Anatolia Minerals Development Ltd fka ANO.U

[Ed Monton]

Anatolia Minerals Gears Up For A Production Decision in Turkey

http://www.minesite.com/storyFull5.php?storySeq=3237

By Our Canadian Correspondent

The past 12 months have been a roller coaster ride for shareholders of Canadian listed Anatolia Minerals Development but with a bevy of joint ventures to go along with its flagship Çöpler gold project in Turkey, 2006 could well be a banner year for the Richard Moores led junior.

Shareholders are certainly hoping for the best as, after nearly a decade of exploration in Turkey and armed with a strategic relationship with Rio Tinto since 2000, Anatolia has a lot on its plate including four promising exploration projects joint ventured out to the global mining giant and four other projects dished out to fellow juniors like Canadian-listed Eurasian Minerals. But with the price of gold solidly above US$500 per ounce, investors are clearly pinning their hopes of Anatolia’s wholly owned Çöpler gold deposit, which the junior acquired in its entirety from Rio Tinto and its Turkish partner in January 2004 free of any royalties, earn-in or back-in rights. The project simply did not meet Rio Tinto’s size criteria but it could well be a company maker for Anatolia. The idea is to fast- track development of the shallow leachable portion of the resource, while determining the best way to treat the sulphide ore in an effort to create a high grade open pit mine.

Copler holds a measured and indicated in-pit oxide resource of 11.6 million tonnes grading 2.96 g/t gold, plus 30.9 million tonnes of heap-leach ore at 0.70 g/t gold, for a total of 1.8 million ounces of contained gold. There is also an inferred oxide resource which totals 4.5 million tonnes at 0.84 g/t gold, containing another 121,600 oz of gold, while the somewhat problematic sulfide resources total 28 million tonnes of in-pit measured & indicated grading 2.22 g/t gold for 2 million ounces of gold, plus 15.5 million tonnes of inferred resources running at 3 g/t gold for yet another 1.5 million ounces.

Overall, Çöpler total resources equate to 5.4 million ounces and based on the latest drill result that include 46 metres grading 9.3 g/t Au and 47 metres averaging 5.8 g/t gold from step-out holes between Main and Marble Contact zones, this total is growing. And despite the fact that recent drilling extended the known mineralization and opens up the prospects that the two zones may be connected, the company will not be using the latest drill values in the feasibility study that is slated for completion by March 2006.

Still just by using the 1.8 million ounce oxide gold resource, the project could well start production at 125,000 ounces of gold per year with more than a ten year project life. The 2 million ounce gold sulfide resource offers significant expansion potential on the order of 250,000 ounces of gold per year but the refractory nature of the mineralization needs to be addressed.

On the exploration side of the equation, Rio Tinto is committed to spend US$700,000 this year on Anatolia’s Kizilviran copper porphyry project, while Eurasian Minerals will be active on Anatolia’s properties on the Biga Peninsula. News on this front could also propel Anatolia’s shares in 2006.

So with such a nice asset in a rising gold price environment and exploration upside, what held Anatolia shares in check during 2005?

Well every time Anatolia’s shares gained traction, a financing was announced that capped the upward trajectory. A good example came in mid-October as shares in the company hit a 52-week high of C$2.20, the junior announced a C$15 million financing. This one comprised 7.89 million units priced at C$1.90 each with a unit holding one share and half a warrant. A full warrant is exercisable at C$2.65 for a two year period but an accelerator clause is in place that allows the company to call the warrants should the share price be over C$5.30 for 10 trading straight trading days. Armed with a cash balance above C$18 million and a production decision looming, these types of financings could well be a thing of the past, finally allowing Anatolia’s stock to gain momentum to the upside.

Of course, Richard Moores could also learn a lesson from Yamana Gold and Greystar Resources, both of which saw their share price appreciate significantly after completing a dual listing on AIM. Bird flu apart the Brits know where Turkey is as it is a popular holiday destination. Richard was thinking about doing just that in 2003-2004 but it never came to fruition. Perhaps a positive feasibility study in 2006 will prompt him to act. Time will tell and we will be watching.