Finders acquires used plant for Maluku copper project

Australian firm Finders Resources Limited announced Wednesday that it has purchased outright the Whim Creek SX-EW plant from a subsidiary of Straits Resources Limited, to be used in its Indonesian copper cathode project.

The Whim Creek SX-EW plant is capable of producing 18,000 tonnes of copper cathode per annum and is well suited to Finders? needs at its Wetar Copper Project in North Maluku. The recently completed definitive feasibility study for the Wetar Copper Project incorporates use of the Whim Creek plant.

Finders held an option to acquire the Whim Creek plant at a price of A$5,000,000 payable in Finders? shares. To complete the transaction, Finders has on Wednesday issued to Straits 12,696,801 fully paid ordinary shares at 39.38 cents per share, and paid the A$250,000 option lee to Straits by the issue of a further 724,638 shares at 34.5 cents per share.

These new shares, when added to Straits? existing shareholding, give Straits a 10.06% interest in Finders.

The Whim Creek plant is currently located at Straits? Whim Creek mine in Western Australia. Finders will commence the dismantling of the Whim Creek plant in January 2010 a process that is expected to take around three months to complete and will then prepare for its subsequent relocation to Wetar Island.

At the Wetar Project, as part of a definitive feasibility study, a demonstration SX-EW plant with 5t per day copper cathode capacity was commissioned in February 2009 and is permitted to process 100,000t of ore from the Kali Kuning deposit. The demonstration plant is producing LME Grade A copper cathode. The Company is targeting commercial production of 23.000 tonnes per year copper cathode, subject to permitting and project funding.(alex)