Prospecting Rights Issued for the Rooderand Platinum Project (24/11/09)

Platinum Australia has confirmed that it has issued a prospecting right to Atla Mining Resources for the Rooderand Platinum project.

The company is planning to drill 100 holes to update the UG2 and Merensky reef inferred resources of 11.8 million tonnes at 5.39g/t 4E pgm (platinum, palladium, rhodium and gold) and 3.8 million tonnes at 7.99g/t respectively.

"We are obviously very pleased to have the prospecting right for Rooderand issued in such a timely manner, allowing us to commence the drilling programme on the project," commented Platinum Australia Managing Director John Lewins.

TNG completes drilling to test for other metals at Mount Peake (24/11/09)

Another Australian firm, TNG, has completed tests on its initial drilling of two deep diamond holes at its Mount Peake project in the Northern Territory.

The firm believes that layers of nickel, copper and pgms lie beneath the vanadium resource at the site and is exploring the possibility by tapping into the magnetite-rich gabbro which hosts it.

According to Mining Weekly, no definitive pgm sources were located in the two holes, but they offered enough encouragement for further deep drilling to be planned for next year.

Wallbridge Mining Company and Lonmin will invest C$1.25 million for up to 4,500m of diamond drilling and related pgm exploration plans at their Sudbury Camp joint venture.

The site, which covers about 220km sq, contains seven properties, with Trill Windy Lake, Skynner Lake and Cascaden providing the focus of the latest project.

"We appreciate the support and confidence Lonmin has again showed in our exploration efforts in Sudbury. We look forward to a successful 2010 programme," said Alar Soever, President and CEO of Wallbridge.

Marathon Receives Optimized Definitive Feasibility Study - Significantly Improved Economics (24/11/09)

Marathon PGM Corporation has confirmed that it has now received the optimised definitive feasibility study for its Marathon Pgm-Cu project.

According to the firm, the pgm metallurgy at the site - which is located 10km north of Ontario, Canada - increased by three per cent for palladium, seven per cent for platinum and ten per cent for gold.

"This superior set of economics sets the stage for our next phase of developing the Marathon project," commented President and CEO Phillip Walford.

"Everyone involved in the revision has given considerable effort in improving the feasibility study."

Platinum Group Reports 2009 Annual Financial Results (30/11/09)

Platinum Group Metals revealed that it is assessing "several strategic alternatives" in addition to its existing exploration project.

At present, the firm is awaiting clearance to assume a 74 per cent stake in Projects 1 and 3 of the Western Bushveld joint venture, with the former capable of offering 275,000 oz per year with a 25-year life-of-mine.

It has also entered into an option agreement with Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation regarding the War Springs and Waterberg properties in the platinum-rich South African region.

However, it is set to make an announcement about its future intentions in the near future, with Project 1 likely to be the subject of its next move.

"The alternatives include building the Project 1 platinum mine using conventional debt and equity, hedging some of the project in a partnership or transaction involving a minority of the metal flow, or the sale of the company," read a statement.

Australian miner explores high-grade PGM hotspot (04/12/09)

Magma Metals is delighted with the progress being made in an exploration project located to the north of its Thunder Bay site.

The Australian junior is developing a high-grade interest beneath the shores of Current Lake which will convert the initial resource of 690,000 oz of platinum into an indicated category.

In addition, it is embarking on drill turning at its Steepledge Lake and Lone Island Lake complexes, which are located 3km and 8km west of Thunder Bay respectively.

"We have an interconnected complex of ultramafic intrusive rocks with platinum-palladium, copper-nickel potential," Magma's Thunder Bay Exploration Manager Allan MacTavish told Northern Ontario Business.

Noront confirms high-grade platinum-palladium grades - Identifies presence of rhodium (08/11/09)

Finally, Noront Resources has officially confirmed the impressive assay results from its Eagle's Nest Deposit, which it originally divulged in November.

After locating high-grade platinum and palladium, the firm noted that samples featuring both from the 10g/t mark contained rhodium grades of 2g/t or higher.

As a result, Noront will now assay the entire 22.8m deposit at the McFaulds Lake Property in the hope of finding additional pgms such as iridium, osmium, ruthenium and rhenium.

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