LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Ridge Mining PLC said its 50 pct-owned unit Blue Ridge Platinum (Pty) Ltd has completed the acquisition of SouthernEra Mining and Exploration South Africa (Pty) Ltd from a subsidiary of Lonmin PLC, thereby increasing the mineral resource at Blue Ridge by 72 pct.
SouthernEra Mining and Exploration holds several prospecting rights over the ground adjacent to Blue Ridge, which was originally termed as its 'Millennium Project' prior to the acquisition of SouthernEra Platinum by Lonmin in 2005.
'Millennium represents a significant opportunity to expand production at Blue Ridge, which is already mining ore onto a stockpile and is on schedule to ship its first concentrate in the final quarter of this year,' chief executive of Ridge Mining, Terence Wilkinson, said. tf.TFN-Europe_newsdesk@thomson.com tsm/lam COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Financial News Limited 2007. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Thomson Financial News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Financial News.