Weatherly International Plc Regulatory News (WTI)

6 Jun 2007 07:01

Weatherly International PLC06 June 2007 Weatherly International plc ("Weatherly" or the "Company") Smelter capacity to double as US $8 million raised to fund further expansion as part of key processing deal Weatherly International plc announces that it is set to double its smeltingcapacity following a keystone agreement to process copper concentrate throughits Tsumeb copper smelter in Namibia. The concentrate will be supplied by Canadian-quoted miner Dundee Precious MetalsInc., ("DPM") and the deal will underpin refurbishment work to raise thecapacity of the Tsumeb smelter from 25,000 to 50,000 tonnes per annum by early2008. The expansion of the smelter will be funded through a placing of 16,882,695 newordinary shares of 0.5p each in Weatherly with DPM at 25.05p per new ordinaryshare to raise net proceeds of US $8 million (£4.02 million). Followingcompletion of the placing, DPM will have a 4.7% holding in Weatherly. Theplacing is expected to complete on or about 27 June 2007 and application will bemade for the new ordinary shares to be admitted to trading on the AIM market indue course. The concentrate will come from DPM's Chelopech Mine in Bulgaria, and firstdeliveries to Tsumeb are expected during the first part of 2008. DPM has agreeda long term supply contract at normal commercial terms. Weatherly Chief Executive Rod Webster said: "We are particularly delighted tohave agreed this deal not only because it represents a milestone in thecontinued rapid development of Weatherly, but also because we are able toincrease our contribution to Namibia's economic growth." Under the terms of the deal, DPM will supply 20,000 tonnes of copper concentrateannually for 3 years, with a rolling 12 month extension. It has also undertakento supply at least a further 15,000 tonnes per year with options for furthertonnage upon the completion of the extension and refurbishment work at theTsumeb Smelter by the first quarter of 2008. The Tsumeb smelter is currently processing concentrate using feedstock fromWeatherly's own mines at Matchless, Tsumeb West and Otjihase, along withthroughput from third party supplies and tolling agreements. For further information contact: John Norris, Weatherly International plc: +44 (0) 20 7917 2989 +44 (0) 7929 778 251Jonathon Flory / Stephen Pickup, Libertas Capital: +44 (0) 20 7569 9650Allan Piper, First City Financial Public Relations: +44 (0) 20 7242 2666 Background details follow: Weatherly International plc arrived on AIM at 3p per in June 2005. Following theacquisition of 97% of Namibia's Ongopolo Mining & processing Ltd in October2006, it is now positioned as a fully integrated mining group owning miningexploration and production assets and one of only four copper smelters inSouthern Africa. The company is currently producing copper from mines in the Tsumeb area ofNorthern Namibia and at Otjihase and Matchless around the Namibian capital,Windhoek. Weatherly is also continuing work at its Kombat West mine, where it isdewatering underground workings. The smelter at Tsumeb in Northern Namibia, owned by Weatherly's subsidiaryNamibian Custom Smelters, is processing material from Weatherly's own mines withadditional throughput from tolling agreements and third party sales. The firstof two furnaces is currently operational, at an annualised rate of approximately24,000 tonnes of blister copper. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange