Johannesburg — MINING exploration company Jubilee Platinum said yesterday further soil geochemical testing had shown nickel-copper anomaly plots on the northwest of Ambodilafa, in Madagascar, and had given considerable "encouragement" for a limited drill-test programme.

The programme is to begin late next month, following up on previous encouraging finds.

Releasing the group's results for the six months to December, chairman Malcolm Burne said the highlight of the period was the acquisition of Braemore Resources , which owned exclusive rights to the Mintek patented ConRoast process for the smelting of high-chrome-bearing platinum group metal (PGM) concentrates.

Jubilee has the exclusive rights to ConRoast until 2020 and Braemore also had certain exploitation rights to BHP Billiton-owned nickel tailings in Western Australia.

"The Tjate mineral resource statement was studied further, the results of which demonstrated that Tjate remains a robust project," Burne said of the Bushveld Complex resource. He said the company's board had elected to advance the project towards feasibility.

In November, the company "successfully" raised £13,25m with the issue of 44,16-million new ordinary shares at a price of 30p a share.

"The platinum price has been particularly strong during the credit crisis and continues to demonstrate further price growth potential," Burne said.

The company, which is listed on London's AIM and the JSE, reported a headline loss of 0,11p a share from 0,37p a share the year before. Jubilee posted a loss of £289 000 for the six months to end-December compared with a loss of £396 000 previously. While sales were recorded at £215 000, loss from operations mounted to £1,7m from £774 000 the year before.

With the acquisition of Braemore and further definition of the Tjate mineral resource, the company now had a broad base and critical mass from which to develop and further enhance shareholder value in a period of strong platinum price predictions, Burne said.

ConRoast had important applications in the smelting of PGM concentrates, he said. ConRoast, which utilises a direct-current arc furnace under mildly reducing conditions, had the ability to treat high-chrome PGM concentrates, unlike the conventional alternating-current arc furnace process of other South African smelter companies.

He said from the resultant PGM- rich iron alloy , the PGMs and any associated nickel, copper and cobalt could be recovered using relatively conventional downstream refining methods, including converting hydrometallurgy and gasification.

A major platinum producer's concentrate and various secondary materials were treated successfully.

"This campaign was the last phase of the research and development, and the process will be fully commercialised during the last quarter of this year," Burne said.