/ 26 April 2007

Wesizwe to buy stake in joint venture for $93m

South African platinum miner Wesizwe Platinum has agreed to buy a 26% stake in the Western Bushveld joint venture for R650-million, it said on Wednesday.

Wesizwe, the investment vehicle for South Africa’s Bakubung Ba-Ratheo Tribe, said it would buy African Wide Mineral Prospecting and Exploration by issuing new shares.

That would give it a 26% stake in Western Bushveld, a joint venture with the world’s biggest platinum miner Anglo Platinum and Toronto-listed exploration firm Platinum Group Metals.

Wesizwe will issue 62-million shares at R10,48 each. The deal also gives it stakes in Platinum Group Metal’s exploration projects north of the Western Bushveld project, it said in a statement.

Anglo Platinum and Platinum Group Metals each hold 37% of the Western Bushveld joint venture. — Reuters