Prognoz Silver LLC
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TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Feb. 18, 2011) - High River Gold Mines Ltd. ("High River" or the "Company") (TSX:HRG) was informed that Prognoz Silver LLC ("Prognoz Silver") repaid part of an outstanding debt due under the contract for exploration work on the Prognoz silver project to OJSC Buryatzoloto ("Buryatzoloto"). High River holds a 50% indirect interest in Prognoz Silver, which operates the Prognoz silver project in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Russia. The repaid amount was approximately US$18 million. Prognoz Silver's debt originated from the inability of its shareholders, other than High River, to finance their share of expenditures at the Prognoz silver project.
Following the repayment, the Arbitration Court of the City of Moscow dismissed Buryatzoloto's application for official bankruptcy procedures for Prognoz Silver. However, the initial application to put Prognoz Silver into bankruptcy, which was filed by Prognoz Silver itself, is still under review by the court and has not yet been decided. Buryatzoloto is considering the circumstances of the repayment and evaluating its next steps.
About High River
High River is an unhedged gold company with interests in producing mines and advanced exploration projects in Russia and Burkina Faso. Two underground mines, Zun-Holba and Irokinda, are situated in the Lake Baikal region of Russia. Two open pit gold mines, Berezitovy in Russia and Taparko-Bouroum in Burkina Faso, are also in production. Finally, High River has two advanced exploration projects with NI 43-101 compliant resource estimates, the Bissa gold project in Burkina Faso and 50% interest in the Prognoz silver project in Russia.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT: Konstantin Sobolevskiy
High River Gold Mines Ltd.
CEO
011 7 495 981 0910 ext. 6676
info@hrg.ca
http://www.hrg.ca/">www.hrg.ca
