Investment in Subsidiary

Investment by Labour Investment Holdings in Subsidiary of Weatherly International

·; 2.5% interest sold to Labour Investment Holdings as part of strategy to encourage local participation in the company's operations.

Weatherly International Plc ('Weatherly' or 'the Company') is pleased to announce that it has sold a 2.5 per cent shareholding in its Namibian subsidiary Ongopolo Mining Limited ("OML") to Labour Investment Holdings (Pty) Ltd ("LIH"), the investment arm of the National Union of Namibian Workers ("NUNW").

Weatherly signed a Memorandum of Understanding with LIH in July 2010 following a Board decision to increase local participation by way of direct equity investment. LIH is also a major shareholder in haulage contractor Kraft, which is responsible for transporting ore from Matchless to the Otjihase concentrator as well as delivering concentrates to the port of Walvis Bay.

The sale price for the shares is N$7.2m (~US$1million) and will be provided for through a vendor financing agreement whereby OML will lend LIH the consideration for the shares, and the repayments including interest will be deducted from LIH's future dividends. Under the agreement, LIH also has a five year option to increase its shareholding to 5 per cent. Payment for the second 2.5 per cent tranche would be in cash, with the price based on an independent valuation of OML at the time of exercise.

Rod Webster Weatherly CEO said:

"LIH's investment is a clear demonstration of their confidence in both the management and future prospects of the company. We look forward to continuing our strong relationship with them over the years to come".

Notes to the Editors:

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 is progressing two bankable feasibility studies (Tschudi and Tsumeb), which will enable Weatherly to achieve its medium term strategy of establishing a copper mining business capable of sustaining approximately 20,000tpa of copper at an average industry cost of production for ten years.

The Company also has a 25% stake in an AIM-listed joint venture company China Africa Resources Plc, 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

Dean Friday, Investor Relations Manager

Collins Stewart Europe Limited +44 (0) 20 7523 8350

John Prior, Adam Miller, Sebastian Jones

4C Communications (Investor Relations) +44 (0) 20 3170 7973

Carina Corbett