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Gold/Mining/Energy : Precious and Base Metal Investing -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: gg cox who wrote (3210)	4/24/2002 8:20:53 AM
From: Gord Bolton	Respond to of 39344

$22m upgrade for Messina Platinum Sherilee Bridge April 24 2002 at 06:28AM Johannesburg - Messina Platinum planned to spend an extra $22 million this year to up production by 50 percent, which would help the company edge closer to achieving its grand plan of rivalling the world's third-largest platinum producer, Lonplats. Messina, majority held by Canadian miner Southern Era, said yesterday that a buoyant platinum group metal (PGM) market and a healthier debt-to-equity market were behind its decision to deepen its mine on the eastern limb of the platinum-rich Bushveld Complex in Limpopo. Patrick Evans, the president and chief executive of Southern Era, said the immediate deepening of the main shaft at Messina increased the mine's Phase 1 production to 240 000 ounces of PGMs a year. "Currently the country's number six platinum producer, Messina is expected to grow into a 500 000 ounce producer within the next four or five years. Based on our current resource estimate of 16 million ounces, we could easily get to 1 million ounces without having to secure any additional minerals rights," said Evans. Messina is interested in two of the 12 farms released to the Lebowa Minerals Trust by Anglo Platinum last year. Mvelaphanda Resources has been singled out as the company's empowerment partner of choice, and its potential participation in one of these projects, as well as Messina's social plan, should help secure the mineral rights under the new Minerals and Petroleum Development Bill. These additions would double the Messina resource to 30 million ounces, said Evans. Meanwhile, the company's revised plan to deepen the shaft from the 432m originally planned to 730m would push out the mine's initial first-phase production target by six months to the third quarter of next year. "The outlook for PGMs is rosier than ever. Granted, Messina as it stands is a modest contributor to global platinum production but we have our sights set on becoming a significant player by the time the metal's demand ticks up," Evans said. He said the feasibility study on Messina's second phase would be completed by July and a pre-feasibility study had commenced for phase three. "Initial indications are that a second mine with a 400 000 ounce PGM production could be supported at our second lease area. The same size mine is likely in phase three," said Evans. South Africa's six top platinum producers are spending R20 billion to almost double production by 2006. The share closed unchanged yesterday at R41. businessreport.co.za

To: gg cox who wrote (3210)	4/24/2002 9:52:40 AM
From: Gord Bolton	Respond to of 39344

There may be some clues in the following url as to what Southernera has up it's sleeve at Messina. I do not think that they built the plant to sit idle while they deepen the shaft. Click this url and then click on the Marikana project study. aquariusplatinum.com Optimisation study enhances Marikana Project - NPV increased to US$94m (6/19/00) aquariusplatinum.com Aquarius plans to use a dragline to do a box cut to mine the top 100 meters of ore from the reef.