North rim of BIC heating up:
I hope that SUF acquired all the additional lands it can handle at this time. More comptetion is moving in:
biz.yahoo.com
Press Release
Anooraq Accelerates Platreef Acquisition
VANCOUVER, B.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 5, 2001--Ronald W. Thiessen, President and CEO of Anooraq Resources Corporation (CDNX:ARQ. - news) is pleased to announce that Anooraq has agreed to accelerate the buy-out of 100% of the balance of its South African subsidiary Plateau Resources (Pty) Limited from Pinnacle Resources Inc., Plateau's other principal shareholder.
The acquisition of the remaining outstanding shares of Plateau by Anooraq represents a re-structuring of prior agreements with Pinnacle and will allow Anooraq to focus its PGM exploration work in the Platreef region entirely through Plateau. Anooraq will issue to Pinnacle 7.5 million Anooraq shares and 4.5 million Anooraq share purchase warrants to complete the acquisition of Pinnacle's remaining interest in Plateau. Anooraq currently has 14.1 million shares outstanding and this issuance will effectively represent a 30% equity interest (undiluted) in Anooraq. Pinnacle has also agreed to enter into a share resale and voting trust arrangement with Anooraq. These agreements will help ensure an orderly market for Anooraq and continuity of its current management. Pinnacle will nominate two additional members to the Anooraq Board of Directors. The new agreement with Pinnacle is subject to Canadian Venture Exchange (CDNX) acceptance.
Over the last two years Anooraq has funded extensive exploration work on Plateau's 9600 hectare Platreef property which is located on the northern limb of the prolific Bushveld layered mafic intrusive complex. The Platreef property covers 12 kilometres of strike length of the PGM-bearing Platreef horizon and lies immediately adjacent to Anglo American Platinum Corporation's property which hosts eight deposits totalling 55 million ounces of PGM resources, including the Sandsloot open pit mine (47 million tonnes grading 4.8 g/t PGM(plus)Au). Anooraq is also negotiating to acquire other strategically located parcels in the region.
Platinum group metals (PGM) are hosted in the Platreef horizon, which is stratigraphically equivalent to the Merensky reef located on other limbs of the Bushveld. However, Platreef mineralization is considerably thicker (up to 50 metres) than Merensky reef mineralization which is typically 1 to 3 metres thick. Compared to the Merensky Reef, which is mined by labour intensive underground methods, the Platreef is amenable to low-cost large-scale surface mining methods. For PGM explorers, this feature makes the Platreef one of the most attractive exploration targets in the world and the northern limb of the Bushveld has seen a dramatic increase in exploration activities over the past year. With announced plans to increase company production by an additional 2 million ounces per year, expectations are that Anglo Platinum will place other deposits on its Platreef ground on stream. African Minerals, a privately held affiliate of Ivanhoe Capital, is active on its ground which abuts Anooraq's southern farm Rietfontein. Falconbridge acquired farms immediately to the south of African Minerals in October 2000 through an agreement with Thabex Exploration Limited. To the north, Australian junior, Pan Palladium Limited is planning an exploration program on their property.
Furthermore, Anglo Platinum has announced the planned construction and development of a PGM smelting and refining complex near the city of Pietersburg adjacent to the Platreef developments. With this obvious interest and development focus the Platreef is set to become one of the world's major centres of PGM production. With the acquisition of 100% of Plateau Resources, Anooraq is positioned to be a prime player in one of the world's premier PGM camps. |
