Kastan Mining Environmental Impact Assessemnt Approved

PR Log (Press Release) – Jun 15, 2009 – DAR ES SALAAM, TANZANIA  – Kastan announced today that the National Environmental Management Council (“NEMC”) has approved the Environmental Impact Assessment (“EIA”) for its Copper Mining Project in the Kilosa District of Tanzania.  The NEMC Certificate was granted after a thorough review of environmental baseline information, impact predictions, socioeconomic factors, and mitigation actions presented by Kastan.  Key to Kastan’s plans in the Kilosa District are the recommendations of MTL Consulting Co. Ltd., specialists who conducted months of detailed work in preparing the Environmental and Social Management plan for the project.  

Kastan Chairman, Yun Ho Cho, commented, “This is a major milestone for us.  Kastan is committed to sound environmental stewardship and is convinced its plans comply with all regulatory requirements.  We have been impressed with the work Dr. Mutagwaba and his team at MTL Consulting have done in guiding the Company towards receiving the NEMC Certificate, which validates our vision for the Company’s future mining operations in the Kilosa District.  This represents the final regulatory approval required by Kastan prior to submitting a Special Mining License application to the Ministry of Energy and Minerals, an action we expect to take in the near future.”  

John Tate, Kastan’s Vice-Chairman went on to say, “The environmental review also placed a significant amount of attention on the social management aspects of the project.  In evaluating these impacts MTL interviewed a wide cross section of stakeholders, including villagers, village leadership teams, Kilosa District officials, and local political representatives.  Our ability to receive the NEMC approval would not have been possible without the broad-based community support Kastan received from all of these stakeholder groups.  We believe building and maintaining an open and productive dialogue with these stakeholder groups is essential in helping us achieve optimal results in our commercial operations.  We want to express our sincere thanks for the vote of confidence we have received from the communities impacted by our mining project.”