OREANDA-NEWS. On August 07, 2009 Lybica Holding B.V. (“Lybica”), an affiliate of ZAO Severstal Resources (“Severstal”), the mining division of OAO Severstal, announced that it intends to close its final offer (the Offer”) for all of the issued and outstanding common shares (the “Common Shares”) of High River Gold Mines Ltd. (“High River”) (excluding the Common Shares currently controlled by Severstal) at 11:59 p.m. on August 10, 2009, as previously announced, and will take up all Common Shares tendered, reported the press-centre of Severstal.
 
Upon expiration of the Offer, Severstal intends to seek to restructure the loans between Severstal and High River which remain in default with a view to retirement of the loans and will review operational options for High River.

Alexei Kulichenko, Chief Financial Officer of OAO Severstal, commented: “As previously announced, this represents our best and final offer which we think provides High River shareholders with attractive cash value for their shares.  This view has been supported by a number of independent research analysts from such reputable firms as CIBC, Cormark Securities and Scotia Capital, and we believe High River shareholders should take advantage of the last opportunity to tender their shares.”

Morgan Stanley & Company Limited and Torys LLP are acting as the financial and legal advisors to Severstal on this transaction.