Weatherly International Plc Regulatory News (WTI)

26 Jul 2007 14:36

Weatherly International PLC26 July 2007 Weatherly International plc (the 'Company') Production Update Operational Highlights for the Year ended 30 June 2007: • Total mine production of: • 29,000 tonnes concentrate containing: €6,300 tonnes of copper €3,000kg of silver €100 kg of gold • Smelter production of 22,700 tonnes of copper from company mines, tolling agreements and purchases • Commissioning of the Tsumeb West mine and concentrator one month ahead of schedule in May 2007 • Commissioning of the backfill plant at the Otjihase mine with first production starting during the third quarter of 2007 • Agreement with Dundee Precious Metals to finance major expansion at Tsumeb smelter and supply concentrate on an evergreen basis to underpin expansion • Joint venture agreement with AIC to commence trials to re-process the Tsumeb tailings. • Commenced development at Tschudi underground mine Weatherly International plc , the AIM listed integrated base metals producerwith copper mining and smelting operations in Namibia, is pleased to announce aproduction update for the year ended 30 June 2007. This past year has been a period of substantial reinvestment and restructuringof the Namibian assets, particularly in the mines. For the year to 30 June 2007,total mine production was 29,000 tonnes of concentrate containing 6,300 tonnesof copper with by-product credits of 3,000kg of silver and 100kg of gold.Towards the end of the year annualised production rose towards 9,000 tonnes ofcopper, which is in line with management expectations and consistent with theultimate annualised mine production target of 20,000 tonnes of copper by thewinter 2007/08. The smelter operations performed well, despite the shut down 31st July to 1st ofSeptember to rebuild Reverb Furnace 1, it produced 22,700 tonnes copper duringthe year from our own mines, custom tolling and purchased concentrates. Duringthe year, Weatherly signed an agreement with Dundee Precious Metals for thefinancing and contracting of a major expansion at the Ausmelt smelter which willlift capacity to around 50,000 tonnes of copper by the third quarter 2008. Thisexpansion is underpinned by an evergreen supply agreement. Management isconfident that the smelting business is in a good position geographically andcommercially to establish itself as a regional custom smelter. Commenting on the results, Rod Webster, CEO, said "Weatherly has made goodprogress during 2007 in restructuring and rehabilitating the former Ongopoloassets into a viable business with a strong growth outlook. Mine production issolid at some 9,000 tonnes of copper on annualised basis which is in line withour objectives. We have implemented a number of initiatives and projects acrossour mining and smelting operations which we expect to start delivering resultsduring the latter part of 2007 and into 2008 when Tschudi, Tsumeb West andKombat come into production. Full year financial results will be availableduring the fourth quarter 2007." For further information contact:- John Norris, Weatherly International plc: +44 (0) 20 7917 2989 +44 (0) 7929 778 251 Jonathan Flory / Stephen Pickup, Libertas Capital: +44 (0) 20 7569 9650 Alex Buck, Buckbias Ltd: +44 (0) 20 7244 8053 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange