Aminex Wins Onshore Exploration Rights in Madagascar

Aminex, with partner Mocoh Resources Ltd., has been awarded the rights to Block 3108, known as Manja, onshore the west coast of Madagascar and covering an area of 10,725 square kilometers, (approximately 2.6 million acres). The rights to this block are held through a Production Sharing Agreement between OMNIS, the Madagascar state oil and mining organisation and Amicoh Resources Limited, a newly formed company, in which Aminex and Mocoh each holds an equal number of shares and through which the shareholders will fund exploration activity in equal proportions. Mocoh is an active downstream African petroleum group with existing assets and distribution operations in a number of countries including Madagascar.
Several wells have been drilled in the past on Manja, some of which found significant shows of oil and gas without benefit of modern seismic and other exploration tools available today. The geology is analogous to the East Coast of Tanzania where Aminex is already a well-established explorer. A number of international oil and gas companies have become active in Madagascar recently, including Exxon-Mobil, Norsk-Hydro, Vanco, Sterling Energy, Vuna Resources and Sun-Pec.

The Manja PSA calls for seismic in an initial two-year period followed by exploration drilling in subsequent periods. The effective date of the PSA will commence upon signing of a Presidential decree, estimated to take place in 30 to 45 days time.

Commenting on the award, Aminex Chief Executive Brian Hall said: "We are very pleased to have secured the exploration rights to this interesting block and to be participating in Madagascar’s fast growing exploration effort. This is our first joint project with Mocoh since a recent agreement for co-operation in African exploration ventures."

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