OREANDA-NEWS. July 24, 2007. OJSC “MMC “Norilsk Nickel” (“Norilsk Nickel” or the “Company”) announced today that it has extended the expiry time of its cash offer to acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of LionOre Mining International Ltd (“LionOre”) (Toronto Stock Exchange symbol: “LIM”; London Stock Exchange symbol: “LOR”; Botswana Stock Exchange symbol: “LIONORE”) for aggregate cash consideration of approximately Cdn$6.8 billion, to 8:00 p.m. (Toronto time) on Monday, August 13, 2007.

This extension will provide holders of LionOre’s convertible notes due 2011 with a further opportunity to convert their notes into common shares of LionOre and deposit the resulting common shares into Norilsk Nickel’s offer, while permitting note holders to receive the annual interest payment payable on 30 July 2007 in accordance with the terms and conditions of the convertible notes. This will enable the note holders to maximize the amount to be paid shortly after converting and depositing the resulting LionOre common shares to the offer, as opposed to waiting until Norilsk Nickel undertakes a subsequent compulsory acquisition transaction. 

On June 29, 2007, following the confirmation that all of the conditions of Norilsk Nickel's offer were satisfied, the Company, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, took up the LionOre shares deposited to the offer. Upon full payment on July 3, 2007 for those shares tendered, Norilsk Nickel acquired control over LionOre.

The notice of extension will be mailed to shareholders as soon as practicable. Full particulars of the offer are set out in the offer and offering circular as amended by the notice of variation and notices of extension, each as filed by Norilsk Nickel. These documents are available on the Canadian Securities Administrator’s website at www.sedar.com under LionOre’s company profile, and on the Company’s website at www.nornik.ru/en.