/ 13 April 2004

James Wellsted joins Mvela

South African resources group Mvelaphanda Resources has announced the appointment of James Wellsted as investor relations executive at the company with effect from 1 May 2004.

Wellsted covered the South African gold sector and more recently the larger diversified mining companies in his role as a mining analyst at JP Morgan and previously Fleming Martin, for the past five and a half years.

In 2003 he was ranked the top-rated gold analyst in the Financial Mail’s analyst rankings, after having attained fourth and second spots in 2001 and 2002 respectively.

Wellsted was previously at Standard Bank, followed by a stint at Capital Alliance as a gold analyst before joining Fleming Martin in 1998.

Commenting on his move, Wellsted added that he was excited at the prospect of joining Mvela at this critical time in the company’s development. “In a very short period of time Mvela has proved to be one of the country’s most dynamic and innovative empowerment players in the resources sector. With Mvela recently having almost doubled its market value, I look forward to being part of the company’s emergence into a major, serious operator in the sector. – I-Net Bridge