MESSINA LIMITED
Messina to Commence PGM Production in August 2001
Financing Secured for New Accelerated Production Initiative
Johannesburg, 6 March 2001;... The Board of Directors of Messina Limited has
approved the immediate implementation of a new Accelerated Production
Initiative ("API") on the Voorspoed portion of its wholly owned Messina
platinum group metals ("PGMs") project in South Africa. The API is expected to
generate saleable PGM concentrate as early as August 2001, approximately one
year earlier than originally planned. Financing for the API has been obtained
by way of an unsecured loan from a major South African public company. This
loan is independent of the project financing being arranged by Rand Merchant
Bank for the full-scale operation as set out in the February 2000 feasibility
study.
The API was designed by the engineering team of SouthernEra Resources Limited,
which owns a 70.4% interest in Messina Limited, to take advantage of the
current robust market for PGMs while continuing construction of the full-scale
operation scheduled for commercial start-up in early 2003. The Initiative will
make use of an existing second shaft to mine approximately 20,000 tonnes of ore
per month without interfering with the completion of the full-scale operation
focused on the main shaft. The API financing will be used to purchase a
concentrator capable of processing this volume of material. The API is
expected to produce approximately 2,300 ounces per month of payable PGMs plus
gold which at current prices is estimated to generate approximately US$1.0
million per month in cash flow before debt service.
Upon completion of the full-scale operation at Voorspoed, the API concentrator
will be used to process bulk samples from the adjacent Doornvlei property where
an existing shaft provides access to an indicated resource of 2.8 million
ounces of PGMs plus gold not included in the February 2000 feasibility study.
A recently announced independent audit of Messina's properties to a depth of
1,000 metres confirmed a total measured and indicated resource of 8.2 million
ounces of PGMs plus gold and an additional 7.7 million ounces in the inferred
category.
SouthernEra's newly appointed President and CEO and a Director of Messina
Limited, Patrick Evans said the API "is a testament to the ingenuity of
SouthernEra's engineering team. The economic impact of this Initiative should
substantially reduce the equity still required by Messina to complete the
financing of the full-scale operation."
Messina Limited, is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange under the symbol
MES. SouthernEra is listed under the symbol SUF on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
Messina Limited
Chris Jennings
Telephone: (011) 442 6923 Fax: (011) 442-6993; or
e-mail: inbox@southernera.com
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