Messina Platinum

Drillilng is expected to commence on the Boomerang prospect, consisting of a minimum of 2500m of drilling in seven drill holes. The first hole of the 2005 Boomerang drilling program will test 25 meters vertically above the massive sulphide intersection in hole GA04-11. (A "vertical longitudinal" map is available on the Company's website under the 'Boomerang Discovery' heading which will aid in locating this and subsequent drill holes.) The second hole of the program will test 25 meters vertically below the massive sulphide intersection. Additional drill holes will initially test below, and then above, the GA04-11 intersection until at least one hole "misses" the target to determine the height of the massive sulphide lens on Line 33E. Drilling programs testing the Boomerang and other prospective targets will continue through the summer and fall 2005.

Mineweb reports that investors in Messina Platinum are losing patience, apparently aware that in the background, the company is about to enter drowning-level in a pool of debt. The stock has slid from a high, on November 26, 2002, of R102 on the JSE Securities Exchange, to very-recent lows of R18 a share. Also, it is no secret that a banking consortium, led by Johannesburg-based Rand Merchant Bank, is piling pressure onto 91.5% Messina parent, Toronto-listed Southern Platinum. If the debt crisis cannot be resolved, Messina will naturally be headed for bankruptcy.

Mineweb reports that SouthernEra Resources, the platinum and diamond miner, will will not immediately delist Messina, its 91.5% -owned platinum subsidiary in South Africa, a goal the company has had since it first bought a controlling stake in March 2000. On Monday, the company concluded a deal announced in May, where it acquired a further 18.4 percent in the company. This boosts its stake high enough to unilaterally de-list Messina. But Patrick Evans, SouthernEra's chief executive, says it will be kept listed for the time being, as a possible "last resort" to comply with the South African government's empowerment requirements.