| Thu 15 Jul 2010, 8:21 | | NHM/JBL - Northam Platinum Limited/ Jubilee Platin |
|
JBL NHM
JUJLP NHM
NHM/JBL - Northam Platinum Limited/ Jubilee Platinum Plc - Jubilee and Northam
sign MoU Platinum companies establish basis to evaluate commercial development
of a new ConRoast furnace
NORTHAM PLATINUM LIMITED
(Incorporated in the Republic of South Africa)
(Registration number 1977/003282/06)
Share code: NHM ISIN: ZAE000030912
("Northam")
JUBILEE PLATINUM PLC
Registration number: 4459850
AIM: JLP
JSE: JBL
ISIN GB0031852162
("Jubilee
JOINT ANNOUNCEMENT
Jubilee and Northam sign MoU Platinum companies establish basis to evaluate
commercial development of a new ConRoast furnace
Jubilee Platinum plc ("Jubilee") and Northam Platinum Limited ("Northam") are
pleased to announce that they have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding
("MoU") to establish a joint venture to evaluate the construction of a new DC
arc furnace facility using ConRoast technology to treat a portion of Northam`s
platinum group metal ("PGM") concentrate.
This follows on from the successful completion by Jubilee and Mintek of the
development programme for the ConRoast smelting process, and Jubilee`s
acquisition of an appropriate site with infrastructure and an independent source
of power near Middelburg, in South Africa`s Mpumalanga Province, to establish
such a plant.
In terms of the MoU, the joint venture will investigate the feasibility of
constructing and operating a 7MVA DC arc furnace facility to treat PGM
concentrate emanating from Northam`s Booysendal mine, which is currently being
developed.
Commenting on the MoU, Northam Chief Executive Glyn Lewis said today that an
additional furnace facility could hold significant benefits for the Northam
operations and projects. "Although we remain confident that our current
smelting capacity at the Zondereinde mine is adequate for our near to mid-term
requirements, an additional facility, in close proximity to the eastern limb,
provides us with added smelting optionality while reducing our reliance on Eskom
power. This could stand us in very good stead as we turn our attention to the
incremental turning to account of the Booysendal resource."
Jubilee Chief Executive Colin Bird commented "This is a significant development
in the commercialisation of the ConRoast technology, following the successful
completion of the trial phase of development as advised to the market in early
June this year. Northam has played a pivotal role in the research and
development phase of the ConRoast technology, having provided platinum
concentrate for testing campaigns at the Mintek operation."
Note to editors
The ConRoast technology, developed and patented by Mintek (South Africa`s
national mineral research organization) is licensed exclusively to Braemore
Platinum Smelters SA (Pty) Ltd (a wholly owned subsidiary of Jubilee). ConRoast
is a robust, clean and safe DC-arc smelting process for treating high chrome-
bearing platinum concentrates from UG2 reef ore and has established itself as an
environmentally friendly smelting solution for PGM containing concentrates.
Johannesburg
15 July 2010
Sponsors to Northam
Barnard Jacobs Mellet Corporate Finance (Pty) Limited
Sponsor to Jubilee
Sasfin Capital (a division of Sasfin Bank Limited)
FOR JUBILEE
Colin Bird/Leon Coetzer
Jubilee Platinum plc
Tel + 27 (0) 11 253 3280 Tel +44 (0) 20 7584 2155
Matthew Robinson/Ed Frisby
FinnCap
Tel +44 (0) 20 7600 1658
Leonard Eiser/Sharon Owens
Sasfin Capital
Tel +27 (0) 11 809 7500
Michael Kinirons/Nick Rome
Bishopsgate Communications Ltd
Tel +44 (0) 20 7562 3350
FOR NORTHAM
Rene Rautenbach
Northam Platinum Limited
Tel +27 11 759 6000
Marion Brower
Russell & Associates
Tel +27 11 880 3924
Date: 15/07/2010 08:00:01 Produced by the JSE SENS Department.
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