Weatherly International Plc Regulatory News (WTI)

22 July 2015

Weatherly International Plc

("Weatherly" or "the Company")

Quarterly Operations and Production Update

Weatherly International Plc (AIM: WTI) announces its quarterly update for the quarter ending 30 June 2015, being the fourth quarter of the financial year ending 30 June 2015.

Highlights

· Tschudi production is ramping up, with 2,257 tonnes of London Metal Exchange ('LME') Grade A copper cathode produced in the first full quarter of operations - more than 50% of design capacity.

· Tschudi production guidance is reaffirmed at 1,000 tonnes per month (70% of design capacity) for the September Quarter, reaching 1,400 tonnes per month rates (100% of design capacity) during the December Quarter.

· The production guidance for CY 2015 remains at 10,000 tonnes of cathode, with 17,000 tonnes per annum rates sustained thereafter.

· Mining acceleration at Tschudi is ahead of schedule.

· Slower-leaching ore has now been quantified to represent approximately 3% of the Tschudi reserve, and to have no negative impact on Tschudi output rates once design capacity is reached.

· Remaining Tschudi ore is performing on the heap leach pad as expected.

· The Tschudi processing plant is performing at or above expectations.

· Central Operations production has improved by 22% from the previous quarter, reaching 1,282 tonnes.

Craig Thomas, CEO of Weatherly, commented:

"The ramp up at Tschudi is proceeding according to the revised schedule, and by the end of this calendar year Weatherly will be operating a new 17,000 tonnes per annum open pit copper mine in the best mining country in Africa, producing some of the highest quality copper cathode in the world."

Operations Update - Tschudi

Production results for the fourth quarter of the financial year 2015

Mining rate increases have proceeded ahead of plan, and the Company still expects to achieve 70% of design capacity (1,000 tonnes per month (tpm)) in the September 2015 quarter, and reach design capacity (1,400tpm) during the December 2015 quarter. The target for the full CY 2015 remains at 10,000t of cathode, with 17,000 tonnes per annum rates sustained thereafter. 

With over one million tonnes of full-scale heap leaching experience now gained for Tschudi material ranging from 12m depth to 60m depth, the Company confirms improved confidence in being able to predict leach rates and acid consumption rates, and below the shallow leached cap these rates remain consistent with feasibility study assumptions.

It is now clear that practically all of the ore which was planned to be treated, will still be economically treated. The material which leaches significantly slower on the heap, and which consumes more acid than originally expected, contains approximately 3% of the planned copper metal to be stacked over the current life of the Tschudi project. More than 80% of that material will have been mined by the end of CY 2015. The remainder will be mined relatively slowly over the following four years as pit pushbacks are developed. The leach cap ore will no longer impact upon Tschudi production rates once design capacity is achieved during the December 2015 quarter.

Cathode quality remains above expectations, exceeding LME Grade A requirements, and operating efficiencies in the plant are also exceeding initial expectations. Cathode assays of 99.998% Cu and Electro-Winning current efficiencies of 92- 94% are routinely achieved, both of which can be considered as best in industry class performance.

The company delivered 2,760 tonnes of copper cathode to metal trader Orion Merchant Services at a weighted average price of US$5,929 per tonne copper.

Operations Update - Central Operations

Production results for the fourth quarter of the financial year 2015

During the quarter, the Company produced 1,282 tonnes of copper at a C1 cost of US$6,417 per tonne. The company delivered 5,556 tonnes of concentrate (1,323 tonnes of copper) to metal trader Louis Dreyfus at a weighted average price of US$6,096 per tonne of copper.

The first of two new primary mining areas at Otjihase is now in production, and access to the second higher-grade primary mining area is expected to be complete by the end of the September quarter. Otjihase ore tonnages have improved, and ore supply from Otjihase is expected to be more consistent going forward now that primary mining forms the majority of ore supply.

Matchless ore supply in the quarter was constrained by inadequate access development advance rates in previous quarters. These rates have been improved notably during the quarter, but ore supply volumes will remain constrained until September. Thereafter it is expected that a minimum of three open stoping levels will always be in development or production phases, and reliable improved ore supply volumes will be sustained.

Copper metal production for the September quarter is expected to be similar to the June quarter, and thereafter sustainable increases in copper metal production are expected.

Internal review of the Central Operations assets indicate opportunities to add substantial value through developing the existing mineral resources and utilising idle processing plant capacity. Scope exists to expand copper production to more than double the levels reached in recent years, and to generate significant returns on investment at current copper prices. The Company intends to evaluate how it can capitalise on these opportunities quickly as possible.

For further information please contact:

Weatherly International Plc +44 (0) 20 7936 9910

Craig Thomas, Chief Executive Officer

Kevin Ellis, CFO and Company Secretary

RFC Ambrian Limited +44 (0) 20 3440 6800

(Nominated Adviser & Broker)

Samantha Harrison / John van Eeghen

Finncap +44 (0) 20 7220 0500

(Joint Broker)

Christopher Raggett

Blytheweigh +44 (0) 20 7138 3204

(Financial PR) Tim Blythe / Camilla Horsfall / Megan Ray

About Weatherly

Weatherly is an AIM listed copper mining company operating in Namibia in southern Africa. Its principal assets are one open pit copper mine called Tschudi and two underground copper mines called Otjihase and Matchless.

These assets will enable Weatherly to achieve its medium term goal of establishing a mining business capable of sustaining approximately 25,000 tonnes per annum of copper production.

The Company also has a 25% stake in the AIM listed company, China Africa Resources Plc (CAF), which is developing a lead/zinc mine called Berg Aukas also in Namibia.