🕐03.11.11 - 14:27 Uhr

ANNOUNCEMENT: VILLAGES EXTENDED DRILLING PROGRAMME AT LESEGO CONTINUES TO REVEAL
CONSISTENT GRADES AND WIDTHS BUT AT SIGNIFICANTLY SHALLOWER DEPTHS



Press Announcement 3 November 2011
Villages extended drilling programme at Lesego continues to reveal consistent grades and widths but at significantly shallower depths
- 12 additional holes drilled, with 6 remaining holes to complete the shallow drilling programme - Potential to increase mineable ore body between depths of 350m and 700m - Corresponding reduction in capex, opex and time to production - High recoveries reported from initial testwork for Merensky and UG2 Village is pleased to announce that the extended shallow drilling campaign at the Lesego Platinum Project (Lesego) has produced similar quality grades and consistency of widths as reported at levels below 700m.

A further 12 holes were drilled, along a strike length of 1.2km, between depths of 300m and 700m.

Average grades for 3 PGE + gold of about 6 g/t over widths of up to 1.4m have been confirmed.
These findings should result in a mineable ore body between depths of 350m and 700m, the depth at which the current ore body has been declared and will result in greater economic viability as capex and opex can expected to be lower.


Drill intersections from drill holes LES024, LES034 and LES035 with assay results are presented below.
Drill hole Reef Depth below Surface Width 3PGE + Au
LES034M0 Merensky Reef 322 m 1.00 m 5.97 g/t
LES034M1 Merensky Reef 322 m 1.04 m 5.69 g/t
LES034M1 Merensky Reef 322 m 1.00 m 6.18 g/t
LES034U0 UG2 Chromitite 537 m 1.47 m 6.00 g/t
LES034U3 UG2 Chromitite 537 m 1.50 m 5.89 g/t
LES034U0 UG2 Chromitite 537 m 1.47 m 5.40 g/t
LES024M0 Merensky Reef 591 m 0.90 m 4.58 g/t
LES024M4 Merensky Reef 590 m 0.92 m 4.17 g/t
LES024M5 Merensky Reef 590 m 0.90 m 2.99 g/t
LES035U0 UG2 Chromitite 450 m 0.98 m 4.74 g/t
LES035U1 UG2 Chromitite 450 m 0.97 m 2.93 g/t
LES035U2 UG2 Chromitite 450 m 1.08 m 3.82 g/t
Further to these results, on-going drilling with 6 diamond drill rigs has resulted in further intersections of Merensky at depths of between 360m and 780m and UG2 at depths of between 550m and 1,031m.
Initial metallurgical testwork performed on reef material from 14 boreholes in the initial area to be mined totalling approximately 160 kg has shown that expected recoveries on the Merensky Reef are in excess of 85%, whilst testwork has shown a recovery range of 82% to 87% on the UG2 Chromitite. Standard tests and optimisation work using extra depressant has shown to be beneficial to the Merensky Reef and the UG2 is expected to respond well to optimisation testwork.
CEO of Village, Bernard Swanepoel, commented: "The depths of these shallower intersections confirm our geological model for the project.

This recent drilling is proving that the reefs are continuous along strike with very little structural disturbance and also that grades remain excellent at shallow depths.

The high recoveries received from testwork on Merensky and UG2 is also in line with expectations for reefs in that area".
ENDS
Contacts:
Village CEO | Bernard Swanepoel | | 083 303 9922 Vestor | Media and Investor Relations | Louise Brugman | | 011 787 3015 | 083 504 1186
Note to editors
About the Lesego Project
Village controls a 77% interest in the Lesego project with the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) owning the remaining 23%.

Situated near Burgersfort, South Africa, Lesego is fully funded to bankable feasibility study by the IDC, to the tune of R142 million The orebody at the Phosiri dome consists of both the UG2 Chromitite and the Merensky Reef, which occur as distinct layers of contrasting rock type to the surrounding rocks.

They are part of a 3 to 6 km layered package known as the Rustenburg Layered Suite, which forms part of the Bushveld Igneous Complex.

The Bushveld Igneous Complex formed from molten rock injected into the sedimentary rocks of the Transvaal Supergroup about 2,055 million years ago, and which crystallised into distinct layers, a few of which contain concentrations of valuable metals.

The Bushveld Complex therefore contains the greatest concentration of known mineral wealth on the planet and includes platinum group element (PGE) ores, base metals such as chromium, iron, tin, titanium and vanadium and industrial minerals such as andelusite, dimension stone and magnesite.
Logo_sharper02 media & investor relations
louise brugman managing director T: +27 (0) 11 787 3015 C: +27 (0) 83 504 1186 skype louise.brugman E: www.vestor.co.za
This email contains confidential information.

If you are not the intended recipient, you must not disclose or use the information in this email in any way.

If you have received it in error, kindly notify us immediately by return email and delete the original message.





Products & Services | Jobs