The Alyansa Tigil Mina Blog

Peter Wallace, Manila Standard -
http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=peterWallace_june23_2006“>

23rd June 2006

WE did something Bishop Arturo Bastes didn’t do. We did some scientific
research on the Philippine Mining Law and whether it was sufficient to
protect the environment and ensure responsible mining.

We compared the mining-related and environmental laws and regulations
of three mineral-rich and high-income countries (Australia, Canada and the US) with those of the Philippines in terms of how they address the three most significant aspects of any mining project, namely: the environment, health and safety, and community development and engagement. Regulations on how these countries address transparency and accountability in government processes, and the recent international initiative in this area, were also examined.

We also looked at the standards, guidelines and declarations of
multilateral organizations (the World Bank’s International Finance Corp. or IFC, and United Nations’ International Labor Organization) as well as standards set by international organizations that are currently being adopted by many corporations as they have now come to realize that compliance with the laws of the countries where they operate may not be sufficient to protect the environment and address the concerns of affected communities.

On top of that, we reviewed guidelines developed by some international
mining organizations, all of which are members of the International
Council of Metals and Mining. The ICMM has an extensive work program that includes public reporting and sharing of good practices. They have
developed-through the contributions of industry leaders-a set of field-proven guidelines on exploration activities, community engagement and environmental practices. (more…)

22 Jun 2006

By Manny Mogato, Reuters -

Arroyo has ordered the army to pull out troops facing Muslim rebels on
the southern island of Mindanao as the government and the Moro Islamic
Liberation Front continue talks to end 40 years of conflict that has
killed 120,000 people in the south. (more…)

By Abe Almirol - Manila Standard

“The water in the river is murky. There are a few benthic organisms,
such as freshwater fishes, like catfish and macrophytes. Dissolved oxygen is low so plankton count, algae and microorganisms that serve as food fishes, is also low,” Castaneto said. (more…)

Report and Press Release
NEW YORK, NEW YORK — (MARKET WIRE) — 06/15/2006 —

EARLY WARNING REPORT AND PRESS RELEASE
Report Pursuant to

SECTION 111 OF THE SECURITIES ACT (BRITISH COLUMBIA)
SECTION 101 OF THE SECURITIES ACT (ONTARIO)
NATIONAL INSTRUMENT 62-103

1. Name and address of the offeror
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (”GS Group”), 85 Broad Street, New York,
NY, 10004

Goldman, Sachs & Co. (”GS & Co.”), 85 Broad Street, New York, NY, 10004

GS Group and GS & Co. are hereinafter referred to collectively as the
“Offeror”.

2. The designation and number or principal amount of securities and the
offeror’s securityholding percentage in the class of securities of
which the offeror acquired ownership or control in the transaction or occurrence giving rise to the obligation to file the news release, and whether it was ownership or control that was acquired in those circumstances.

The Offeror did not acquire ownership or control of any securities of
Crew Gold Corporation (the “Company”) in the transaction that gave rise to the obligation to file the news release. The obligation to file the news release arose from the following change in material fact included in the news release and report filed by the Offeror on January 13, 2006.

Since January 13, 2006, the Offeror has sold all of common shares of
the Company (the “Shares”) owned and controlled by the Offeror, resulting in the Offeror’s security holdings in the Company being limited to holding five-year senior unsecured convertible bonds (the “Convertible Bonds”) convertible at the option of the Offeror into 19,954,545 Shares representing approximately 5.31% of the issued and outstanding Shares on a partially diluted basis (where the Shares issuable on the conversion of the Offeror’s Convertible Bonds are deemed to be outstanding Shares of the Company, but no other Shares issuable on the conversion of convertible securities held by
persons other than the Offeror are deemed to be outstanding).

3. The designation and number or principal amount of securities and the
offeror’s securityholding percentage in the class of securities
immediately after the transaction or occurrence giving rise to the obligation to file a news release.

After giving effect to the change in material fact noted in item 2
above, the Offeror owned and controlled Convertible Bonds convertible at the option of the Offeror into 19,954,545 Shares representing approximately 5.31% of the issued and outstanding common shares of the Company on a partially diluted basis.

4. The designation and number or principal amount of securities and the
percentage of outstanding securities of the class of securities
referred to in paragraph 3 over which: (more…)

LONDON, United Kingdom:

June 22, 2006 - Crew Gold Corporation (”Crew” or the “Company”) (TSE &
OSE: CRU; Frankfurt: KNC; OTC-BB- other: CRUGF.PK.

Crew is pleased to announce that an option agreement (the Agreement)
has been signed to acquire 95% of the shares in Daguma Agro Minerals Inc “DAMI” (Daguma Coal Project, South Cotabato coal field) in the Philippines through its 100% owned subsidiary, Crew Minerals AS. Crew has secured the option through payment of a non-refundable option fee of USD 150,000 which entitles it to conduct a due diligence assessment for three months from the date of the Agreement.

To exercise the option, Crew must pay a total of USD 10 million in cash
and equity of Crew. Crew and associated Philippine qualified partners will acquire 50% of DAMI and entitle the Company to purchase the remaining equity. A final payment totalling USD 13.75 million in cash and equity is to be made 18 months following completion of the due diligence period to acquire the remaining 45% of DAMI.

The Daguma Coal Project holds a 2000-hectare license area under Coal
Operation Contract (COC) No 126 and consists of two Coal Blocks No. 380
and 381. The COC was awarded a conversion from Exploration Phase to a
Development/Production Phase by the Department of Energy (DOE) in
February 2006. Further, the company has received a Compliance Certificate from the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples and a consent from the Indigenous Communities in Dec 2004. Further conditions for start of production are an ECC (Environmental Compliance Certificate) from the Department of Energy and Natural Resources and a final revised work program with updated feasibility study.

The South Cotabato coalfield, and particularly the DAMI property, is a
recent discovery to the Philippines and now considered potentially to
host the largest coal deposits on the country according to a comparative report by the Department of Energy.

A detailed resource evaluation by Toquero Geol. and Affiliates (Aus)
estimated a Measured resource of 28 million tonnes, an Indicated
resource of 150 million tonnes and an Inferred resource of 130 million tonnes Inferred resource has been delineated within a distance of max 1000 m from last points of observation. Mr Levy C. Toquero, of Toquero Geol & Affiliates (Aus) served as the Qualified Person for the resources estimate. Consultants to DAMI have subsequently defined an open pitable reserve of 44.1 million tonnes within the resource, with an average stripping ratio of 2.8:1. This has formed the basis for a production plan submitted to and approved by the DOE to move the project to the Development and Production Stage.

The main coal seam is between 8.5 m and 15.9 thick, averaging 11.5 m
and the coal quality is ranked as high-volatile, sub-bituminous coal with caloric values of 9,510 BTU/Lb and 9.10% Ash; 0.85% Sulfur and 6.86% moisture (all on air-dried basis). These qualities rank the Daguma coal as the highest quality coal in the Philippines.

Crew will independently verify this data as part of its due diligence.

Jan Vestrum, President and CEO of Crew commented, “This project is
strategic as a stand alone project and further strengthens Crew’s presence and commitment to the Philippines. A secondary key aspect is that a successful acquisition and ramp up of the Daguma Coal Project will enable Crew Minerals to undertake a phased development of the Mindoro Nickel Project without the need for external partners. We believe the Daguma Coal Project and the Mindoro Nickel project represents major value.”

Jan A Vestrum

President & CEO

Thursday, 22nd June 2006

AFX -

The mine has an estimated measured resource of 28 mln tonnes, though
Crew said it will independently verify this data as part of the review.

Manila Bulletin -

He said Philex’s net profit for the second quarter to June should
be higher than its first-quarter earnings of P574.5 million. (more…)

23rd June 2006

Inquirer -
http://business.inq7.net/money/breakingnews/view_article.php?article_id=6259

PHILEX Mining Corp. said its net profit this year may jump to at least
two billion pesos from 409.1 million pesos last year, driven by high metal prices.

“We are of the opinion that while copper prices are at an all-time high
and therefore vulnerable to a correction, the prices are not going to
collapse,” Philex chairman and chief executive Walter Brown told reporters after the company’s annual stockholders’ meeting.

“We are also of the opinion that gold prices will continue their upward
trend, though there may be volatility along the way,” he added.

He said Philex’s net profit for the second quarter to June should be
higher than its first-quarter earnings of 574.5 million pesos.

During the meeting, stockholders approved the combination of Philex’s
A-shares and B-shares shares into a single class of shares that will be
available to both Filipino and foreign investors. At present, only
Filipino investors can trade A-shares, while B-shares are open to both Filipino and foreign investors.

Philex A-shares closed down 0.10 peso at 3.90 and its B-shares
retreated 0.05 to 3.90.

(One dollar = 53.26 pesos)

By Jose Rodel Clapano
The Philippine Star 06/23/2006

Lopez asked Reyes why a law firm is engaged in a business endeavor such as mining instead of the practice of law. (more…)