Acquisition

Petra Diamonds Ld 19 May 2003 Press Release Embargoed: 7:00am, 19 May 2003 Acquisition of Platreef mineral properties Petra Diamonds Limited ('Petra'), the Aim listed mining group, has acquired mineral properties representing up to 6km of potential Platreef strike through a 100% owned subsidiary. Petra has, for the past 18 months, sought to broaden its activities beyond its existing focus on diamond exploration and mining. The Group believes that the fundamentals behind platinum are strong and, combined with the current exploration opportunities in South Africa, will offer an exciting proposition to shareholders. This is in line with Petra's approach to developing its strategy from its pure exploration beginnings to a broader based group that can focus on the mining of precious metals and minerals, which will offset the high risk / reward profile of pure exploration. Platreef is one of the world's major hosts of platinum group metals and is a significant carrier of anomalous copper and nickel sulphides. It is currently the object of extensive exploration in the Northern Limb of the Bushveld Complex in South Africa's Limpopo Province. An exploration programme is currently being designed to confirm the potential of the mineral property. It will be carried out for Petra by MSA Projects (Pty) Ltd. Previous work on the property has demonstrated the presence of anomalous copper and nickel value in geochemical soil samples collected at wide intervals. The exploration programme under consideration will consist initially of follow-up diamond drilling, after which a more comprehensive drilling programme is envisaged. Petra has applied for a prospecting permit for the properties. - Ends - For further information, please contact: Justine Howarth / Cathy Malins Parkgreen Communications Tel: 020 7287 5544 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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