
Shivee Tolgoi West, which covers over 35,000 hectares, to identify additional
mineralization which could be processed through the Oyu Tolgoi facilities.
Successful conversion of these exploration licences to mining licences was a
condition precedent to the Investment Agreement signed between Ivanhoe Mines,
our largest shareholder Rio Tinto (NYSE: RTP; LSE: RIO.L; ASX: RIO.AX) and the
Mongolian government on October 06, 2009. These mining licences are contained
within the Contract Area covered by the Investment Agreement. Under the terms
of the Entree-Ivanhoe Mines joint venture, Entree retains either a 20% or 30%
carried interest on these licences, dependent on the depth of mineralization.
ABOUT ENTREE GOLD INC.
Entree Gold Inc. is a Canadian mineral exploration company focused on the
worldwide exploration and development of gold and copper prospects. The
Company flagship property is in Mongolia, where it holds two mining licences
and one exploration licence comprising the 179,590 hectare Lookout Hill
property. Lookout Hill completely surrounds the 8,500-hectare Oyu Tolgoi
project of Ivanhoe Mines, and hosts the Hugo North Extension of the Hugo
Dummett copper-gold deposit and the Heruga copper-gold-molybdenum deposit.
The Company continues to explore its large landholdings in Mongolia, including
the coal discovery Nomkhon Bohr. Entree is also evaluating new opportunities
throughout the region and elsewhere in Asia. Entree is exploring the Huaixi
copper project in Zhejiang Province in China, under the terms of an agreement
with the # 11 Geological Brigade.
In North America, the Company is exploring for porphyry-related copper systems
in Arizona and New Mexico under agreements with Empirical Discovery LLC, in
Nevada through option agreements with HoneyBadger Exploration Inc. and Bronco
Creek Exploration Inc. and in British Columbia through an agreement with Taiga
Consultants Ltd.
The Company is also seeking additional opportunities to utilize its expertise
in exploring for deep and/or concealed ore deposits. With a treasury in excess
of C$40 million, the Company is well funded for future activities.
Ivanhoe Mines and Rio Tinto are major shareholders of Entree, holding
approximately 15% and 16% of issued and outstanding shares respectively.
This News Release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking
statements are statements which relate to future events. In some cases, you
can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as "may",
"should", "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "estimates",
"predicts", "potential" or "continue" or the negative of these terms or other
comparable terminology. Such statements include those relating to the
development of the Oyu Tolgoi project and the conversion of the Shivee Tolgoi
and Javlant exploration licence to mining licences. These statements are only
predictions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other
factors that may cause our or our industry's actual results, levels of
activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from any
future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or
implied by these forward-looking statements.
While these forward-looking statements, and any assumptions upon which they
are based, are made in good faith and reflect our current judgment regarding
the direction of our business, actual results will almost always vary,
sometimes materially, from any estimates, predictions, projections,
assumptions or other future performance suggested herein. Except as required
by applicable law, including the securities laws of the United States, the
Company does not intend to update any of the forward-looking statements to
conform these statements to actual results. Readers are referred to the
sections entitled "Risk Factors" in the Company's periodic filings with the
British Columbia Securities Commission, which can be viewed at www.SEDAR.com,
and with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, which can be
viewed at www.SEC.gov.
SOURCE Entrée Gold Inc.
Monica Hamm, Manager, Investor Relations, Entree Gold Inc., Tel: (604)
687-4777, Toll Free: (866) 368-7330, E-mail: mhamm@entreegold.com; Peter
Oates, Corporate Communications, Entree Gold Inc., Tel: (604) 687-4777, Toll
Free: (866) 368-7330, E-mail: poates@entreegold.com
