Republic Gold Limited (ASX:RAU) Amayapampa Gold Project Progresses With Appointment Of General Manager Of Operations For Project Construction

Brisbane, Nov 1, 2010 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Republic Gold Limited (ASX:RAU) are pleased to announce that the Company has appointed Mr Victor Barua to the position of General Manager of Operations for the Amayapampa Gold Project ("Amayapampa" or "Project") in Bolivia. This critical and significant appointment flags the beginning of the transition from exploration into development at Amayapampa.

With a funding strategy recently announced following the successful completion of the Bankable Feasibility Study ("BFS") for Amayapampa and a signed Social Licence Agreement at the Project, the Company is now well positioned to commence development of Bolivia's largest producing gold mine.

Republic's Technical Director, Neb Zurkic said that "The critical appointment of Mr Victor Barua signifies the beginning of the transition from exploration into development at Republic's flagship Amayapampa Gold Project in Bolivia".

Mr Barua has been a Senior Manager with extensive professional and operating experience of more than 25 years, working in 7 mining environments around the world, all of which have been open pit gold and copper operations for multinational corporations in Australasia and South America. These include BHP Billiton (ASX:BHP) (NYSE:BHP), Southern Peru Copper (LIN:SPCCPI1) and more recently Newmont (ASX:NEM) (NYSE:NEM). After running different areas in Newmont operations during the last 10 years, his most recent role was Manager Project Development at the Yanacocha mine.

Mr Barua's experience includes assignments leading the engineering departments at large mining operations covering short and long term planning, budgeting, geotechnical slope stability, road design and construction, mine water management, blast designs, feasibility studies, peer reviews and managing social responsibility relationships with the involved communities. After running different engineering roles in Newmont's Yanacocha operation, in Cajamarca, Peru, in the last three years he has been responsible for the management of $221M ($52M in OPEX, in 46 different projects and $169M in CAPEX, in 32 different projects). Projects included road maintenance and construction, leach pad construction, acid water treatment plants, RO water treatment plants and a whole slew of minor projects. During peak construction periods he has managed up to 4,000 contractor personnel with a base of 100 to 160 payroll personnel while achieving excellent safety loss prevention and environmental records.

Republic's Technical Director, Neb Zurkic said:

"I have worked with Victor on various projects over the past 10 years. What Victor brings to the Project extends beyond his technical experience which, coupled with his detailed knowledge of central South American work culture and the language, make his experience invaluable to the Project. Victor is a first rate mining engineer and with his peripheral skill set I doubt there would be a better individual to lead Amayapampa into construction. I welcome Victor to the team and look forward to working with him once again"

Mr Barua will join the technical team for a November meeting in La Paz to refine and establish the Project construction schedule. Victor's mandate will include:

- Ensure the construction schedule as dictated by the financing strategy is adhered to;

- Optimise inputs to the Bankable Feasibility Study;

- Optimise and build onto the existing Amayapampa professional management team.

Contact

John Kelly Managing Director Republic Gold Limited Tel: +61-7-4092-2594 Mob: +61-418-577-759 http://www.republicgold.com.au