OREANDA-NEWS. OJSC MMC Norilsk Nickel (“Norilsk Nickel” or the “Company”) today announced that formal offer documents in respect of the offer to acquire all of the outstanding common shares of LionOre Mining International Ltd. (“LionOre”) (Toronto Stock Exchange and Australian Securities Exchange symbol:  “LIM”; London Stock Exchange symbol:  “LOR”; Botswana Stock Exchange symbol: “LIONORE”) at a price of Cdn$21.50 in cash per common share have been filed with Canadian securities regulators.

Norilsk Nickel also confirmed today that the Company is in receipt of the list of LionOre shareholders. Full details of the offer, including the formal offer circular and related take-over bid documents, will be mailed to LionOre’s registered shareholders on May 8, 2007.

The offer is open for acceptances until 8:00pm (Toronto time) on Monday, June 18, 2007, unless extended or withdrawn.

Norilsk Nickel also announced that it has applied for regulatory approvals from authorities in  relevant jurisdictions, including Canada, Australia, South Africa and in Europe.

On May 3, 2007, Norilsk Nickel announced its intention to make an all-cash offer to acquire all of the outstanding common shares of LionOre for an aggregate consideration of approximately Cdn$5.3 billion.

Full particulars of the offer are set out in the offer and offering circular filed by Norilsk Nickel. These documents will be available on the Canadian Securities Administrators' website at www.sedar.com under LionOre's company profile, and on the Norilsk Nickel website at www.nornik.ru/en/.