SAfrican Platfields to push on with delayed listing

JOHANNESBURG, March 12 (Reuters) - South African precious metals exploration and mining firm Platfields, said on Thursday it still plans to list in Johannesburg, despite missing its initial target of last October partly due to the global crisis.

Chief Executive Officer Bongani Mbindwane said depending on market conditions, the company would seek to raise 200 million rand ($19.69 million) around July 2009 and a further 250 million rand during 2010, to advance its exploration work.

"We believe it would have been foolhardy to have pressed ahead with a listing at the time of extreme market volatility at the end of 2008 even had we crossed all of the regulatory hurdles in time," he said in a statement.

"We have drawn some encouragement from the recent strengthening in the platinum price and stabilisation in the palladium and rhodium prices."

Mbindwane said the company had added the Tigerpoort project, to its platinum group metals portfolio after it was awarded a prospecting right over the 500-hectare farm Tigerpoort, which is adjacent to its 1,000-hectare, near-surface Leeuwkop PGM Project in the platinum-rich Bushveld Complex.

The Bushveld Complex is located in South Africa's northern province of Limpopo.

Founded in 2002, Platfields has been exploring the eastern limb of South Africa's platinum-rich Bushveld Complex. (Reporting by James Macharia; Editing by Andrew Macdonald) ($1=10.156 Rand)