Dundee Precious Metals Response Regarding Sofia News Agency Article: Bulgarian Town Rises

Dundee Precious Metals response regarding Sofia News Agency article: “Bulgarian town rises against Canadian Mining Company Dundee”. 21 December 2009

On 20 October 2009, Sofia News Agency published “Bulgarian town rises against Canadian Mining Company Dundee”.

Business & Human Rights Resource Centre invited Dundee Precious Metals to respond. The company’s response follows:

“This article refers to the village of Chepelare. DPM hold a legally awarded exploration license in the area of this village however the small amount of work that has been done there has been extremely low impact soils sampling work and not as the article suggests anything more significant. There has been no drilling or more extensive or intrusive exploration work and at this stage we (or anyone else) are far from doing even advanced planning toward a mining operation in the area.

We are in dialogue with the community and with its leaders and of course if we were ever in a position to carry our more extensive prospecting and exploration work we would be discussing our plans with the community and getting feedback to help plan and execute the work prior to commencing. However at this stage that would be a redundant exercise, as would any discussion of potential mining and processing, because there is nothing even remotely resembling a mineral resource on which to base such discussion.

The article is incorrect in its statement that DPM uses the “cheapest” form of mining. We apply best international practice in all of its forms (safety, environment, community, processing technology, mining technology, and so on) to all of our projects, or at least in “brown fields” or legacy sites we develop a realistic schedule to meeting that objective. The article mistakenly implies that we have other more advanced projects nearby Chepelare.

The article correctly states that DPM own the Chelopech operation and Krumovgrad project. Chelopech is an historic site where DPM have progressively implemented a schedule to bring about change to best practice. Krumovgrad is a green-fields project where we are currently going through a design iteration to address issues raised by the community prior to preceding with further permitting. Our record of community engagement and environmental best practice at each of these two properties stands on its merits. Neither Cheklopech nor Krumovgrad are near by Chelepare.”

Adrian Goldstone, Vice President, Environment and Sustainable Development, Dundee Precious Metals