Weatherly International Plc Regulatory News (WTI)

28 Jul 2006 07:01

Weatherly International PLC28 July 2006 28 July 2006 Weatherly International plc ("Weatherly") Acquisition by Weatherly of Ongopolo Mining and Processing Limited ("Ongopolo") and further placing of new ordinary shares with institutional investors The Board of Weatherly is pleased to announce that following the completion ofthe Ongopolo acquisition and in response to investor demand, an additional23,090,000 new ordinary shares have been placed with institutional investors ata price of 17p. This placing will raise £3.75 million for Weatherly net ofexpenses. These funds will be used to enable Weatherly to expedite theexpansion of Ongopolo's second furnace, develop a completely new mine in theTsumeb area, and progress a number of other developments such as zinc slagretreatment. Following the raising, the Weatherly group will have cash balancesof £13.5 million and minimal external debt. Application has been made for 23,090,000 ordinary shares to be admitted totrading and it is expected that trading in the new ordinary shares will commenceon the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange on or around 2 August 2006.Following admission of the new ordinary shares to trading, Weatherly will have338,919,349 ordinary shares in issue. CEO Rod Webster said, "We are delighted to have completed the acquisition ofOngopolo. We look forward to securing the future of the mine and its workers.The acquisition establishes Weatherly as a copper producer of substantialpotential. In addition to the existing mining and smelting operations inOngopolo which are planned to be brought back to full production, there are anumber of other prospects within the Ongopolo group which may add substantiallyto its longer-term potential. The additional funds now being raised shouldenable us to bring these to fruition earlier than originally anticipated." For further information please contact: Weatherly International plc John Norris 020 7917 2989 Libertas Capital Jonathan Flory/Stephen Pickup 020 7569 9650 First City Ian Foster 020 7436 7486 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange