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Wesizwe Posted: Thu, 20 Nov 2008 [miningmx.com] -- South Africa's Wesizwe Platinum has been scouting for financiers in the Middle East and China for its $600 million mine project after the freezing up of Western capital markets. Wesizwe hopes to go ahead with initial work on its Frisch-Ledig project before the end of 2008 with $34m in cash it has in hand while it seeks additional money to build the mine, Chief Executive Michael Solomon told Reuters on Wednesday. "We're having to look at non-conventional markets, we're having to look at other markets where there are different value propositions and there's appetite," he said in an interview on the sidelines of the Platinum Congress in London. "The value proposition to investors in the Middle East would be very different to the value proposition to somebody in China. We're tailor-making value propositions. We're having to be very creative." Wesizwe were looking at all possibilities, including sovereign wealth funds and private equity investors, he added. The firm had been planning to raise $300m of equity on Western markets for the first phases of its mine until the credit crunch hammered platinum prices and mining stocks. Wesizwe shares have lost 72% of their value since June while platinum prices have has slid 65 percent to slightly over $800 per ounce since hitting a record over $2 000 in March.
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