TIDMSML
RNS Number : 3049K
Strategic Minerals PLC
10 April 2018
Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure
Certain information contained in this announcement would have
been deemed inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of
Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 until the release of this
announcement.
10 April 2018
Strategic Minerals plc
("Strategic Minerals", "SML" or the "Company")
Issuance of Shares for Completion of Leigh Creek Acquisition and
Total Voting Rights
Strategic Minerals plc (AIM: SML; USOTC: SMCDY), a producing
mineral company actively developing projects prospective for
battery materials, is pleased to announce that it has determined
the number of shares to be issued to Resilience Mining Australia
Limited ("RMA") to complete the acquisition of Leigh Creek Copper
Mine Pty Ltd ("LCCM") and has arranged issuance of the relevant
shares.
Under the Share Purchase Agreement ("SPA"), signed 5 March 2018,
the Company is to provide RMA shares in the Company to the value of
AUD 1,450,000 based on the March volume weighted average price and
the relevant exchange rate as quoted by the Reserve Bank of
Australia. As per the SPA, and to provide warranties associated
with the acquisition, shares representing AUD 100,000 of the total
amount are not to be issued until the first anniversary of the
signing of the contract, provided no warranty claim is made during
this period.
The boards of SML and RMA have agreed that the total number of
SML shares to be issued is 41,567,630 of which 38,700,900 are
currently being issued and 2,866,730 are to be issued on 5 March
2019 subject to no warranty claim having been made. Of the
38,700,900 shares being issued, voluntary escrow arrangements
ensure that one third is escrowed for three months after issue and
another one third is escrowed for six months after issue.
Accordingly, of the amount currently being issued, only 12,900,300
shares are not subject to any lock-in arrangements.
Application has been made for the 38,700,900 shares to be
admitted to trading on AIM and admission is expected to take place
on or around 12 April 2018.
Managing Director of Strategic Minerals, Mr John Peters,
commented:
"Issuance of the shares to RMA effectively completes our
obligations relating to the acquisition of Leigh Creek Copper Mine
and the Board is extremely excited by the prospect of re-starting
production at the site.
"The March visit by the full SML Board and key consultants
highlights the importance of this project to the Company's future.
Considerable investment has been made to understand the
requirements to successfully restart operations at Leigh Creek. In
particular, the team reviewed the factors, which in its opinion,
had resulted in closure of the operations (strategically: poor
initial grade and heap management policies; commercially:
overstaffing and a lack of goal congruence for the earth moving
contractor) and was comforted by the fact that operations appeared
to have significantly improved when working capital considerations,
associated with previous practices and falling copper prices, led
to the closure of the mine.
"Given the combination of the team's expertise and the current
outlook for copper, the Board is very excited by this project and
its potential to become core to the future of the Company. Having
now completed our initial review the Company intends to inform the
market on the expected approach to the reactivation of the mine in
due course.
"We would like to take this opportunity to welcome our new
shareholder RMA to our register and note that it has indicated a
wish to retain a bulk of its shares until the market reflects the
true value of Leigh Creek Copper Mine."
Total Voting Rights
Following the issue of the 38,700,900 new ordinary shares, the
Company's total issued share capital will comprise of 1,376,193,127
ordinary shares of 0.1p each, with one voting right per share. The
Company does not hold any ordinary shares in treasury. The total
number of ordinary shares and voting rights in the Company is
therefore 1,376,193,127.
The above figure may be used by shareholders in the Company as
the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine
if they are required to notify their interest in, or change to
their interest in, the share capital of the Company under the FCA's
Disclosure and Transparency Rules.
For further information, please contact:
+61 (0) 414
Strategic Minerals plc 727 965
John Peters
Managing Director
www.strategicminerals.net
Follow Strategic Minerals on:
Vox Markets: https://www.voxmarkets.co.uk/company/SML/
Twitter: @SML_Minerals
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/strategic-minerals-plc
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=strategic%20minerals%20plc
+44 (0)20
SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP 3470 0470
Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker
Ewan Leggat
+44 (0)20
Yellow Jersey PR 3735 8825
Financial PR
+44 (0)7747
Charles Goodwin 788 221
+44 (0)7769
Joe Burgess 325 254
+44 (0)7951
Henry Wilkinson 402 336
Notes to Editors
Strategic Minerals Plc is an AIM-quoted, operating minerals
company actively developing projects prospective for battery
materials. It has an operation in the United States of America and
development projects in the UK and Australia. The Company is
focused on utilising its operating cash flows, along with capital
raisings, to develop high quality projects aimed at supplying the
metals and minerals being sought in the burgeoning electronic
vehicle/battery market.
In September 2011, Strategic Minerals purchased its first
cash-generating asset; the Cobre magnetite tailings dam project in
New Mexico, USA which it brought into production in 2012 and which
continues to provide a revenue stream for the Company. This
operating revenue stream is utilised to cover company overheads and
invest in development projects orientated to supplying the
burgeoning electric vehicle/battery market.
The portfolio was expanded in January 2016 with the acquisition
of shares in Central Australian Rare Earths Pty Ltd, which holds
tenements in Western Australia and the Northern Territory that are
prospective for cobalt, gold, nickel sulphides and rare earth
elements. The Company has since acquired all shares in Central
Australian Rare Earths Pty Ltd.
In May 2016, an additional exploration asset was acquired when
the Company entered into an agreement with New Age Exploration
Limited to acquire up to 50% of the Redmoor Tin/Tungsten project in
Cornwall, UK. This 50% acquisition was completed in February 2017
and a drilling programme completed in 2017 resulted in a
significant upgrade of the resource.
In 2018, the Company completed the acquisition of the Leigh
Creek Copper Mine situated in the copper rich belt of South
Australia and is currently working to bring this into operation in
a relatively short period.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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