Preliminary construction work has started on Peninsular Gold"s Raub Carbon-In-Leach tailings reprocessing plant in Malaysia.

The contract for the earthworks and piling phase of the proposed Raub carbon-in-leach plant has been awarded and all the necessary environmental and other approvals for the construction are in place.

This work is expected to be completed in May.

The company says, this preliminary phase of construction has been started now to expedite the plant's completion once the full financing arrangements for the project are in place.

Peninsular Gold aims to be a low cost gold producer in 2008.

Meanwhile, Peninsular Gold says it is making good progress with Nedbank Ltd on the implementation of the loan facility for the proposed Raub Carbon-In-Leach (CIL) plant. The project's financial model has been accepted by Nedbank Ltd and negotiations and documentation are progressing as expected.

Furthermore, the State Government of Pahang has approved the transfer of the entire interest of Choong Loong Sang and Abdul Aziz bin Othman in the MC511 Land, covering an area of approximately 93 acres, to SEREM Malaysia Sdn Bhd (SEREM), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Peninsular Gold.

"This is very positive news as MC511 forms a part of its deposit at Tersang," the company says.

Founded in 2004, YTC is also backed by the world's largest producer of tin and major producer of non-ferrous metals, the Yunnan Tin Company Group Limited of China ("Yunnan Tin Group").

Through an investment agreement signed in September 2006, the company formed a strategic partnership with the Yunnan Tin Group whereby the Group invested Aus$2.67 million in YTC and offered to provide not only financial and technical support but also high level management support through the appointment of the Yunnan Tin Group chairman and executive deputy general manager to the YTC board.

With control of two of Australia's major historical tin fields which have had little to no modern exploration or development, YTC is poised to capitalise on the positive structural changes in the global tin market.

The price of tin, which is largely used for solder in the electronics industry, is at its highest levels in two decades due to stabilising supply and growing demand.

YTC is also targeting other high technology industrial metals such as tungsten and indium.

The price of indium has risen 10-fold since 1984 as it is increasingly used in modern applications such as Plasma and LCD screens.

With the recent resurgence of the tin sector, YTC believes Australia has the resources to retake its historical position as a significant player in global tin production.