Weatherly International Plc Regulatory News (WTI)

17 July 2013

Weatherly International Plc

("Weatherly" or "the Company")

Quarterly Operations and Production Update

Weatherly International Plc (AIM:WTI) is pleased to announce its quarterly update for the fourth quarter of the financial year ended 30 June 2013.

Highlights

·; The Company is now in the final documentation stage for the Red Kite Debt Facility, for the full funding (US$80 million) of the 17,000 tonne per annum Tschudi SX-EW copper project and is finalising the major contracts for the project.

·; Fourth quarter production from Central Operations was 64,872 tonnes of ore producing 5,250 tonnes of copper concentrate containing 1,242 tonnes of copper metal.

·; Full year production from Central Operations of 299,680 tonnes of ore producing 22,477 tonnes of copper concentrate containing 5,182 tonnes of copper metal.

·; The detailed restructuring of Central Operations referred to in the last announcement has been completed and the benefits are beginning to materialise in both production levels and reduced cash costs.

·; New plans for Matchless have been finalised enabling acceleration of production and funding development internally.

·; Cash balance of US$ 7.5m as at 30 June 2013.

Rod Webster CEO of Weatherly commented:

"We are currently working closely with Red Kite to finalise all the outstanding requirements for the drawdown of the Tschudi project finance loan. Given the complex nature of the contracts and the number of parties involved, the process is proceeding well.

Operationally we have made significant improvements during the quarter and we are now seeing the benefits coming through. The increased production and consequential decrease in unit cost is expected to continue over the coming year."

Tschudi Project

Red Kite and Weatherly have been working together to ensure that all major contracts involved with the development of Tschudi meet the lender's requirements prior to execution and drawdown.

While we recognise that this is taking longer than anticipated it does mean that once drawdown occurs we can mobilise immediately. We expect first copper production 16 months after drawdown, which according to our current schedule, is the last calendar quarter of 2014.

The three major contracts to be finalised as a precondition to loan execution and drawdown are Basil Read for mining, B & E International for crushing/agglomeration/stacking and Logiman for plant construction. We have finalised our agreement with Nampower (power supply), and are in the process of negotiating a long term acid supply agreement with DPM Namibia (the owners of the Tsumeb smelter) and Protea Chemicals.

Work is underway to finalise the loan documentation including the off take agreement with Red Kite, the transfer of the Louis Dreyfus loan and hedge book and the new financial security packages, all major contracts and loan agreements to be executed concurrently.

Central Operations

Production

Production results for the 2013 financial year are set out in the table below:

Central Operations has started to deliver better results as a consequence of the changes management announced in the previous quarter. Production for ore treated and copper contained in concentrates have all increased by approximately 15% month-on-month over the fourth quarter with June production reaching 500 tonnes of copper.

The unit cash cost (C1) for the quarter was US$6,994/t (US$3.17/lb) while the year to date cost was US$6,532/t (US$2.96/lb). The unit cash cost for June alone was US$6,041/t (US$2.74/lb) which is a direct result of the increase in production and the benefits from our cost reduction programme. The Company also enjoyed lower real operating costs due to the weakening of the rand during the period.

We anticipate additional improvements to be realised over the next few quarters as we continue to focus on reducing unit costs and increasing volumes through a number of initiatives.

Site preparation at Old Matchless is progressing well and we expect to blast the first cut of the decline access in July 2013. Power will be available to the area at the same time and dewatering is ongoing.

We have revised the long term mine plan for Matchless in order to accelerate existing production from Matchless Western Extension and the development of Old Matchless. The plan effectively reduces the amount of additional capital required and will now be internally funded. We expect first ore production from Old Matchless to commence in the second calendar quarter of 2015.

Commercial

During the quarter, the Company delivered 1,269 tonnes of copper contained in 6,047 tonnes of concentrate to metal trader Louis Dreyfus at a weighted average price of US$7,485/t (US$3.40/lb) copper. The Company has discontinued its forward selling programme while copper prices remain at current levels. 

As at 30 June 2013, the Company had:

(1) Cash at bank of US$ 7.5m equivalent.

(2) Reduced its working capital loan with Louis Dreyfus to US$ 3.9 m, having made loan repayments of US$ 0.2m in the quarter.

(3) Forward contracts of 3,100 tonnes copper at an average price of US$ 7,965/t (US$3.61/lb) 13 months forward.

About Weatherly

Weatherly is an AIM listed, copper focused mining company, the principal assets of which are located in Namibia. It currently has two producing copper mines (Otjihase and Matchless), and finalising the financing for the development of the Tschudi Copper Project. These assets will enable Weatherly to achieve its medium term strategy of establishing a copper mining business capable of sustaining approximately 25,000tpa of copper at an average industry cost of production. The Company also has a 25% stake in an AIM listed company, China Africa Resources Plc (CAR), which is currently focused on the development of the lead/zinc project at Berg Aukas in Northern Namibia.

For further information please contact:

Weatherly International Plc +44 (0) 20 7917 2989

Rod Webster, Chief Executive Officer

Canaccord Genuity Limited +44 (0) 20 7523 8000

Andrew Chubb / Christopher Fincken