Weatherly International Plc Regulatory News (WTI)

3 Feb 2006 07:00

Weatherly International PLC03 February 2006 3 February 2006 Weatherly International plc ("Weatherly" or the "Company") Luanshya progress update The Board of Weatherly announces that the Company has completed the first stepstowards the redevelopment of the decommissioned Luanshya mine in Zambia'scopperbelt, following the acquisition of Puku Minerals Limited which wasannounced on 15 December 2005. The Company has completed preliminary tests on samples from the tailings dam andthe results have confirmed the presence of copper in potentially commercialgrades. Following these results, Weatherly also announces the appointment of a leadingSouth African contractor to drill out the entire dam. This work is expected tobegin immediately, paving the way for a full feasibility study. Weatherly CEO Rod Webster said, "The preliminary results we have now obtainedare sufficiently encouraging to warrant this next phase in our programme. Thisis an exciting time for Weatherly as we progress in our plan to use modernprocessing techniques to rework one of Zambia's larger copper mines." For further information please contact: Weatherly International plcRod Webster, Chief Executive +44 (0) 20 7917 2989John Norris, Company Secretary Libertas CapitalBrad Cheng / Aamir Quraishi +44 (0) 20 7569 9650 First City FinancialSarah Samworth +44 (0) 20 7436 7486 Information on Weatherly Weatherly's main activity is that of exploration and development of mining andmineral projects. The Company holds certain exploration and development rights to a copper miningproject in Zambia, covering a decommissioned copper mine and tailings damsituated in Luanshya, in the Zambian copperbelt (the copper-producing region ofNorthern Zambia). The Luanshya Copper Project (an area defined by theseprospecting licences) is considered by the Board of Weatherly to be one of thelarger copper resources in Zambia with up to 1.4 million tonnes of coppercontained in resource categories. The Board of Weatherly estimates that theLuanshya Copper Project could be capable of producing up to 60,000 tonnes ofcopper annually using modern, proven mining and processing techniques. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange