Good progress has been made at North American Palladium over the last few months, the company's chief executive William J Biggar believes, with highlights of the year's second quarter including the finding of a new underground pgm zone at the Lac Des Iles (LDI) pgm mine.

The discovery of the new 'Cowboy' deposit was announced on June 25th having been revealed during infill drilling of the Offset Zone at LDI.

It is thought that the detection of further pgm deposits at the mine could extend its life.

In the meantime, North American Palladium has decided that a shaft access with a maximum capacity of around 5,000 tonnes a day represents the best way to mine the LDI's Offset Zone.

A new advanced preliminary economic assessment is now being produced by Nordmin in order to account for the discovery of the Cowboy zone and reassess the limits, size and grade of the Offset Zone.

This report is scheduled to be ready before the end of the fourth quarter of the year.

"We have made tremendous strides during the second quarter," Mr Biggar commented.

"Further, we announced the discovery of the new Cowboy deposit and continued drilling success on the Offset zone at LDI, which is developing into a world class palladium mine.

"We are also encouraged by the recent rise in the palladium price as we refine a restart plan for LDI aimed at streamlining processes and lowering operating costs. We expect to be able to resume mining within three months of making a go decision."

Palladium production at the LDI mine was halted in the three months to June 30th due to care and maintenance procedures.

In the equivalent period last year, 65,791 oz of palladium were produced at the location near Thunder Bay, Ontario.

Source:

North American Palladium Announces Second Quarter 2009 Results (11/08/09)North American Palladium Discovers New PGM Zone at Lac des Iles Mine (25/06/09)

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