| South Africa |
| Western Bushveld JV |
| War Springs |
| Tweespalk |
| Canada |
War Springs
War Springs Map (click to enlarge)
The Company acquired the War Springs property due to its favorable position along the Northern Limb of the Bushveld Complex. In 2002, the owners recognized they would need to consolidate their holdings and activate the mineral rights or lose them to the state by 2005 under the New Act. The War Springs property has seen virtually no historical mineral exploration as a result of its formerly highly fragmented mineral rights ownership. The property was consolidated and the mineral rights have transitioned to the new mineral law.
Platinum Group currently holds a 70% interest in the War Springs Project and Africa Wide Holdings Limited (“Africa Wide”) and Taung Platinum Exploration (Pty) Ltd. (“Taung Platinum”) each hold a 15% interest carried to feasibility study.
An agreement was announced March 5, 2009 between the Company and Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (“JOGMEC”), an incorporated administrative institution of the Government of Japan, for an optional US$10 million over 5 years to earn 35% of Platinum Group’s War Springs Project interest. Two drill rigs for exploration have been mobilized to the project. The first year firm commitment is US$500,000.
Past Work Program
Our Company optioned the property and began to explore. The systematic program included mapping, geochemistry and geophysics. During our drilling program, we were surprised to discover a banded or layered nature to the property. Typically, the Northern Limb displays lenses of mineralization---not the well-layered formations common of the Eastern and Western limbs of the Bushveld Complex. The PPRUST platinum mine of Anglo Platinum is located 30 kilometres to the north of War Springs
We updated our independent resource calculation on March 17, 2008 to an inferred resource of 1,676,000 ounces of platinum, palladium, and gold (47M tonnes grading 1.11 g/t 3E, 0.13% nickel, 0.10% copper with strong evidence of resource continuity (Charles Muller, Independent Qualified Person, Global Geo Services,(see News Release March 17, 2008).
This resource is found in two distinct reef layers 5-10 metres thick named the "B" and "C" reefs, starting at surface and dipping in parallel sheets at a 65 degree angle to a depth of 400 metres and remaining open.
The combined girth and dip may make this property potentially amenable to a bulk, low-cost underground mining approach.
Planned Work and Potential
The property may have additional potential at depth. Drilling along strike near the PPRUST Mine in the North limb of the Bushveld Complex has shown increased grades and thickness at depth. This deeper drilling is being considered.
The War Springs deposit comes to surface at a low grade but with a favourable thickness of 6.5 to 8.0 metres. Exploration at depth around the nearby open pit PPRust platinum mine has shown impressive grades and thicknesses, including, the Akanani deposit sold by Afriore to Lonmin in 2007. Deep drilling has never been executed at War Springs and it will be a part of the program funded by JOGMEC. As at March 2009, a drilling with two machines has commenced.
Platinum Group's resources include Inferred resources that have not been sufficiently drilled to have economic considerations applied to them to enable them to be categorized as reserves. Until there is additional drilling to update the Inferred to Measured and Indicated resources, there can be no certainty that these resources will be realized.
Cautionary Note to U.S. Investors concerning estimates of Inferred Resources. This section uses the term “inferred resources”. We advise U.S. investors that while that term is recognized and required by Canadian regulations, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission does not recognize it. “Inferred Resources” have a great amount of uncertainty as to their existence, and great uncertainty as to their economic and legal feasibility. It cannot be assumed that all or any part of an Inferred Mineral Resource will ever be upgraded to a higher category. Under Canadian rules, estimates of Inferred Mineral Resources may not form the basis of feasibility or pre-feasibility studies, except in rare cases. U.S. investors are cautioned not to assume that part or all of an inferred resource exists, or is economically or legally mineable.
