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President's Message


 

Dear fellow Shareholder,

FACTS

This year’s annual report has the title of a Fact Book. We simply put forward the facts about our Company, our assets, our progress and our plans. In short, we have been very successful and we have a very exciting future as we continue to safely build our WBJV Project 1 platinum mine.

We have a world-class, 7 million ounce (our share) Platinum mine in construction called the WBJV Project 1. We have advanced the project under an updated new order bulk sample permit from the Department of Mineral Resources that allows for our site establishment and underground development to start. We have made excellent progress with the mine project, completing civil works, box cut excavation for the underground development and connections to water and power. The underground work has now started as well. We have established long term commitments for all of these items with the relevant authorities and key contractors. We have done all of this on budget. Our overall Phase 1 investment in the Project is budgeted at USD $100 million and we are about USD $50 million through the project at this time. We have safety as our number one priority and we have completed our work so far safely with 250,000 man hours worked without a lost time incident. We continue to have a positive relationship with the local communities and government, in a climate of mutual respect. We have been able to meet our target of 30% employment from the local community during the initial contracting ramp up period, when time is short and when it is most difficult to hire locally. We have $112 million in consolidated cash at year end that we are able to use to move our plans ahead. We are supported by a mandated set of banks for a Project loan of USD $260 million plus a working capital facility of USD $25 million. Due diligence by the banks and loan documentation is in progress at the time of writing. We have a solid team to execute our plans to build a mine and explore for more platinum in South Africa and Canada. We have some excellent exploration programs in progress now.

MILESTONES

Our plans in early 2012 include;

• Completing the final Mining Right Permit

• Completion of an off-take agreement with a smelter to buy our platinum concentrate from the mine

• Final documentation of the loan and draw down of the credit facility

• Commencement of Phase 2 of the construction of the mine and mill facilities.

• Continued exploration for new platinum deposits on our own and with funding partners in South Africa and Canada

These are the facts and our plans.

CLIMATE

All of this has been completed with the backdrop of a world of worry in September and October 2011. In the words of one investment banker – “the 4.2 billion people in the developing world have not put their aspirations on hold”. Never before has there been so much communication and co-operation in the world. Nations are co-operating with a similar view of basic human rights. Trade is truly global, especially in commodities. The amount of communication is an advantage in some ways and it creates issues in other ways. In my view, there is too much communication and not enough analysis creating extreme volatility.

We see solid demand for our product – the platinum group metals. USA car sales for September have surprised to the upside and platinum is required for the catalytic converters for these cars as well as the growing emerging markets.

There is a shrinking ability of the world to meet demand. Mines in South Africa are challenged with an increased depth and an increased focus on safety. We have an advantage of a shallow depth and a fresh start of mine culture to focus on safety. All around us and deeper we see new mines being developed on the same layers we plan to mine. These mining construction projects by Impala Platinum, the Royal Bafokeng and Jinchaun (the Chinese State company) have significantly greater depths, longer lead times and greater capital costs confirming our excellent position in the competitive market. There is good co-operation among the operators in the area as well as we look for ways to save costs and maximize the benefits to the local communities.

SOUTH AFRICA

South Africa has seen a large amount of press in the past year. We have experienced a very positive operating environment and put forward the following facts;

• Mining is very important to the South African economy with 19% of Gross Domestic Product and 35.9% of exports (in 2010)(Source: Chamber of Mines, South Africa)

• The government of South Africa has been clear and steadfast in stating the importance of direct foreign investment and security of title for developing jobs

• We have had and continue to have a positive interaction with government on a professional and thorough basis

• 80% of the residents in the communities around the mine have Standard 10 or Grade 8 education – and we have been able to hire 30% of our workers on site locally. This creates a positive environment for the mine

• We have been granted a bulk sample permit so that our site establishment and underground work has been able to start and we have seen prompt attention and feedback to our mining rights application

• The process for completing a mining right is well organized and is responsive

•The market is discounting South African precious metals companies based on perceived risk

CONCLUSION

Our valuation currently does not reflect our progress or our opportunities in our view. We have the cash to advance WBJV Project 1 Platinum Mine and we have the mandated support of a strong syndicate of banks. We are confident about our WBJV Project mine plan and the macro picture for platinum demand. We believe we have some excellent exploration projects to add value per share considering our limited shares issued. We continue to do our work diligently, focused on delivery of our milestones with an excellent team.

R. Michael Jones, P. Eng
President, CEO and Co-Founder


 
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