Alecto Minerals PLC Disposal of the Company's Ethiopian Assets (6260A)
September 30 2015 - 02:01AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMALO
RNS Number : 6260A
Alecto Minerals PLC
30 September 2015
Alecto Minerals plc / EPIC: ALO / Market: AIM / Sector:
Exploration & Development
30 September 2015
Alecto Minerals plc ('Alecto' or the 'Company')
Disposal of the Company's Ethiopian assets
Alecto Minerals plc (AIM: ALO), the AIM quoted mineral
exploration company focussed on Africa, is pleased to announce the
disposal of its wholly owned subsidiaries Nubian Gold Exploration
Limited ('Nubian') and Rift Valley Resources Limited ('Rift
Valley'), which hold all of the Company's interests in the Federal
Democratic Republic of Ethiopia ('Ethiopia'), namely the Wayu Boda
and Aysid-Metekel exploration licences, to Wame Mineral Development
('Wame'), a private Ethiopian mineral development company (the
'Disposal').
Background to the Disposal
Wayu Boda and Aysid-Metekel are two early stage exploration
projects in Ethiopia where there has been only limited exploration
work performed to date and which therefore require significant
further investment to progress. Following the termination of the
joint venture with Centamin plc (the 'Centamin JV') in February
2015 in respect of these Ethiopian assets, the Company has been
considering its options and believes that the Disposal enables the
Company to retain an exposure to the assets going forward, whilst
preserving the Company's existing resources.
Accordingly, the Disposal is in line with the Company's
previously stated strategy of becoming a gold producer in the near
to mid-term and the Company continues to evaluate a number of
potential acquisition targets to achieve this objective. In
addition, the Company continues to seek to deliver value through
the progression of its more advanced assets, namely the Kossanto
East and Kossanto West Gold Projects in Mali and the Kerboulé Gold
Project in Burkina Faso.
Principal Terms of the Disposal
Under the terms of the respective sale and purchase and
associated royalty agreements, Wame will pay Alecto an initial
nominal consideration of GBP1 in respect of each of Nubian and Rift
Valley and potential further deferred consideration in the form of
a royalty of US$3 per JORC resource ounce of gold or gold
equivalent discovered up to a maximum of US$1.0 million, in respect
of each of the licences. Accordingly, the maximum aggregate
deferred consideration that could be receivable by the Company in
the future is US$2.0 million. Any deferred consideration ultimately
received will be used to strengthen the Company's then prevailing
balance sheet.
In addition, in the event that Wame disposes of Nubian or Rift
Valley or the licences within a two year period from completion,
Alecto will be entitled to receive a proportion of the net proceed
of such sale.
Further Information on Nubian and Rift Valley
As at 31 December 2014, Nubian and Rift Valley had total assets
of ETB12.9 million (approximately GBP0.4 million) and ETB13.5
million (approximately GBP0.4 million) respectively. For the year
ended 31 December 2014, Nubian and Rift Valley had profits before
tax, relating to monies received from Centamin plc pursuant to the
Centamin JV, of ETB3.3 million (approximately GBP0.1 million) and
ETB3.1 million (approximately GBP0.1 million) respectively.
Alecto's CEO, Mark Jones, commented:
"This disposal forms part of our development plan to focus our
efforts on becoming a gold prouder in the near to mid-term and our
more advanced gold projects in Mali and Burkina Faso. The
properties in Ethiopia are both vast and underexplored and
considering the more advanced nature of the rest of our gold asset
portfolio, and the opportunities available at each to more readily
add value, we believe that this divestment will better enable us to
manage our balance sheet whilst still providing us with upside
exposure to ounces delineated at either property in the
future."
**ENDS**
For further information, please visit www.alectominerals.com or
contact:
Alecto Minerals plc Tel: +44 (0)20 3137 8862
Mark Jones
Strand Hanson Limited Tel: +44 (0)20 7409 3494
Richard Tulloch
Matthew Chandler
James Dance
Beaufort Securities Limited Tel: +44 (0)20 7382 8300
Jon Belliss
St Brides Partners Ltd Tel: +44 (0)20 7236 1177
Elisabeth Cowell
Felicity Winkles
Notes to editors:
Alecto Minerals plc is an African focussed, gold and base metal
exploration and development company quoted on AIM with exploration
projects in Mali, Burkina Faso and Mauritania.
In Mali, the Kossanto Project has a current independent inferred
JORC code compliant resource estimate of 6.72Mt grading at 1.14g/t
Au for an aggregate of 247,000 oz Au with a cut-off grade of 0.5g/t
Au at Kossanto East. The Kossanto Project is located in the centre
of the Kenieba inlier in western Mali. The Kenieba inlier is a
block of ancient greenstones and granites hosting many significant
gold deposits in Senegal and Mali, making it one of the most
important gold regions in Africa.
Alecto also owns the Kerboulé Project, located in the highly
prospective Birrimian-age Djibo gold belt in northern Burkina Faso,
as well as the wholly owned Wad Amour IOCG Project in Mauritania
which is at an exploration stage.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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