| RELEASED
ON BEHALF OF TERTIARY MINERALS PLC:
13 May 2002
GENERAL CONSENSUS OF IMPROVING OUTLOOK FOR TANTALUM DEMAND SAYS
TERTIARY.
- Company
Progressing Its Two-Pronged Strategy For Involvement In Tantalum
- Assay
Results Awaited From Infill Drilling At Rosendal Project
- Winter
Geophysical Programme Upgrades Status Of Gallujavre PGM Prospect
In its interim report for the six months ended March 31, 2002, AIM-listed
Tertiary Minerals plc says it is delivering on its two-pronged strategy
for involvement in the tantalum business. This comprises the modest-scale
Rosendal project in Finland that can be fast-tracked to production,
and the huge Ghurayyah project in Saudi Arabia, capable of supplying
substantial amounts of tantalum in 3-5 years time when supply shortfalls
are predicted.
Furthermore, it believes there is now evidence that the weakness
in the tantalum market has tailed off, with several producers recently
reporting increasing demand. "It is generally agreed that the outlook
for tantalum demand is for continuing long-term growth", Tertiary
states.
At Rosendal, assay results are awaited from the infill drilling
programme on the main pegmatite dyke in which all of the previously
published resources (1.3m tonnes grading 289g/t tantalum pentoxide)
are located.
Meanwhile, the programme of metallurgical process-development testwork
has commenced at the 385m tonne Ghurayyah project with the objective
of evaluating various process technologies for this major tantalum
resource to form the basis for a preliminary technical and economic
evaluation.
The Finnmark platinum group metals project in northern Norway has
now advanced to the drilling stage following a major geophysical
exploration programme during the winter which downgraded the Porsvann
prospect but upgraded Gallujavre. There, outcropping low-grade nickel-copper
mineralisation, with values of 2.5g/t combined platinum, palladium
and gold, was discovered last summer in the largest of the ultramafic
intrusives known in the Finnmark region.
Exploration of the company's base metal projects has been assigned
lower priority, but new drilling targets for zinc have been identified
in Sweden.
The Group operating loss for the half-year was £144,555, including
£4,213 of bank interest income. At March 31, Tertiary had £458,125
in cash following a placement of 1.42m shares in February at 25p
each. At the end of April, Dr Michael Price retired as a non-executive
director. He has been replaced by former BHP-Billiton exploration
chief executive Mr David Whitehead.
COPY OF INTERIM STATEMENT AVAILABLE ON REQUEST
Further Info: Patrick Cheetham, Tertiary Minerals. Tel: 01625-626203;
mob: 07767-458751
Ron Marshman/John Greenhalgh, City of London PR Ltd. Tel: 020-7628-5518
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