Arabian
American DevelopmentCompany’s ALAK Joint Venture
Receives Commercial License from Saudi Ministry of Commerce
Enables
the JV to Contract with
Construction Companies, Finalize Financing, Transfer Mining Assets and Appoint
Independent Auditors
Company
Contact: Nick Carter, Executive
Vice President
and Chief Operating Officer
(409)
385-8300
ncarter@southhamptonrefining.com
Investor
Contact: Cameron Donahue or Brett
Maas
Hayden
Communications
(651)
653-1854
Cameron@haydenir.com
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DALLAS,
January 18, 2008/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Arabian American Development Co.
(OTC
Bulletin Board: ARSD) today announced that the Company’s joint venture,
Al-Masane Al-Kobra Mining Company (ALAK), has received its official Commercial
License dated January 15, 2008 from the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Commerce.
The
license formalizes the establishment of the joint stock company and allows
it to
conduct business in the Kingdom. ALAK has scheduled a meeting
of the Board of Directors for January 26, 2008 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Hatem
el-Khalidi, ARSD’s President and CEO, as well as members of the Company’s board
of directors, Ghazi Sultan, Mohammed O. Al-Omair, and Dr. Ibrahim Al-Moneef,
will attend the meeting on behalf of Arabian American Development Co.
At
this
Board meeting, the following items will be considered:
·
|
The
approval and signing of the contract with the Saudi construction
company
who will be the primary contractor on the project, and also the Chinese
contractor, CMG, who will be the main sub-contractor. ALAK has had
memoranda of understanding with these two parties for some
time;
|
·
|
The
finalization of the plan for financing the remainder of the project
with
the Saudi Industrial Development Fund, or with private Saudi banks
as
appropriate;
|
·
|
The
transfer of the mining assets from Arabian American Development Company
to
ALAK. Following the Board meeting, it is anticipated that Mr. el-Khalidi
will complete the application for the transfer of the mining lease
to
ALAK, and along with Ghazi Sultan, deliver the application to the
Saudi
Ministry of Petroleum and Minerals. According to the Saudi Mining
Code,
the Ministry has 30 days to act upon the
application;
|
·
|
The
appointment of Ernst & Young as auditors for
ALAK;
|
In
addition, at a Board meeting on January 15, 2008, Arabian American Development
Co. made two changes within its executive ranks. Nick Carter,
formerly the Secretary/Treasurer of ARSD, was named Executive Vice President
and
Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Carter is also the President of the petrochemical
segment of the business, which includes South Hampton Resources,
Inc. Connie Cook, Controller for the petrochemical segment and
formerly Assistant Secretary of ARSD, was named Secretary and Treasurer.
“The
receipt of the commercial license represents a milestone achievement for the
Company and clears the path for the construction of the processing plant at
the
mine site.” commented Mr. El-Khalidi, President and CEO of the Company. “The
Company’s management and its shareholders have patiently awaited the completion
of the regulatory details needed to initiate construction and reach
commercialization of our mining assets. We took a significant step in reaching
that goal today. We will immediately move forward on the next steps, including
the formalization of the mine’s contractor and key subcontractors, the
completion of funding of the joint venture and the transfer of mining assets,
and look forward to announcing our progress against each of these items in
the
coming weeks.”
About
Arabian American Development Co.
Arabian
American owns and operates a petrochemical facility employing about 150 people
located in southeast Texas just north of Beaumont, specializing in high purity
petrochemical solvents and other solvent type manufacturing. Arabian American
also has a mining project in the Al-Masane area of Saudi Arabia which is under
development and is expected to produce economic quantities of zinc, copper,
gold, and silver when it is put into production. There are about 20 employees
at
the mine site.
Safe
Harbor
Statements
in this release that are not historical facts are forward looking statements
as
defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward looking
statements are based upon management's belief as well as assumptions made by
and
information currently available to management. Because such statements are
based
upon expectations as to future economic performance and are not statements
of
fact, actual results may differ from those projected. These risks, as well
as
others, are discussed in greater detail in Arabian American's filings with
the
Securities and Exchange Commission, including Arabian American's annual Report
on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2006 and the Company's subsequent
Quarterly Reports, Form 10-Q.