Republic Gold Limited (ASX:RAU) Signs Letter Of Intent On El Mutun Iron Ore Project, Bolivia

Brisbane, Nov 30, 2009 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Republic Gold Limited (ASX:RAU) today announced that the Company has signed a Letter of Intent with the Government of the Department of Santa Cruz in Bolivia to work jointly towards exploration at the El Mutun Iron Ore Project in Eastern Bolivia. The Letter of Intent is signed by Raul Barrosa Saso, Secretary of Mining, Energy and Hydrocarbons for the Government of the Department of Santa Cruz. The Indian company, Jindal Iron and Steel has already contracted with the Morales Government of Bolivia (through a state-owned enterprise ESM SA) to develop an integrated iron ore and steel operation covering 50% of the available El Mutun concessions for a cost estimate of +US$2B.

The Letter or Intent is an important step towards enabling the Company to undertake an exploration programme at El Mutun. The Company also needs to obtain relevant consents and agreements from the national government of Bolivia.

Republic's Managing Director; John Kelly, said:

"El Mutun is a significant project on Bolivia's border with one of the world's fastest growing economies, Brazil. The LOI presents a significant opportunity for Republic and gives us the platform to build a truly world-class iron ore asset base. The fact that Jindal, one of India's largest steel manufacturers, has committed over USD$2 Billion to developing perhaps the world's largest underdeveloped iron ore project is an encouraging step towards commercialising the project. The commitment to foreign investment in Bolivia from local communities, State Departments and the Morales Federal Government is a direct result of longstanding ties developed through the Company's Amayapampa Gold Project."

Republic continues to focus on developing its Amayapampa Gold Project and expects to update the market shortly on a resource upgrade.

Technical Elements of the Project

El Mutun covers approximately 60 square miles, of which 90% lies in Bolivia and the remainder in Brazil. The mountain rises 600 metres above the surrounding plains.

El Mutun was the subject of an extensive feasibility study carried out by US consulting group McKee in the 1970s, which included 3,400 metres of diamond drilling. The drilling encountered iron ore bearing formations between 100 and 320 metres thick. The iron manifests principally in layers of oxides, with local presence of the layer of carbonates. The principal minerals of iron present are hematite, magnetite and siderite. The Bolivian Geological Survey (SERGIOTECHMIN) reports that there are three types of iron deposits in the mountain; primary iron ore, colluvial iron ore and eluvial iron ore.

There are significant volumes of alluvial and colluvial material on surface, which is what Bolivia's stateowned mining company, COMIBOL, mined in the 1980s and 1990s. A simple screening process was sufficient to upgrade the ore mined by COMIBOL to economic grades. The COMIBOL operation barged the ore down the Rio Paraguay to the Atlantic Ocean at Buenos Aires. This is the same transport route that is currently used by the Corumba Mine. This river is an international waterway from the Bolivian town Puerto Busch, some 50 kilometres to the south of El Mutun right to the Atlantic Ocean.

Contact

John Kelly Managing Director Republic Gold Limited Mob: +61-418-577-759