Update on Kabanga nickel JV

RNS Number:3324R
Xstrata PLC
15 February 2007





NEWS RELEASE





 XSTRATA NICKEL COMMITS US$95 MILLION, UPDATES RESOURCE ESTIMATE AND COMMENCES
    PRE-FEASIBILITY STUDY AT KABANGA JOINT VENTURE NICKEL PROJECT, TANZANIA




Toronto, February 15, 2007 - Xstrata Nickel announces further investment of
US$95 million and the commencement of a pre-feasibility study to advance the
Kabanga nickel project located in western Tanzania.

An update to the preliminary resource estimate has also been announced for the
project, a 50/50 owned joint venture of Barrick Gold Corporation and Xstrata
Nickel, operated by Xstrata through a subsidiary. This confirms the Kabanga
nickel project as among the world's most attractive undeveloped nickel sulphide
deposits, with a total estimated indicated resource of 9.7 million tonnes
grading 2.37% nickel and a total estimated inferred resource of 36.3 million
tonnes grading 2.8% nickel.  The revised estimate represents a notable increase
from the project's previous estimate (inferred) of 26.4 million tonnes at 2.6%
nickel.

Xstrata Nickel has completed over US$50 million in expenditures to update the
resource model for the Kabanga project and preparation of an extensive scoping
study. "We are very pleased with the progress occurring at Kabanga, which is
among the world's most attractive nickel projects," said Ian Pearce, Chief
Executive Officer of Xstrata Nickel. "We anticipated good results from our
resource estimate update and we received them. We have taken the logical next
step of moving this project to the pre-feasibility stage and we look forward to
the continued development of Kabanga."

"Kabanga has the potential to become a world class nickel sulphide deposit. The
most recent resource has a compelling combination of size with high grades,"
said Greg Wilkins, Barrick President and Chief Executive Officer.

Diamond drilling is ongoing with ten drills with the objectives to:

*  Continue to upgrade the resource to measured and indicated categories in 
   North Zone to provide sufficient quality data to support a feasibility 
   study on the project.

*  Further expand and upgrade the inferred resource at Tembo Zone, a new zone 
   discovered in June 2006 located 2 km north along strike of North Zone.

*  Progress the systematic exploration of the under-explored Kabanga licences 
   and evaluate select regional targets for new discoveries in the proximity of 
   the Kabanga deposits

*  Undertake geotechnical investigations for potential infrastructure sites.


The most recent (December, 2006) Kabanga Nickel Project resource estimate is as follows:

               Category         Tonnes      Ni    Cu     Co     Au    Pt    Pd    Ag

                                             %     %      %     gpt   gpt   gpt   gpt
Main          Indicated        2,420,000   1.68  0.25   0.13   0.02  0.04  0.07  0.31
North         Indicated        7,280,000   2.59  0.35   0.21   0.04  0.08  0.09  1.28
Total         Indicated        9,700,000   2.37  0.32   0.19   0.04  0.07  0.09  1.04

North          Inferred       26,300,000    3.0   0.4    0.2    0.1   0.4   0.3   1.6
Tembo          Inferred        9,300,000    2.4   0.3    0.2    0.1   0.2   0.2   1.2
MNB            Inferred         700,000     1.5   0.2    0.1    0.1   0.1   0.1   0.7
Total          Inferred       36,300,000    2.8   0.4    0.2    0.1   0.3   0.3   1.5

The extensive exploration program on these promising properties is being 
conducted by the Companies with Xstrata Nickel acting as the operator.



The Main Zone resource is based on 54 diamond drill holes, totaling 18,508
metres, with spacing between pierce points ranging from 30 to 50 metres. The
North Zone is based on 167 diamond drill holes, totaling 114,864 metres with
pierce point spacing ranging from 20 to 50 metres for the Indicated estimate and
50 to 150 metres for the Inferred estimate. The Tembo Zone resource is based on
40 diamond drill holes, totaling 19,628 metres, with pierce point spacing
averaging 100 metres. The MNB zone is based on 6 diamond drill holes, totaling
4,298 metres, with hole spacing ranging from 50 to 100 metres.



The resource estimate was prepared by Xstrata Nickel geologist Bruce Churchill,
P. Geo., Senior Resource Geologist, under the supervision of Christine Petch, P.
Geo., Regional Geologist and Mike Welch, P. Geo., Project Manager.  The North
Zone drilling is supervised by Senior Project Geologist Ray Kohlsmith, P. Geo.,
and the Tembo Zone drilling and regional geophysical program are supervised by
Nic Fenner, P. Geo., Senior Geologist.  All are Qualified Persons as defined
under National Instrument 43-101.


Quality Control

Xstrata Nickel employs a QA/QC protocol on all aspects of the analytical
procedures. Core samples are split and one half of the NQ core is restored to
the core box for future reference and one quarter of the core is sent for
analysis. Samples are taken in 2.0-metre intervals or less. Sample preparation
is completed at the ALS-Chemex preparation lab at Mwanza, Tanzania and assayed
at ALS-Chemex lab in Perth, Australia using 4-acid digest/ ICP-AES technique. A
blank sample is inserted every 60th sample and standard samples representing a
range of grades are inserted at intervals of 1 in 30 samples. Five percent of
pulps are re-analyzed at Genalysis Laboratory Services in Perth, Australia. 
Historical QA/QC data from previous operators has been examined and found to be
within acceptable parameters.



The Quality Control for the project is supervised by Xstrata Nickel geologist
Ray Kohlsmith, P.Geo., Senior Project Geologist who is a Qualified Person as
defined under National Instrument 43-101.

ends

Background

Xstrata Plc is a major global diversified mining group, listed on the London and
Swiss stock exchanges.  Headquartered in Zug, Switzerland, Xstrata maintains a
meaningful position in seven major international commodity markets: copper,
coking coal, thermal coal, ferrochrome, nickel, vanadium and zinc, with a
smaller but profitable aluminium business, recycling facilities, additional
exposures to gold, lead and silver and a suite of global technologies, many of
which are industry leaders. The Group's operations and projects span 18
countries: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, the Dominican
Republic, Germany, Jamaica, New Caledonia, Norway, Papua New Guinea, Peru, South
Africa, Spain, Tanzania, the USA and the UK.



Xstrata Nickel, headquartered in Toronto, Canada, is one of the one of the
group's global commodity businesses, comprising five mines and processing
facilities in Ontario and Quebec, Canada; a ferronickel mine and processing
facility in Bonao, Dominican Republic; and a refinery in Nikkelverk, Norway.
Xstrata Nickel has a significant portfolio of growth projects, including Nickel
Rim South in Canada, Kabanga in Tanzania, and Koniambo in New Caledonia.



Xstrata Nickel is the world's fourth largest nickel producer, with annual
managed production of more than 110,000 tonnes of refined nickel.



Barrick is a leading international gold mining company with quality assets, an
unrivalled pipeline of projects and over 20,000 dedicated employees working on
four continents to deliver value.


Xstrata Nickel Contacts

Ian Hamilton, Director Corporate Affairs

Office            +1 416 982-7161
Mobile            1 416 902 0986
Email             ihamilton@xstratanickel.ca




                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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