13th Jul 2005 11:27
Anglo Platinum Limited13 July 2005 Anglo Platinum and Aquarius Platinum conclude pool and share venture at Marikana Anglo Platinum and Aquarius Platinum are pleased to announce that they havereached agreement to mine contiguous properties on their respective Rustenburgand Marikana lease areas. The agreement, similar to the successful Kroondalventure, provides for the parties to pool their assets, while retainingownership thereof, and to share the proceeds equally ("the venture"). Anglo Platinum will provide access to portions of the UG2 orebody on RustenburgPlatinum Mines' ('RPM') lease area and Aquarius Platinum will provide access toits Marikana mine and infrastructure. The boundaries of the existing Kroondalventure will be revised to maximise value from the Marikana venture and leavethe Kroondal venture value, reserve and resource neutral. The new Marikanaventure is subject to a number of conditions precedent including statutory andregulatory consents and approvals, which are expected to be fulfilled in thenear future, and approval by the boards of both Anglo Platinum and AquariusPlatinum. The Parties intend to utilise the existing Kroondal Platinum Mine ("KPM")infrastructure and Marikana Mine infrastructure to gain access to the RPMorebody currently forming part of the Kroondal venture, the Marikana orebody anda portion of RPM's orebody in the Townlands area. Production at the new Marikanaventure will be expanded from approximately 70 000 ounces of platinum inconcentrate per annum to approximately 145 000 ounces of platinum in concentrateper annum during 2007. This will be achieved by utilising the existing KPMinfrastructure and expanding the existing Marikana concentrator. Additionaldecline shaft capacity will be established at RPM to maintain productioncapacity at the existing Kroondal venture. The new Marikana venture will have mineable reserves and resources of some 4.4million PGM ounces (4E) and will have a mine life extending to 2024. The capitalrequired for the establishment of the venture is under review and is expected tobe approximately R230 million and will be equally funded by Anglo Platinum andAquarius Platinum. Construction will begin as soon as possible and the plannedcommencement date of the venture is 22 September 2005. A management committee comprising an equal number of representatives from AngloPlatinum and Aquarius Platinum will oversee both the reconstituted Kroondal andthe new Marikana ventures, both of which will be managed by Aquarius Platinum. The mining methods employed by Aquarius Platinum at Kroondal will be used at theMarikana venture and contractors will perform both mining and concentratingoperations, in line with Aquarius Platinum's current practice. Aquarius Platinum will continue to honour its existing Kroondal and Marikanaconcentrate off-take agreements with Impala Refining Services Ltd. Smelting,refining and marketing of additional output from the Marikana venture arisingfrom RPM's lease area (some 90 000 Platinum ounces in concentrate in 2006) is tobe performed by Anglo Platinum and is included in Anglo Platinum's forecastproduction target of 2,7 to 2,8 million ounces of refined platinum in 2006. The Marikana venture offers significant synergies to both Anglo Platinum andAquarius Platinum, increasing the output of platinum group metals in a capitaland cost efficient manner, significantly extending the life of the existingMarikana operation and creating approximately 900 new job opportunities. 13 July 2005 For further information, please contact: Trevor Raymond Neil CollettAnglo Platinum Aquarius Platinum(011) 373-6462 +27 11 202-8629082 654 8467 +27 (0) 83 653 7114 Nick Bias Aquarius Platinum + 44 7887 920 530 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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