Eastern Platinum Limited to Restart Operations Under Essential Services Order Issued by the Government of South Africa
VANCOUVER, April 8, 2020 - Eastern Platinum Ltd. ("Eastplats" or the "Company") is pleased to report that the Director General Mineral Resources of South Africa issued an essential services order (the "Order") pursuant to which it has authorized Eastplats' subsidiary, Barplats Mines (Pty) Ltd. ("Barplats"), to operate its tailings retreatment project located at the Crocodile River Mine (the "Retreatment Project") at a reduced capacity and to transport and export the Chrome concentrate produced by the Retreatment Project. Barplats has reviewed and updated its start up plans to be consistent with the Order, based on a significantly reduced work force, and will immediately implement a phased restart.
The Company remains committed to the Government of South Africa's direction to prevent the risk of spread of COVID-19. Eastplats has produced risk assessments and adopted appropriate procedures to maintain a safe workplace for its employees and the communities in which it operates.
The effects of COVID-19 are changing rapidly and the Company cannot reasonably estimate at this time the impact of COVID-19 or the lockdown imposed by the Government of South Africa, currently scheduled to end at midnight April 16, 2020, both of which could have material adverse effects on the Company's business, liquidity and cashflows.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" or "forward-looking information" (collectively referred to herein as "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Such forward-looking statements include, without limitation, forecasts, estimates, expectations and objectives for future operations that are subject to a number of assumptions, risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "will", "plan", "intends", "may", "will", "could", "expects", "anticipates" and similar expressions. Further disclosure of the risks and uncertainties facing the Company and other forward-looking statements are discussed in the Company's most recent Annual Information Form available under the Company's profile on www.sedar.com.
In particular, this press release contains, without limitation, forward-looking statements pertaining to: the restart of the operations at the Retreatment Project; the Company's ability to maintain a safe workplace for its employees; the lockdown imposed by the Government of South Africa; the effect of the Order; and any future measured taken by the Government of South Africa. These forward-looking statements are based on assumptions made by and information currently available to the Company. Although management considers these assumptions to be reasonable based on information currently available to it, they may prove to be incorrect. By their very nature, forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties and readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these statements as a number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the beliefs, plans, objectives, expectations, estimates and intentions expressed in such forward-looking statements. These factors include, but are not limited to, unanticipated problems that may arise in our production processes, commodity prices, lower than expected grades and quantities of resources, need for additional funding and availability of such additional funding on acceptable terms, economic conditions, currency fluctuations, competition and regulations, legal proceedings and risks related to operations in foreign countries.
All forward-looking statements in this press release are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement, the "Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Information" section contained in the Company's most recent Management's Discussion and Analysis available under the Company's profile on www.sedar.com. The forward-looking statements in this press release are made as of the date they are given and, except as required by applicable securities laws, the Company disclaims any intention or obligation, and does not undertake, to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein.
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SOURCE Eastern Platinum Ltd.
Contact
Eastern Platinum Ltd., Rowland Wallenius, Chief Financial Officer, rwallenius@eastplats.com (email), (604) 800-8200 (phone)