NOVENTA LIMITED

The Company’s morganite joint venture partners have experienced a

marked decrease in demand and have not been able to honour their

commitments;

The banks providing the pre shipment finance facility gave notice in April

that the facility is no longer available. This is despite Noventa complying

with all covenants;

The broad based decrease in the provision of credit by the banking sector

has resulted in an inability to replace the pre shipment facility or to secure

short term loans on acceptable terms, despite the Company’s balance sheet

being ungeared;

The decrease in global trade has reduced the frequency with which ships

allowed to carry tantalum concentrate call at the port of Walvis Bay. This

together with the withdrawal of the pre shipment facility has placed

excessive strain on the working capital funding requirements;

A significant decrease in demand for capacitor grade powder has meant

that our customer is not in a position to improve the payment terms on

which they purchase concentrate, to compensate for the above.

Further pressure has been placed on the finances due to delays in the delivery of

grid power and in the reimbursement of value added tax. In the intervening

period it has been necessary to produce power using aging diesel generators.

It is very disappointing that the above factors have resulted in the Company

needing to take this course of action, especially at a time when the plant has been

performing ahead of expectations with average availability exceeding 80% for the

past three months.

Whilst the Board believes there is a realistic prospect of obtaining the necessary

financial support within an acceptable timeframe, and the company will be

pursuing the present search for investment capital without deviation from that

purpose, the Board considers it prudent under prevailing economic circumstances

for the Company to take this significant step while sufficient funding remains in

place for Care & Maintenance to be undertaken. Plant, equipment and all other

company assets at Marropino will be secured and subject to appropriate Care &

Maintenance procedures in order to facilitate as efficient a re

start of operations as

possible, once confidence has returned to the market in general

and specifically

for Tantalum and Morganite. Implications for the Company

s employees are

considerable, and this whole matter will be handled with the utmost diligence.

The annual financial statements for 2008 are due to be published at the end of

June. All stakeholders will be kept informed with respect to any progress on these

issues.

24 April 2009

Green