Jubilee Metals Regulatory News (JLP)

24 Feb 2006 07:01

Jubilee Platinum PLC24 February 2006 Jubilee Platinum Plc ("Jubilee" or "the Company") Interim Results for the six months ended 31 December 2005 The Directors have pleasure in presenting the Company's unaudited accounts forthe six months ended 31 December 2005. Highlights • Four boreholes drilled on the Company's flagship Tjate Platinum project in the Bushveld Complex of South Africa • all intersected the targeted platinum group metal ("PGM")-bearing Merensky and UG2 reefs at projected grades and reef thicknesses • Drilling commenced on the Londokomanana nickel-copper-PGM project in Madagascar • three boreholes intersected thick nickel-copper-PGM mineralised formations (48 to 92 metres) at relatively shallow depths with weighted average grades of up to 0.62% nickel, 0.12% copper (in Antsahabe), including a 5 metre interval at 1.0% nickel and a 1.7 metre interval at 2% nickel • The wide formation thicknesses and shallow intersections indicate the potential for bulk mining targets. • Targets for drilling identified on the Lanjanina nickel-copper property in Madagascar • A geophysical survey flown over the Company's Ambodilafa property and funded by BHP Billiton, under an exclusivity agreement, identified a significant anomaly some 80 metres below surface, 2 kilometres wide by 4 kilometres long with an estimated thickness of 40 metres • The Company is well funded for its planned exploration programmes with total cash of £5.3 million, having issued, post balance sheet, a £1.5 million 8% convertible loan note Colin Bird, Chief Executive, said; "We are delighted to report further exploration successes and it is clear thatwe are entering into a very exciting period for Jubilee Platinum as workprogresses quickly across our project portfolio in South Africa and Madagascar.The Company is fully funded and in a strong position now to move forward apacein 2006." CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT I am pleased to report substantial progress in operations and excellent drillingresults from our focussed exploration activity in the six months to 31 December2005. Pre-tax profit for the six months ended 31 December 2005 was £878,651 comparedwith a loss of £103,215 for the six-month period to 31 December 2004. Theexceptional credit of £1.04 million in the Profit and Loss account relates tothe New Africa Mining Fund (NAMF) loan of ZAR11.4 million previously advanced toWindsor Platinum (Pty) Ltd now assigned to Jubilee Platinum Plc, followingNAMF's conversion of its Windsor shares to Jubilee shares in December 2005. The Company is fully funded and in a strong position to advance its flagshipTjate property to prefeasiblity and to continue aggressive exploration includingfurther drilling in Madagascar. Exploration expenditure in the period was £516,056 compared with £329,378 forthe six months ended 31 December 2004. In the course of evaluating its various prospective properties, the Company hasentered into a number of discussions and confidentiality agreements withinterested parties, relating particularly to its Madagascan properties. Over thecoming months we will be considering the possibilities of individual projectjoint ventures or alternatively, independently progressing our projects whilstrelying on our own funds. The most significant activities in the period reported were the continueddrilling on our flagship Tjate PGM project in South Africa and the commencementof drilling on the Company's Londokomanana nickel-copper-PGM project inMadagascar. SOUTH AFRICA Tjate Project The Company drilled four boreholes on the Dsjate farm, one of three contiguousfarms comprising the 5,143 hectares Tjate property. The drilling results aresummarised in Table 1 below: Table 1 Tjate drilling weighted average results Borehole Reef Intersected Apparent 4E Ni Cu Pt:Pd ratio at thickness m cm Gpt % % DT1 Merensky 868 116 8.91 0.30 0.15 1.7 UG2 1248 93 6.01 na na 1.1 DT2 Merensky 722 61 3.83 0.22 0.11 2.1 UG2 1109 95 8.01 na na 0.91 DT3 Merensky 900 61 6.92 0.35 0.20 1.92 UG2 1290 82 7.49 na na 1.16 DT4 Merensky 685 79 6.42 0.26 0.14 1.6 UG2 1077 85 7.60 na na 0.8 4E platinum, palladium, rhodium and gold na - not applicable Material event A fifth borehole DT5 on the Tjate property was completed inJanuary 2006, having intersected the Merensky reef at 779 metres. The boreholeresults showed a weighted average grade of 18.95g/t 4E with associated 0.91%nickel and 0.27% copper over 48 centimetres. This borehole was drilled only tothe shallower Merensky reef. The Company has decided to focus on the Merenskyreef in the belief that at current robust PGM and base metal prices, it couldsupport a stand-alone operation. MADAGASCAR Londokomanana Project The Company commenced diamond drilling on its Lavatrafo and Antsahabeproperties, located in the southern and northern areas respectively, of theLondokomanana concession. Two boreholes on Lavatrafo, LAV1 and LAV2A some 150 metres apart on strike,intersected respectively 70-metre and 92-metre wide multi-metal(nickel-copper-platinum-palladium) formations at shallow depths of 37 metres and72 metres respectively. The drilling results are summarised in the tables 2 and3 below: Table 2 LAV1 Borehole Results From To Intercept Ni Cu 3E metres metres Metres % % g/t 38 108.4 70.4 0.23 0.11 1.05 Including 72.8 108.4 35.7 0.31 0.19 0.99 89.4 108.4 19.1 0.34 0.20 1.05 75.3 83.5 8.3 0.32 0.23 1.15 102.3 108.4 6.1 0.47 0.24 1.02 3E platinum palladium gold Table 3 LAV2A Borehole Results From To Intercept Ni Cu 3E metres metres Metres % % g/t 72.35 164.05 91.7 0.26 0.14 0.66 Including 82.35 162.05 79.7 0.29 0.16 0.73 115.0 158.8 43.8 0.40 0.25 0.80 136.1 156.2 20.1 0.52 0.33 0.92 3E platinum palladium gold The Company drilled one borehole - ANT1 - on the Antsahabe property in order toconfirm the continuity of mineralisation in the estimated 35 kilometres (fromLavatrafo in the south to Antsahabe in the north) of formations atLondokomanana. The borehole intersected 48 metres total (apparent thickness) ofmulti-layered high-grade nickel-copper sulphide mineralisation close to surface(estimated at 15 metres below surface). The weighted average grade ofintersections was 0.62% nickel and 0.12% copper. The drilling results aresummarized in table 4 below: Table 4 ANT1 Borehole Results From To Intercept Ni Cu metres metres metres % % 17.5 44.5 27.3 0.64 0.13 Including 21.5 26.5 5.0 1.05 0.20 33.6 34.6 1.0 2.09 0.14 54.2 71.8 17.6 0.60 0.12 Including 60.6 61.8 1.7 2.06 0.09 76.6 80.9 4.3 0.53 0.11 The Antsahabe property includes some 22 kilometres of geophysical andgeochemical anomalies identified previously by the Company in this area. Lanjanina Project The Company undertook gradient array and dipole dipole geophysical surveys oversignificant copper anomalies identified in follow-up soil sampling on itsLanjanina property. Based on these data several drill targets were identifiedand drilling is scheduled to start in March 2006. Ambodilafa Project The Company entered into an exclusive agreement with BHP Billiton to carry out ahelicopter-borne Versatile Time Electro Magnetic (VTEM) geophysical survey overthe Company's Ambodilafa property, south of Antananarivo. This survey wascarried out at BHP Billiton's cost and covered 195.3 line kilometres. Anindependent report on the survey identified a strong anomaly "consisting of aflat lying circular feature" with an estimated thickness of up to 40 metres andsome 2 kilometres wide, 4 kilometres long and a minimum 80 metres below surface.The report highlighted that "work to date has indicated a worthy target fordrill testing". The Company looks forward to continued good progress with drilling programmes in2006, particularly in delineating the Londokomanana deposit and commencement ofdrilling on the Lanjanina and Ambodilafa properties. Malcolm BurneChairman23 February 2006 For further information please contact: Colin Bird Cathy Malins / Annabel LeatherJubilee Platinum plc Parkgreen Communications LtdTel: 020 7584 2155 Tel: 020 7493 3713www.jubileeplatinum.com Jubilee Platinum Plc Consolidated Profit and Loss AccountFor the six months ended 31 December 2005 Six months Six months ended ended 31 Dec 05 31 Dec 04 £000's £000's Administrative expenses (274) (213) ____ ____ Operating loss (274) (213) Profit on assignment of loan 1,044 - ____ ____ Operating profit/(loss) before interest 770 (213) Interest receivable 108 110 ____ ____ Profit/(loss) on ordinary activities before taxation 878 (103) Tax on profit/(loss) on ordinary activities - - ____ ____Profit/(loss) on ordinary activities after taxation 878 (103) Minority interests:Equity 5 7 Profit (loss) on ordinary activities attributable to members ofJubilee Platinum Plc ____ ____ 883 (96) Profit/(loss) per ordinary share - basic 1.2p (0.2p) Consolidated Statement of Total Recognized Gains & LossesFor the six months ended 31 December 2005 Six months Six months ended ended 31 Dec 05 31 Dec 04 £000's £000's Profit/(loss) for the period 883 (96) Translation differences on foreign currencynet investments 264 67 _____ _____Total recognised gains and losses for the period 1,147 (29) Consolidated Balance SheetAs at 31 December 2005 31 Dec 05 31 Dec 04FIXED ASSETS £ 000's £ 000's Tangible assets 31 27Intangible assets 1,489 658Investments 3,198 3,289 _____ _____ 4,718 3,974 CURRENT ASSETS Debtors 411 58Cash at bank and in hand 3,884 2,861 _____ _____ 4,295 2,919 CREDITORS: amounts falling due within one year (126) (95) _____ _____NET CURRENT ASSETS 4,169 2,824 _____ _____ TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT LIABILITIES 8,887 6,798 _____ _____MINORITY INTERESTSEquity interests 17 9 _____ _____ 8,904 6,807 _____ _____CAPITAL & RESERVES Ordinary Share Capital 774 647Share Premium 8,604 7,277Profit and Loss Account (474) (1,117) _____ _____ 8,904 6,807 _____ _____ Jubilee Platinum Plc Interim report - Notes 1. The interim statement for the six months ended 31 December 2005 isunaudited and was approved by the directors on 17 February 2006. The financialinformation set out above does not constitute statutory accounts within themeaning of section 240 of the Companies Act 1985. 2. The accounting policies remain as stated in the Annual Report for theperiod ended 30 June 2005. 3. The exceptional item in the Profit and Loss account relates to theNew Africa Mining Fund (NAMF) loan of ZAR11.4 million previously advanced toWindsor Platinum Investments (Pty) Ltd (Jubilee's 100% owned South Africansubsidiary), now assigned to Jubilee Platinum Plc following NAMF's conversion ofits Windsor shares to Jubilee shares in December 2005. 4. The calculation of profit per ordinary share is based on profits of£883,651 for the six months ended 31 December 2005 and the weightedaverage number of ordinary shares outstanding during the same period of70,696,060. 5. The investment of £3.2 million included in Fixed Assetsrepresents the Group's 25% interest in Tjate Platinum Corporation (Pty) Ltd. 6. Copies of the interim report are available to the public free ofcharge from the Company at 4th Floor, 2 Cromwell Place London SW7 2JE duringnormal office hours for 30 days from the date of this report. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange