TIDMPREM
RNS Number : 3130L
Premier African Minerals Limited
18 July 2017
Premier African Minerals Limited / Ticker: PREM / Index: AIM /
Sector: Mining
For immediate release
18 July 2017
Premier African Minerals Limited
("Premier" or the "Company")
Premier Increases stake in Circum Minerals Limited
Summary
Premier African Minerals Limited, the AIM-traded,
multi-commodity mining and natural resource development company
focused in Southern and Western Africa is pleased to announce that
it has today conditionally agreed to acquire from Aspen Capital
Partners Limited ("Aspen") an additional interest of 649,333 shares
in Circum Minerals Limited ("Circum") (representing 0.7 per cent.
of the issued share capital of Circum) at a value of US$1.50 per
Circum share for an aggregate consideration of US$974,000
("Purchase"). Following completion of the Purchase, Premier's
holding in Circum will amount to 2,649,333 Circum shares in
aggregate, representing 2.7% of issued share capital of Circum.
The Company has satisfied the consideration due through the
issue to Aspen of 189,491,750 new ordinary shares of 0.1 pence each
("New Shares") at yesterday's closing bid price of 0.4p per share
for an aggregate consideration of GBP757,967. The New Shares will,
when issued rank pari passu in all respects with the existing
shares. The Application will be made for the New Shares to be
admitted to trading on AIM and admission is expected to take place
on or around 24 July 2017.
Circum is a privately-owned potash development company which
operates the Danakil Potash project in Ethiopia. Circum has
published an optimised DFS which reports a pre-tax net present
value (NPV) for the Danakil Potash project of US$2.8 billion and a
pre-tax nominal internal rate of return (IRR) of 29%. The after-tax
NPV and nominal IRR were US$2.1 billion and 26%, respectively.
George Roach, CEO commented: "Circum's wholly-owned Danakil
Potash Project is a tier one, world class asset that will be
developed and is expected to afford Premier with a significant
liquidity and profit event. By direct comparison to neighbouring
and other potash development projects, Circum is significantly more
advanced, has major size advantage and will be one of the lowest
cost producers of potash salts in the world. Increasing our stake
in Circum further underwrites our asset base."
Further information on Circum
The information on Circum set out below has been extracted from
previously reported public disclosures in respect of Circum and
which are available from Circum's website.
Circum is a privately-owned potash development company which
operates the Danakil Potash project in Ethiopia. The project has a
NI 43-101 compliant resource of 4.9 billion tonnes potassium in a
very prolific potash basin in Ethiopia. In July 2015, the
Definitive Feasibility Study ("DFS") was completed to the standard
of a NI 43-101 Canadian securities code compliant Feasibility Study
under the overall supervision of Senet (Pty) Ltd of South Africa
("Senet"). K-UTEC AG Salt Technologies of Germany ("K-UTEC")
provided resource definition and wellfield and plant design. Umvoto
Africa (Pty) Ltd. provided water resource modelling and
Environmental Resource Management (ERM) conducted the Environmental
and Social Impact Assessment.
In February 2016, Circum, together with its independent
consultants Senet and K-UTEC, reviewed the costs in the DFS.
Through their analysis, development capital costs were reduced by
US$276 million and operating costs were reduced by approximately
US$3 per tonne.
Circum is targeting production of 2.0 million tonnes per annum
of Muriate of Potash ("MOP"), the most common form of potash
fertilizer, and 0.75 million tonnes per annum of Sulfate of Potash
("SOP"), a premium fertilizer product, with production anticipated
to start in 2022.
Due to the shallow nature of the deposit, the Danakil Potash
Project will be amenable to low-cost, low-risk, in-situ leaching.
Also, the extremely hot surface temperatures and high evaporation
rates will allow the use of solar evaporation all year round. As a
result, mine gate cash costs are projected to be among the lowest
in the potash industry, estimated at US$38 per tonne MOP and US$112
per tonne SOP. Total operating costs (FOB Tadjoura Port, Djibouti)
are forecast at US$81 per tonne of MOP and US$156 per tonne of SOP
(before the inclusion of royalties payable to the Ethiopian
government which are levied at 4% of the Djibouti FOB price minus
transport costs from mine gate to port).
The Danakil Potash Project has a low capital intensity due to
its shallow potash horizons and proximity to planned
infrastructure. Total initial development capital is estimated at
US$2.3 billion, including contingencies. Due to revenue from the
ramp up in initial production (estimated at close to US$500
million), peak funding is currently planned at just over US$1.8
billion. Given the scale of the Project, at an implied capital
intensity of US$838 per tonne, Circum's Danakil Project will be one
of the most capital efficient potash projects in the world.
The optimized DFS reported a pre-tax net present value (NPV) for
the Danakil Project of US$2.8 billion and a pre-tax nominal
internal rate of return (IRR) of 29%. The after-tax NPV and nominal
IRR were US$2.1 billion and 26%, respectively.
In the year ended 31 December 2016, Circum's reported loss
before taxation amounted to US$323,305 and total assets as at 31
December 2016 amounted to US$59,739,438.
For further detail, please click on the link to the Circum
presentation
www.circumminerals.com/presentations.
Acquisition of additional interest in Circum
Today's Purchase is part of part of a broader proposal that
Premier made to certain Circum shareholders who are willing sellers
and who are not restricted under the Circum Shareholder Alliance
Agreement from disposing of all or part of their holdings in
Circum. Premier proposes to acquire, at its discretion, up to a
further 10% interest (in aggregate including today's Purchase) in
Circum at a price of US$1.50 per Circum share, which together with
Premier's existing 2% interest in Circum, will increase Premier's
holding in Circum to 12%, in exchange for the issue of new Premier
ordinary shares. The maximum consideration would amount to
approximately US$14.511 million in the event that the Company
completes the purchase of the additional 10% interest in
Circum.
Total Voting Rights
Following the issue of the New Shares, the Company's issued
share capital consists of 4,580,513,769 ordinary shares, with
voting rights. This figure may be used by shareholders in the
Company as the denominator for the calculation by which they will
determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a
change to their interest in, the share capital of the Company under
the Financial Conduct Authority's Disclosure and Transparency
Rules.
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes
of Article 7 of EU Regulation 596/2014
Forward Looking Statements:
Certain statements in this announcement, are, or may be deemed
to be, forward looking statements. Forward looking statements are
identi ed by their use of terms and phrases such as "believe",
"could", "should" "envisage", "estimate", "intend", "may", "plan",
"will" or the negative of those, variations or comparable
expressions, including references to assumptions. These
forward-looking statements are not based on historical facts but
rather on the Directors' current expectations and assumptions
regarding the Company's future growth, results of operations,
performance, future capital and other expenditures (including the
amount, nature and sources of funding thereof), competitive
advantages, business prospects and opportunities. Such forward
looking statements re ect the Directors' current beliefs and
assumptions and are based on information currently available to the
Directors. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ
materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking
statements including risks associated with vulnerability to general
economic and business conditions, competition, environmental and
other regulatory changes, actions by governmental authorities, the
availability of capital markets, reliance on key personnel,
uninsured and underinsured losses and other factors, many of which
are beyond the control of the Company. Although any forward-looking
statements contained in this announcement are based upon what the
Directors believe to be reasonable assumptions, the Company cannot
assure investors that actual results will be consistent with such
forward looking statements.
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes
of Article 7 of EU Regulation 596/2014.
Enquiries:
Premier African Minerals Tel: +44 (0)7734
Fuad Sillem Limited 922074
------------------ --------------------------- ------------------
Michael Cornish Beaumont Cornish Tel: +44 (0) 207
/ Roland Cornish Limited 628 3396
(Nominated Adviser)
------------------ --------------------------- ------------------
Jerry Keen/Edward Shore Capital Stockbrokers Tel: +44 (0) 207
Mansfield Limited 408 4090
------------------ --------------------------- ------------------
Beaufort Securities Tel: +44 (0) 20
Jon Belliss Limited 7382 8300
------------------ --------------------------- ------------------
Charles Goodwin/ Yellow Jersey PR Tel: +44 (0) 7747
Harriet Jackson Limited 788221
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Notes to Editors:
Premier African Minerals Limited (AIM: PREM) is a
multi-commodity mining and natural resource development company
focused in Southern and Western Africa with production started at
its flagship RHA project in Zimbabwe.
The Company has a diverse portfolio of projects, which include
tungsten, rare earth elements, gold, lithium and tantalum in
Zimbabwe and Benin, encompassing brownfield projects with near-term
production potential to grass-roots exploration. The Company
recently acquired a 52% controlling stake in Mozambique-based TCT
Industrias Florestais Limitada, which owns a substantial limestone
deposit and forestry business located on rail in the Sofala
Province of Mozambique. In addition, the Company holds 2,649,333
million shares in Circum Minerals Limited ("Circum"), the owners of
the Danakil Potash Project in Ethiopia, which has the potential to
be a world class asset. At present those shares are valued at
US$5.2 million based on the latest price at which Circum has
accepted subscriptions. Premier also has an interest in Casa Mining
Limited, a privately-owned exploration company that has a 71.25%
interest in the 1.2 million ounce inferred resource Akyanga gold
deposit in the DRC.
Glossary
KCI: Potassium Chloride
MOP: Muriate of Potash
SOP: Sulphate of Potash
ENDS
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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