VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 04/18/06 -- Cash Minerals Ltd. (TSX VENTURE:CHX) announced today that it has retained The Balloch Group to assist in the development of a coal liquefaction project in northern China. Cash Minerals is moving forward with negotiating terms and conditions for evaluating and acquiring a coal deposit in China to support a Coal to Liquids fuel project using the Fischer-Tropsch process (FT).
The Balloch Group is an investment advisory and consulting firm headquartered in Beijing. Mr. Howard Balloch, the firm's Founder and President, served as Canada's Ambassador to China from 1996 to 2001. As Ambassador, he oversaw great expansion in the bilateral relationship between Canada and China. Mr. Balloch was instrumental in establishing and managing a series of initiatives to improve Canada's profile in China, including three Prime Ministerial and Team Canada delegations. During his twenty-five year career with the Government of Canada, Mr. Balloch also served as Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet for National Unity, Assistant Deputy Minister for Asia and the Prime Minister's Personal Representative to APEC.
Mr. Basil Botha, President and CEO of Cash Minerals Ltd., stated "We are extremely fortunate to have retained The Balloch Group to assist us in the evaluation and development of our project in China. Mr. Howard Balloch and his team bring unparalleled experience and insight in the development of business partnerships in China. Coupled with the support of local and national government in China, the outlook for a successful Coal to Liquids project is very positive. Current record oil prices together with the projected supply/demand imbalances will continue to drive the price of oil and will also play a key role in the viability and profitability of FT processing plants going forward".
The Fischer-Tropsch process produces ultra clean fuels from coal with zero-% nitrogen, low in aromatics, high cetane (energy density) number, over 50% reduction in particulate emissions together with zero sulphur emission. In addition, the production process extracts sulphur and other materials which can be used for other manufacturing and commercial purposes. Mr. Botha noted, "Fuels meeting these criteria are already required in some areas of North America with strict emission standards. Ultra clean fuels would play a major role in helping us meet the new goals for energy efficiency and cleaner air. Furthermore, FT fuels have excellent low temperature properties producing improved high altitude operations and low temperature starting. In sum, the process utilizes carbonaceous matter - coal to produce liquid fuel products that are environmentally friendly".
Mr. Botha will return to China in April to continue discussions on moving the project forward. "The development and construction of FT projects in China have a far greater potential of being completed in a shorter space of time to that of similar projects proposed in North American", said Mr. Botha. For additional information on The Balloch Group, please refer to www.ballochgroup.com.
In addition to the work being conducted in China, Cash Minerals is also engaged in discussions with potential partners in South Africa, Germany and the United Kingdom with expertise in underground coal gasification and Fischer-Tropsch conversion technology.
About Cash Minerals Ltd.
Cash Minerals Ltd. (www.cashminerals.com) is an emerging energy resource company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "CHX" and has approximately 61.2 million shares outstanding. Current activities are focused on Uranium, Coal and Alternative Fuels (SynFuel).
Cash Minerals' Uranium exploration projects boast major stakes in eight quality projects, all of which were previously drilled. Four resemble an Olympic Dam-type project, two are modeled after the prolific Rossing Deposit in South Africa and one is testing possible unconformity-related, high grade, vein-and-fracture-controlled uranium mineralization.
The Division Mountain Coal Project in Yukon comprises of five Coal leases measuring 776.4 hectares and 30 Territorial Coal Exploration licenses covering some 360,000 hectares in coal-bearing stratigraphy. The Updated NI 43-101 Report dated December 21, 2005 by T. C. Becker, B.Sc., P.Geo. of Norwest Group (filed with SEDAR on January 10, 2006) confirmed coal resources of 52.5 million tonnes entirely in the Measured category.
Cash Minerals is also investigating opportunities in China and North America for using Fischer-Tropsch technology to produce clean burning alternative fuels from coal.
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Contacts:
Cash Minerals Ltd.
Peter Arendt
Vice President
1 (604) 633-9942
1 (604) 633-9972 (FAX) Email Contact www.cashminerals.com
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