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?? Platinum
Group in Loan Talks for $506 Million Mine
Platinum Group Metals Ltd.
is in talks with nine banks to arrange a loan to help fund development of the
company's $506 million mine in South
Africa, Chief Executive Officer Michael
Jones said. The company plans to finance half of its share of the project by
selling stock, and fund the other 50 percent with a loan it expects to obtain
by November, Jones said today in a telephone interview.
Platinum Group owns 74
percent of the deposit in north-western South Africa, and
Johannesburg-based Wesizwe Platinum Ltd. owns the
remainder. Tighter credit markets have made it more expensive and difficult for
companies to obtain loans to develop projects. At the same time, a near
doubling in platinum prices in the past five years has spurred miners to
bolster output in South
Africa, the world's largest source of the
metal.
"Banking interest
continues to be extremely strong,'' Jones said from Vancouver, where the company is based. Platinum
Group's project is "very attractive to build or be bought,'' he said. The
mine, part of a joint venture with Wesizwe, is
expected to yield 160,000
ounces of platinum a year after development is completed
in 2010. (Bloomberg)
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For more information
contact:
John Foulkes
Toll Free 866.899.5450
Phone 604.899.5450
Cel
604.897-0809
or
Michael Pound
Toll Free 866.899.5450
Phone 604.899.5450
Cel 604.218.4323
info@platinumgroupmetals.net
www.platinumgroupmetals.net