Weatherly (WTI) is an AIM listed mining, development and exploration Company focusing on Copper in Namibia. The copper portfolio includes the following assets in Namibia: two mines named Otjihase and Matchless which are in production, Tschudi - an open pit SX-EW development project which is in financing phase, the Tsumeb Tailings project which is in feasibility stage, and an exploration licence. The company has resources (JORC) containing 712,000 tonnes of copper.
The Company’s strategy is to develop a copper mining business capable of sustaining 25,000 tonnes per annum of copper at an average industry cost of production.
To achieve this strategy, the Company brought the underground mines, Otjihase and Matchless (Central Operations), back into production in 2011. These two mines continue to serve their original purpose of providing Weatherly with a platform to generate cashflow, enabling the Company to pull together a strong operating base in Namibia and establishing a team of people capable of driving the business through its next stage of growth.
The Company has recently completed a Bankable Feasibility Study on the Tschudi Copper Project. Tschudi will be an Open Pit, Solvent Extraction, Electro-winning project producing 99.99% pure copper cathodes on site in Namibia. Tschudi is the focus of the next stage of growth for Weatherly. The project is designed to produce 17,000 tonnes of copper per year over an 11 year mine life, and will take Weatherly from a small to a medium sized mining company.
Weatherly holds a 25% shareholding in China Africa Resources Plc (CAR). CAR’s main focus is the completion of a feasibility study into the re-development of the Lead, Zinc mine at Berg Aukas, near Groonfontein in Northern Namibia. Weatherly provides management services to CAR under a management services agreement between the two companies. Weatherly’s investment in CAR provides the company with an important strategic partnership with ECE (East China Mineral Exploration & Development Bureau) a large Chinese parastatal mining and exploration company.
Weatherly is also be accelerating the planned extension drilling of the Tschudi syncline and exploratory drilling of Tsumeb West is also scheduled for 2013.