Damian Stephen Smith

Absolute Holdings Ltd. was incorporated in the Republic on 14 November 1986 and on 17 February 1987 the company was converted from a private company to a public company and was subsequently listed on the Main Board of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. A decision was taken by Absolute at the beginning of 2001 to diversify its activities away from long term property development and to also focus on the mining sector. On 20 January 2005 shareholders approved the acquisition of Lenopodi from Calulo Investments, which acquisition resulted in the injection of assets, turnover and profits into the Absolute group in the area of mining, which was to be the focus of the group going forward. The company’s name was changed from Gilboa Properties Ltd. to Absolute Holdings Ltd. with effect from 31 January 2005. Lenopodi commenced business in the second half of 2003 when it applied for a prospecting permit and later a mining licence for permission to mine slate, dimension stone and other sedimentary deposits in the North West Province. Subsequently, Lenopodi’s subsidiary, Lubtalk Investments, has secured a mining right to develop a quartzite deposit at the Diamond Quartzite quarry in Namaqualand. A Competent Person’s Report was included in a circular to shareholders dated 22 December 2004. The group, through Lenopodi, has identified an opportunity to enter into the mining and marketing of natural stone products. Natural stone entails dimension stone (granite, marble and sandstone) and natural cleft stone (quartzite and slate). This niche segment of mining offers relatively high returns and has significant job creation capabilities, as it is generally labour intensive. Lenopodi also offers the opportunity to consolidate medium sized mining operations into the group. To this extent, granite is specifically excluded from the Lenopodi natural stone portfolio, as the local and export market is volatile to worldwide colour trends.

Bauba Resources Ltd. engages in the business of exploring and mining mineral resources. It operates through the following segments: Moeijelijk, Kookfontein, Platinum Exploration, and Corporate. The Moeijelijk segment includes mining of chrome ore on the farm Moeijelijk. The Kookfontein segment focuses on Kookfontein and Hartbeesfontein. The Platinum Exploration segment provides activities associated with platinum exploration. The Corporate segment is involved in administration, regulatory, and corporate expenses incurred. The company was founded on November 14, 1986 and is headquartered in Centurion, South Africa.

Northam Platinum Ltd. operates as a supplier of platinum group metals namely platinum, palladium and rhodium. It operates through two segments: Zondereinde Mine and Booysendal Mine. The company was founded on October 7, 1977 and is headquartered in Midrand, South Africa.