Mano River and Petra drop merger plans (December 19, 2005)

Vancouver — The engagement is off between Mano River Resources (MNO-V, MNOVF-O, MANA-L) and Petra Diamonds (PDMDF-O, PDL-L, PDL-A), the two having recently terminated plans for a merger.

The duo will continue to jointly develop their Kono (“Lion”) kimberlite dike project in the Kono diamond district of eastern Sierra Leone. In late 2004, Mano partnered with Aussie-listed firm Crown Diamonds, which subsequently merged with Petra in early 2005.

The Petra-Crown team provides proven technical expertise to the joint venture, specifically in underground mining of the narrow diamondiferous dikes-fissures. The company operates diamond mines in South Africa and is involved in projects in Angola, Botswana and Sierra Leone.

Previous sampling of the Kono dike structures by Mano indicates an average grade of 94 carats per hundred tonnes. A recent small-scale (200 kg) sample by Petra, extracted from the Lion 5 dyke, affirmed the grade.

Petra is constructing a 75-tonne-per-hour production plant (crushing and DMS circuits) it expects to be in operation in early 2006, along with related infrastructure shipped from South Africa.

The joint-venture terms have Petra earning a 51% interest in Mano’s Kono project by spending US$3 million over three years.