Pluton Resources Limited - Chairman Speech At 2010 Annual General Meeting

09:15 AEST Nov 25, 2010 ABN Newswire (C) 2004-2010 Asia Business News PL. All Rights Reserved.

Melbourne, Australia (ABN Newswire) - Pluton Resources Limited (ASX: PLV) is pleased to release Chairman's speech at 2010 Annual General Meeting. The address is as follows:


Introduction

Good morning ladies and gentlemen and welcome to Pluton Resources Limited 2010 Annual General Meeting.

My name is Malcolm Macpherson and as Chairman of Pluton, I'd like to start by thanking you for taking the time to join us today, and for your ongoing support.


Progress on business imperatives

2010 has been another very successful year for our Company. Our focus was to prove up tonnage and commence environmental and other studies that are required before any decision is made on mining.

I am pleased to report that we have made excellent progress towards these objectives.

During calendar year 2010, we announced two upgrades to the iron ore resource at Irvine Island, which is now estimated to be 452 million tonnes, producing up to 150Mt of high grade iron concentrate. Drilling results to date give the Board great confidence that at Irvine Island we are dealing with a significant, high quality iron ore project. While a full environmental evaluation is ongoing, studies undertaken so far are very encouraging for the development of the project. As you know, Pluton places great emphasis on being a socially and environmentally responsible resource company, therefore we were delighted to have been recognized with two awards during the year - the prestigious Golden Gecko award for environmental excellence, and Mining Australia Magazine Prospect Award for Excellence in Environmental Management. Both awards were in recognition of Pluton's innovative exploration programs - including the hydraulic drilling platform, developed in-house to all-but eliminate the environmental impacts of exploring for minerals on remote and rugged areas such as Irvine Island.

We share these awards with the Mayala people, the traditional owners of Irvine Island whose support and hard work on the Irvine project is key to its continued success. One of the most gratifying features of the Irvine project has been in recruiting and training indigenous people to work on the project and provide real benefits for the community.


Funding - MOU and Placement

During the year, we made significant progress towards securing the funding and capital market support required to underpin the next phase of development of the Irvine project.

In October, we announced a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding with a major Japanese trading company which plans to become a significant minority partner in the Irvine Island project. While the details of the agreement remain confidential at this time, I can assure you that this is a significant step towards crystallizing the value of Pluton and our operations on Irvine Island.

The next steps are for us to demonstrate that we can produce a product that meets the technical specifications for our potential partner, and completion of a Pre-Feasibility study in March 2011 which will address important issues around the project including its precise capital requirements and operating costs.

At that point we will have more clarity on the true value of the project and be in a strong position to negotiate a sale and purchase agreement, a joint venture agreement and an off-take agreement that together will deliver a win-win outcome for both parties.

Earlier this month, we completed a placement of some 23 million shares to raise gross proceeds of A$13.3 million. The placement, at 57 cents per share, received strong support from both existing and new institutional shareholders, and closed significantly oversubscribed. The net funds raised will be used to complete the Pre- Feasibility study, continue exploration of the island, and provide working capital.

The Directors and I are very pleased with the quality of our register following the placement and with our funding and capital requirements now locked in we look forward to 2011 which promises to be an exciting one for our Company.


Looking ahead and closing comments

Based on the results of the Pre-Feasibility Study, which we anticipate will be complete by the end of March 2011, we plan to progress to a Definitive Feasibility Study, which is expected to be completed by the end of calendar 2011. We anticipate that environmental and other mining approvals will be granted in 2012, with the development of the project to commence shortly thereafter.

In closing, I'd like to acknowledge the support and dedication of my fellow Board members over the past year.

Each of your Board members brings a hands-on approach and a valuable perspective to our business and I believe the Board is well credentialed to serve the interests of shareholders.

I'd also like to commend Pluton's management and staff for their passion and hard work over the past year.

And finally I'd like to thank you, our shareholders for your interest and your ongoing support of this Company.

I will now hand over to your Managing Director, Tony Schoer to provide an overview of operations.


About Pluton Resources Limited:

Pluton Resources Limited (ASX:PLV) is a mineral exploration company focusing on iron ore in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, with additional copper, gold and silver projects located in North Western Tasmania. The company was listed in 2006 and is based in Melbourne, Australia. Pluton Resources has proven to innovate and develop new technologies that would otherwise restrict other companies.



Contact:

Mr. Tony Schoer
Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer
Pluton Resources Limited
Mob: +61-0411-232-711
Email: tschoer@plutonresources.com
www.plutonresources.com