Niagara Mining appoints Forrest to company chair

Subaico-based Niagara Mining Ltd has announced the appointment of Andrew Forrest as non-executive chairman and a share consolidation as part of a company reorganisation it says will help it become a strong industrial nickel producer.

The full text of a Niagara Mining announcement is pasted below

Niagara Mining is pleased to announce a reorganisation that will enable it to aggressively pursue the objective of becoming a significant independent nickel producer.

The driver of the reorganisation will be the appointment and involvement of senior leadership which will significantly strengthen and consolidate the Company's previously stated exploration and production objectives by the injection of:

• Technical and administrative management
• Geological expertise
• Project design capability
• Operations expertise
• Finance management
• Marketing expertise in nickel metal
• Exposure to global investment markets

As a result of the above, the Company has already secured diamond drilling rigs not previously available to it and will be conducting a detailed review of the available nickel resources and targets to implement the above objective of becoming a significant independent nickel producer.

A fundamental part of the reorganisation of Niagara is an appropriate capital structure. To achieve this, the Company will consolidate all its securities on a 1:2 basis which will result in the Company's existing issued securities of 334 million being reduced to 167 million.

To achieve its objectives, the Company has reached agreement with Mr Andrew Forrest to become non-executive Chairman, subject to approval at the Shareholders meeting.

Mr Forrest and his associates are to take a placement of 5.5 million postconsolidation shares at A$0.40 to raise A$2.2 million and accept an incentive based issue of 117.5 million post-consolidation options.

The options are exercisable in five tranches at A$0.40 when the shares trade at significant premiums at or above A$0.60, A$0.70, A$0.80, A$0.90 and A$1.00 for five consecutive post-consolidation trading days.

The appointment marks an exciting development for Niagara Mining and the consolidation of development plans for the Company's positioning within the booming nickel market. Niagara Mining holds the historic Mount Windarra mining leases acquired from WMC Resources in 2005. The area hosts the iconic Poseidon mine around which the nickel boom of the 1970s was built.

The Company has a large initial target of 70,000 nickel metal tonnes which includes high grade nickel sulphide zones located beneath the old Mount Windarra workings which have been the subject of diamond drilling by Niagara in 2006.

With the appointment of Mr Forrest, further enhancements to the proposed Board are:

• Mr Chris Indermaur who was the Engineering and Contracts Manager for Queensland Nickel ("QNI") at Yabulu, and was subsequently Commercial Manager and Company Secretary at Queensland Alumina ("QAL") at Gladstone and is currently Executive General Manager for Strategy and Development for Alinta Ltd will be appointed as a Non-Executive Director subject to approval at the Shareholders meeting.
• Mr Richard Monti joins the Board as a Non-Executive Director of the Company, effective immediately. Mr Monti, a highly experienced geologist, has previously worked with Mr Forrest as Head of Exploration and Geology prior to his appointment as Head of Marketing of the Murrin Murrin Nickel Cobalt operation and has extensive experience on other significant projects.
• Mr Douglas Daws, the present Chairman, will work with Mr Forrest until at least the General Meeting of shareholders and the ratification of Mr Forrest's appointment.
• Mr Christopher Daws will continue his role as Chief Executive Officer. As part of the reorganisation the company will seek to appoint a new Chief Executive Officer.
• Current Non-Executive Director, Mr Bruno Sceresini will stand down from the Board, effective immediately, but will continue his role in the development of the Oxide Heap Leach program at Windarra.
• Mr Peter Landau, Non Executive Director, has resigned from the Board, effective immediately.

Mr Douglas Daws, said "the introduction of Andrew's team and the tremendous industrial strength which comes with that into Niagara represents a clear opportunity for the development of a major new independent Australian nickel producer. The Windarra mining leases contain two significant mined nickel deposits, existing infrastructure for mine redevelopment and a first class geological setting providing outstanding exploration potential. We will be aiming to take the project from exploration to production expeditiously with the right capitalisation and leadership."

The reorganisation outlined in this announcement is subject to all necessary approvals, including shareholder approvals. The Company will seek to dispatch the Notice of Meeting materials (including an Independent Expert's Report) as soon as practicable and envisages that the shareholders meeting will be held by mid-June 2007.