TIDMVAST
Vast Resources plc / Ticker: VAST / Index: AIM / Sector:
Mining
10 August 2021
Vast Resources plc
("Vast" or the "Company")
Placing and Subscription to raise GBP1,762,539.81 before
costs
Baita Plai Operational Update
Vast Resources plc, the AIM-listed mining company, is pleased to
announce it has raised GBP1,762,539.81 gross through a placing (the
'Placing') and a subscription (the 'Subscription') of 27,976,822
ordinary shares of 0.1p in the Company ('Ordinary Shares') at a
price of 6.3p per Ordinary Share (the 'Placing and Subscription
Shares'). The Placing was for 24,395,870 Ordinary Shares and was
undertaken by the Company's joint broker, Axis Capital Markets Ltd
('Axis'). The Subscription was for 3,580,952 Ordinary Shares. As
consideration Axis will be issued with 481,000 warrants to
subscribe for new Ordinary Shares in the Company at a price of 16p
per Ordinary Share at any time prior to 9 August 2023.
The Company would also like to provide an operational update on
progress at its Baita Plai Polymetallic Mine ('Baita Plai') in
Romania and in particular that it is currently on schedule to meet
accumulated net operational cashflow projections to April 2022 in
accordance with the revised mechanised mine plan 'mine plan'
announced on 30 March 2021.
PLACING AND SUBSCRIPTION TO RAISE GBP1,762,539.81 GROSS
Application of funds
The net cash raised from the Placing and Subscription will
provide funds for the following:
-- Payment of the $1 million advance to Atlas under the Atlas Deed of
Variation upon execution of documents amending the ICA between Atlas and
Mercuria.
-- To bridge mining and operational costs at Baita Plai to accommodate for
shipping schedules forcing a combined shipment of concentrate produced
across July and August 2021.
-- Seed capital required for near term production pipeline projects in both
Romania and in Southern Africa on which the Company will update the
market at the appropriate time.
-- Legal costs.
-- UK corporate costs.
Admission of and dealings in the Placing and Subscription
Shares
Application has been made to AIM for the Placing and
Subscription Shares, which will rank pari passu with existing
Ordinary Shares, to be admitted to trading on AIM ('Admission') in
two tranches. It is expected that Admission will become effective
and dealing will commence in respect of the issue of 5,611,110 of
the Placing and all 3,580,952 of the Subscription Shares on or
around 13 August 2021 (the 'First Admission') and that Admission
will become effective and dealing will commence in respect of the
issue of 18,784,760 being the balance of the Placing Shares on or
around 24 August 2021 (the 'Second Admission'). The Placing and
Subscription is conditional on Admission.
Total Voting Rights
Following the First Admission, the total issued share capital of
the Company will be 222,196,957 and following the Second Admission
this will be 240,981,717. The Company does not hold any Ordinary
Shares in Treasury and accordingly the above figures of 222,196,957
and 240,981,717 respectively may then be used by shareholders,
following the respective dates at which the Shares are issued, as
the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine
if they are required to notify their interest in Vast under the
FCA's Disclosure and Transparency Rule.
BAITA PLAI OPERATIONAL UPDATE
General
The Company has scaled operations at Baita Plai from an initial
mining workforce of 30 in September 2020 to a current total of 280
people across all levels including underground, engineering,
technical, processing plant, administration, safety and human
resources. Following the completion of the collective labour
agreement for Baita Plai, as announced on 9 June 2021, the Company
has further restructured the management team at Baita Plai in order
to ensure effective management of the operation as Baita Plai moves
into its full steady state production phase as access to three
additional production faces is completed in August 2021. The
Company will provide a production report in October 2021 as
previously announced.
Management
The Company has installed Stancu Viorel who has replaced Marcus
Brewster as General Manager of Baita Plai, reporting to Nicolae
Turdean, the Romanian Country Manager. Stancu manages the
underground as part of his remit and Edward Hollings continues to
manage the processing plant.
Mining and Process
The Aramine drill rig, originally announced as part of the mine
plan, is now expected to be delivered in Q4 2021 due to the delay
in delivery to site caused by supplier supply chain issues.
However, the first phase of the mine plan provided for mining and
development to be conducted by conventional methods (ie without the
use of the Aramine drill rig) and this delay in delivery to site
has therefore had no impact on the current rate of mining. The
implementation of the Aramine drill rig will however accelerate,
compared to the mine plan, the necessary mine development into new
areas.
The Company has now decided to relocate the Tomra XRT processing
machine above ground to an area adjacent to the processing plant.
Ore will then be processed by the XRT machine after the crushing
circuit and before the milling circuit. The Company will benefit
from this revised location by reducing capital expenditure for the
overall project in the installation of the Tomra and will benefit
also by way of simplifying the maintenance and operating
procedures.
The Company is also pleased that it has been able to upgrade the
haulage capacity rating for the shaft infrastructure for both 1 and
3 shafts. It will now be able to install double deck cages which
will have a hugely beneficial long term effect on production
capacity as it will immediately double the hoisting capacity of the
shafts. The upgrading process requirements are relatively simple to
execute with a motor upgrade, braking and safety system upgrade,
and construction of new cages.
Sales
The Company continues to make sales to its offtake partner,
Mercuria. The offtaker requested that July's concentrate production
be offloaded together with August's production to accommodate
shipping schedules. Consequently, the next scheduled sale will take
place at the end of August 2021 and will consist of concentrate
stockpiled over the months of July and August 2021.
Underground Resource Development
A new underground drilling rig was commissioned and built for
Baita Plai for the Company's local drilling partners. The rig has
arrived in country and exploration works will commence in the
second week of August 2021. The work is focused on increasing the
mineral resource on the Antonio Skarn from below 19 level to a 21
level as well as undertaking initial exploration of the Antonio
North Skarn Exploration Target 200 metres to the north-east of the
Antonio skarn. As announced on 18 June 2021, Wardell Armstrong has
been appointed to work on the verification of the increased JORC
Resource which will arise from the new drilling campaign. Wardell
Armstrong will complete and sign-off a JORC compliant Resource
estimate on the new area.
Refurbishment
Since mining and production commenced at Baita Plai there has
been significant refurbishment undertaken both on the underground
infrastructure, and on the processing plant. The Company has
prepared a comprehensive summary of these works which is being
published today separately in an RNS Reach announcement.
Andrew Prelea, Chief Executive Officer of Vast Resources Plc,
commented:
"The primary use of funds raised today is to support the
restructuring of the Convertible Bond to a longer-term straight
debt facility, an important step for us in the reorganisation of
our financing arrangements as we advance our production ramp up at
Baita Plai.
"With Baita Plai continuing to improve and achieving the
financial forecasts published on 30 March 2021, the board and
management remain confident in achieving our short- and long-term
targets.
"We wish to thank the current Baita Plai management team on site
for the work they are doing to continue progress to reach peak
production. Much has been achieved in a short period from a
'mining' perspective and we are confident in their ability to
continue this momentum."
Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure
Certain information contained within this announcement is deemed
by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under
the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014 as it forms part of
UK Domestic Law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act
2018 ("UK MAR") until the release of this announcement.
**S**
For further information, visit www.vastplc.com or please
contact:
Vast Resources plc www.vastplc.com
Andrew Prelea (CEO) +44 (0) 20 7846 0974
Andrew Hall (CCO)
Beaumont Cornish -- Financial & Nominated Advisor http://www.beaumontcornish.com www.beaumontcornish.com
Roland Cornish +44 (0) 20 7628 3396
James Biddle
Shore Capital Stockbrokers Limited -- Joint Broker www.shorecapmarkets.co.uk
Jerry Keen (Corporate Broking) +44 (0) 20 7408 4050
Toby Gibbs / James Thomas (Corporate Advisory)
Axis Capital Markets Limited -- Joint Broker www.axcap247.com
Richard Hutchison +44 (0) 20 3206 0320
St Brides Partners Limited http://www.stbridespartners.co.uk www.stbridespartners.co.uk
Susie Geliher +44 (0) 20 7236 1177
ABOUT VAST RESOURCES PLC
Vast Resources plc is a United Kingdom AIM listed mining company
with mines and projects in Romania and Zimbabwe.
In Romania, the Company is focused on the rapid advancement of
high-quality projects by recommencing production at previously
producing mines.
The Company's Romanian portfolio includes 100% interest in the
producing Baita Plai Polymetallic Mine, located in the Apuseni
Mountains, Transylvania, an area which hosts Romania's largest
polymetallic mines. The mine has a JORC compliant Reserve &
Resource Report which underpins the initial mine production life of
approximately 3-4 years with an in-situ total mineral resource of
15,695 tonnes copper equivalent with a further 1.8M-3M tonnes
exploration target. The Company is now working on confirming an
enlarged exploration target of up to 5.8M tonnes.
The Company also owns the Manaila Polymetallic Mine in Romania,
which was commissioned in 2015, currently on care and maintenance.
The Company has been granted the Manaila Carlibaba Extended
Exploitation Licence that will allow the Company to re-examine the
exploitation of the mineral resources within the larger Manaila
Carlibaba licence area.
In Zimbabwe, the Company is focused on the commencement of the
joint venture mining agreement on the Community Diamond Concession,
Chiadzwa, in the Marange Diamond Fields.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 10, 2021 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2021 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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