Jubilee Platinum Agrees Smelting JV With Northam Platinum

15th Jul 2010 08:30

LONDON (Dow Jones)--Platinum producer Jubilee Platinum PLC (JLP.LN) Thursday said it agreed to form a joint venture with Northam Platinum Ltd. (NHM.JO) to evaluate the construction of a furnace incorporating Jubilee's ConRoast smelting technology. Jubilee said it signed a memorandum of understanding with Northam to investigate the feasibility of constructing a furnace to treat platinum group metal concentrate from Northam's Booysendal mine in South Africa, which is currently in development. Northam said although it has smelting capacity at another mine, an extra facility would increase capacity and cut its reliance on power provider Eskom. Jubilee's ConRoast technology, acquired when it agreed a GBP26 million merger with Braemore Resources PLC in 2009, is billed as safe and environmentally friendly. -By Jason Douglas, Dow Jones Newswires; 44-20-7842-9272; [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 15, 2010 03:30 ET (07:30 GMT)