Weatherly : Quarterly Operations and Production Update

21 January 2015

Weatherly International Plc

("Weatherly" or "the Company")

Quarterly Operations and Production Update

Weatherly International Plc (AIM: WTI) announces its quarterly update for the quarter ending 31 December 2014, being the second quarter of the financial year ending 30 June 2015.

Highlights

Production results for the second quarter of the financial year 2015

·     Tonnes mined overall decreased by 16 per cent compared with the previous quarter

·     Central Operations second quarter (FY2015) production of 1,213 tonnes of copper was a 17 per cent decrease compared to 1,462 tonnes produced in the previous quarter.

·     Central Operations Cash Cost (C1) for the quarter of US$7,209/t (US$3.27 /lb) copper, from USD 5,844/t (USD 2.65/lb) copper in the previous quarter, as a result of the lower production and lower gold realisations over the last two quarters.

·     The final tranche of US$0.83 million of the working capital loan from Orion Mine Finance has been repaid.

·     The Company, as of 31st December 2014, had cash reserves of approximately US$10.8 million, excluding draw downs under the Orion Mine Finance loan.

Rod Webster, CEO of Weatherly, commented:

"At current production levels and copper prices Central Operations are unsustainable and the Board will review the situation going forward."

Central Operations

Mining

At Matchless, slower decline waste development progress resulted in a reduction of available ore development headings and available open stopes.  Additional resources have been mobilised to accelerate decline advance.

At Otjihase, ground control issues in the Kuruma pillar retreat areas restricted the available ore headings there; focus has now shifted back to bringing the two new primary mining areas on line as quickly as possible.

Commercial

During the quarter, the Company produced 1,213t of copper at a cost of US$7,209/t. The company delivered 6,100 tonnes of concentrate (1,296 tonnes of copper) to metal trader Louis Dreyfus at a weighted average price of US$6,589/t copper (US$ 2.99/lb).

In the quarter ending 31 December 2014, The Company paid off US$0.83 million of the working capital loan to Orion Mine Finance reducing the outstanding loan to zero. This left the Company with cash reserves, excluding drawdowns under the Orion Mine Finance loan, of approximately US$10.8 million.

Tschudi

Mining

In total, 77,000 bcm of ore, 33,500 bcm of mineralised material and 618,000 bcm of waste were mined during the quarter.

Construction

An update on Tschudi Construction was provided on 7 January 2015.

Chairman, John Bryant, said:

"I look forward to updating the market with the first production of copper at Tschudi."

Conference Call

The company will hold a conference call on Monday 26 January at 12 p.m.UK time. If you would like to attend please send an email to info@weatherlyplc.com  and we will send you the dial in telephone number.

For further information please contact:

Weatherly International Plc +44 (0) 20 7917 2989

Rod Webster, CEO

Kevin Ellis, CFO & Company Secretary

RFC Ambrian Limited                                                        +44 (0) 20 3440 6800

(Nominated Adviser & Broker)

Samantha Harrison

Finncap                                                                                      +44(0)2072200514

(Joint Broker)

Joanna Weaving

Blytheweigh                                                                            +44(0)2071383204

(Financial PR)
Tim Blythe / Halimah Hussain

About Weatherly

Weatherly is an AIM listed copper mining company operating in Namibia in southern Africa. Its principal assets are two underground copper mines, Otjihase and Matchless , and a larger open pit development called Tschudi scheduled to come on stream in the second quarter of calendar year 2015. 

These assets will enable Weatherly to achieve its medium term goal of establishing a mining business capable of sustaining approximately 25,000 tonnes per annum of copper production.

The Company also has a 25% stake in the AIM listed company, China Africa Resources Plc (CAF), which is developing a lead/zinc mine called Berg Aukas also in Namibia.