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LAF
LOLAF
Lonrho Africa Plc - Investment In Uranium Project
Lonrho Africa Plc
(Incorporated and registered in England and Wales)
(Registration number 2805337)
(Share code: LAF; ISIN number: GB0002568813)
("Lonrho Africa" or "the Company")
INVESTMENT IN URANIUM PROJECT
Lonrho Africa is pleased to announce that it has agreed to invest
GBP5 million in Brinkley Mining Plc ("Brinkley"), which has significant
Uranium and Molybdenum prospects in the Karoo region of South Africa.
This is the Company"s first investment under its new investing strategy
which was approved by Lonrho Africa"s shareholders at an EGM held on 24
February 2006.
Lonrho Africa has subscribed for 25 million ordinary shares at a price of
20 pence per share. This represents a 10% holding of Brinkley"s issued
share capital. Brinkley is seeking an admission on AIM during the first
half of this year. The pre-IPO funding will assist in confirming the
resource potential of the Karoo assets and lead to a feasibility study
for the purposes of commissioning a viable Uranium operation.
The Karoo region lies some 450 km North-East of Cape Town and Brinkley
has rights to land representing 42,000 hectares (162 square miles). SRK
Consulting has undertaken a Competent Person"s Report for Brinkley which
states that:
"Based on the expectation that between 5 per cent. and 10 per cent. of
the sandstone may be mineralised and typical mineralisation grades for
the individual prospects, the magnitude of the total in-situ
mineralisation that Brinkley is targeting in its exploration is likely to
fall within a range of 41 and 83 million pounds U3O8 plus 23 to 47
million pounds of molybdenum exclusive of one prospect."
David Lenigas, Lonrho Africa"s CEO, commented:
"This investment by Lonrho Africa is illustrative of the exciting
opportunities available in the African continent and enables the Company
to apply its project and financing expertise.
"At today"s Uranium and Molybdenum prices, SRK"s report represents a
current in-ground value of between US$2.1bn - US$4.2bn (at US$39.50/lb
U3O8 and US$21/lb Mo). According to the SRK report this indicates only
some 5-10 per cent. of the mineralised environment and thus offers
significant upside potential."
In the 1970"s, Union Carbide Corporation ("Union Carbide") and Essex
Minerals Company ("Essex") undertook extensive exploration work in the
Karoo region which included the four prospects owned by Brinkley. The
exploration work consisted of airborne surveys and drilling programmes.
At Brinkley"s Rietkuil Project, exploration activities by Union Carbide
culminated in the excavation of a trial mining pit and assays showed well-
mineralised zones with typical intersections showing up to 4,851 ppm
Uranium, 185 ppm Molybdenum and values up to 8,810 ppm Uranium, 573 ppm
Molybdenum. Historical estimates of the mineralisation were calculated
at 1.1 million tonnes of in-situ Uranium ore grading a prospective
1,788ppm and in-situ Molybdenum grades of 118 ppm.
At Brinkley"s Waterval Prospect, Essex undertook a drilling programme
that intersected Uranium mineralisation zones at depths between 8-13
metres. According to Hambleton-Jones (1994) values up to 5,240 ppm U3O8
were obtained and this led to an exploration drilling programme on a 100
x 100 metre drilling grid.
At Brinkley"s other project, Damsfontein-Bloemfontein, Union Carbide
proved up 338,500 tonnes grading in-situ 1,334 ppm Uranium and 1,027 ppm
Molybdenum and at the fourth project, Flagfontein, it is reported that
there are significant mineralised zones.
All of the above projects remain open for further resource delineation.
ENQUIRIES AND FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Lonrho Africa Plc
David Lenigas Mobile: +44 (0)7881 825 378
Emma Priestley Mobile: +44 (0)7867 785 177
Strand Partners Limited
Simon Raggett Tel: +44 (0)20 7409 3494
Mobile: +44 (0)7769 883 666
Cardew Group
Nadja Vetter Tel: +44 (0)20 7930 0777
Mobile: +44 (0)7941 340 436
14 March 2006
South African sponsor to Lonrho Africa Plc
Java Capital (Pty) Limited
Date: 14/03/2006 09:00:08 AM Produced by the JSE SENS Department
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