ACU African Copper

RNS Number:5708B
African Copper PLC
18 April 2006




PRESS RELEASE


18 April 2006



NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN
THE UNITED STATES



www.africancopper.com



AIM: ACU

BSE: African Copper

TSX: ACU




                               AFRICAN COPPER Plc

                      ("African Copper" or the "Company")

                    Proposed Placing of New Ordinary Shares



African Copper Plc, a multi-listed international exploration and development
company, announces that it is proposing to undertake a global placing of
ordinary shares ("Placing"), in order to fund the development of its mineral
projects in Botswana. In Canada, the Company has filed a preliminary short form
prospectus with regulators in all of the provinces of Canada in conjunction with
a marketed offering in that country and the United States of Subscription
Receipts through a syndicate of underwriters led by Dundee Securities
Corporation and Raymond James Limited and including Paradigm Capital Inc. and
BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc. (the "Canadian Underwriters"). Each Subscription Receipt
represents an agreement of the holder to acquire and the Company to issue,
without payment of any additional consideration or further action taken by the
holder, one ordinary share of the Company for each Subscription Receipt held,
contingent upon shareholder approval and admission of the ordinary shares to
trading on AIM, a market of the London Stock Exchange. In the United Kingdom,
Numis Securities Limited ("Numis") is acting as broker in a concurrent Placing
of ordinary shares and proposes to act as joint underwriter alongside the
Canadian Underwriters.



Preliminary Short Form Prospectus



As the Placing is being partly carried out with retail investors in Canada, the
Company is required by Canadian regulations to file a preliminary short form
prospectus with the securities regulatory authorities in Canada. This
preliminary short form prospectus, which was filed on 13 April 2006, is subject
to receipt of comments from such regulatory authorities.  As announced on 3
April 2006, the Company has also filed a Technical Report prepared by the
Company's technical experts, ACA Howe, on the Company's projects in Botswana.
The preliminary short form prospectus and the Technical Report can be viewed on
SEDAR at www.sedar.com.





Shareholder Approval



The Placing will be subject to the approval of shareholders.  No underwriting
agreement in relation to the Placing has yet been entered into by the Company;
accordingly there is no guarantee that the Placing will proceed.





Use of Proceeds

Dukwe Project

The proceeds of the Placing will be used in part to fund trial underground
mining and underground exploration of the sulphide deposit at the Company's
Dukwe Project.  It is intended that these activities will be undertaken
concurrently and reflect the desire of the Company to commence the mining of the
higher grade supergene ore and to convert the sulphide mineral resources into
mineral reserves as quickly as possible.  The budget for the trial underground
mining as reported by ACA Howe is approximately US$33 million.  The proceeds
will also be used to fund the construction of a flotation concentrator
processing plant,budgeted by ACA Howe at approximately US$49 million.

Matsitama Project

A portion of the proceeds of the Placing will also be used over a period of two
years to bring the Thakadu-Makala copper deposits to the pre-feasibility stage.
The budget for this work as reported by ACA Howe is approximately US$9 million.
Additional Placing proceeds will also be spent over a two to three year period
to fund the systematic exploration of the Matsitama Project area outside the
Thakadu-Makala area.  The budget for this work as reported by ACA Howe is
approximately US$8 million.

Timetable



The Company has today commenced marketing in Europe and North America in
relation to the Placing. It is expected that the marketing will continue for
approximately three weeks from today's date. At such time that the Company
enters into underwriting agreements with the Canadian Underwriters and placing
agreement with Numis, the Company will send a circular to its shareholders
seeking their approval to authorise the Directors to allot the necessary shares
in order for the global Placing to proceed.





This press release may contain or refer to forward looking information,
including resource estimates and development plans, and is based on current
expectations that involve a number of business risks and uncertainties.  Factors
that could cause actual results to differ materially from any forward looking
statement include, but are not limited to, failure to establish estimated
resources and reserves, the grade and recovery of ore which is mined varying
from estimates, capital and operating costs varying significantly from
estimates, delays in obtaining or failures to obtain required governmental,
environmental or other project approvals, inflation, changes in exchange rates,
changes in equity markets, fluctuations in commodity prices, delays in the
development of projects and other factors.  Forward-looking statements are
subject to significant risks and uncertainties, and other factors that could
cause actual results to differ materially from expected results.  Readers should
not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.  These forward-looking
statements are made as at the date hereof and, except as may be required by
applicable securities laws, we assume no responsibility to update them or revise
them to reflect new events or circumstances.



Further information
African Copper Plc                Numis Securities Limited                 Parkgreen Communications
David Jones / Joseph Hamilton     John Harrison / Nick Westlake / Nick     Justine Howarth / Ana Ribeiro
                                  Stamp
+44 (0)20 7321 3721               +44 (0)20 7776 1590                      +44 (0)20 7493 3713






                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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