TIDMBMR
RNS Number : 6938D
Berkeley Mineral Resources PLC
02 February 2015
Berkeley Mineral Resources PLC
("BMR" or the "Company")
General Update and Board Appointment
Investigation
The Company announced on 11 December 2014 that significant
progress had been made concerning the investigation of the
classification and valuation of GBP4.3 million of assets.
The Company engaged the services of Crowe Clark Whitehill
("CCW"), a leading national audit, tax and advisory firm, for the
investigation.
The Board is currently preparing the preliminary results of the
Company for the year ended 30 June 2014. Although the CCW review is
yet to be completed, the Board anticipates that the results will
incorporate write-downs in the range of GBP10 million to GBP12
million. This will facilitate completion of the audit for that
year.
Auditors
The Board is pleased to announce that the Company has engaged
the services of CCW as auditors in respect of the year ended 30
June 2014.
Operations in Zambia
The Board also announced on 11 December 2014 that it continues
to progress the Company's activities at Kabwe and that the
Directors are currently undertaking a peer review of the definitive
feasibility study ("DFS") for processing the washplant tailings
("WPT") in order to advance the project.
The peer review of the DFS and other related test work
undertaken on the WPT is well advanced. The testwork and related
studies support the Board's current view of gravity separation as
the preferred treatment route to produce a saleable zinc/lead
concentrate. The proposed leaching of the rejected size fractions
(fines, and iron-bearing material) from the gravity separation
process may not be a viable option in the short term. Although not
entirely ruled out, the Board currently considers that the amount
of time and money required to pursue this method of zinc/lead
recovery may not be justified.
Starting in February 2015, BMR will be undertaking a series of
confirmatory bulk sample tests on the WPT to finalise the plant
flow sheet and spiral design. This will include optimising
scrubbing and milling times, to maximise zinc/lead liberation, and
the spiral plant configuration, to achieve maximum metal recovery.
From this bulk sample test work, the Board expects to confirm the
percentage recovery and grade of zinc/lead in the concentrate.
At the same time, preliminary metallurgical and mineralogical
test work will start on the leach residue tailings at Kabwe, BMR's
largest JORC compliant resource.
In addition, the Directors are reviewing prospects for realising
value from the Company's copper interests.
Overheads
The Directors have been assessing the current cost base of the
Company in order to limit the monthly expenditure and to align the
costs with its operational requirements. Reductions in the UK
office headcount of three contractors and four employees and
associated costs, including the former chairman's company car, have
already been made, although the financial impact is delayed due to
redundancy costs.
New director
The Board is pleased to announce that Jeremy Hawke has today
been appointed a director of the Company with direct responsibility
for its operations.
Jeremy Hawke is a Chartered Engineer who spent the first 17
years of his mining career in senior operating positions with the
Anglo American Corporation in Zambia and DRC and later Rio Tinto in
Namibia. His first mining industry appointment was at the Broken
Hill lead and zinc mine, later to become the Kabwe Mine in Zambia.
After Namibia he moved to South Africa where he started his own
manufacturing company producing high speed diesel engine protection
equipment for open pit earth moving equipment. On his return to the
UK he worked for International Mining Consultants as Principal
Mechanical Engineer, where he led a number of World Bank and EU
funded mining projects, principally in Africa. Over the past 3
years Jeremy has been involved in a variety of tailings
re-treatment projects for the recovery of copper, gold, iron and
earlier diamonds. This past year he has overseen the metallurgical,
mining and equipment selection programmes for a major tailings
retreatment project on the Zambian Copperbelt. Founder of
AIM-listed African Mining and Exploration (now Savannah Resources,
ticker SAV), Jeremy is currently a director of New Resource
Management Services Ltd, a niche mining and geological consulting
company.
Financial control procedures
Finally, the Board has also acted to improve significantly the
Company's financial control procedures, an area that was previously
inadequate, and has retained the services as financial controller
of Norman Lott ACA, with previous experience as a part-time finance
director of a number of AIM-listed companies.
Alex Borrelli, Chairman, commented:
"I look forward to concluding this unfortunate chapter in the
Company's history with the completion of the investigation and
publishing the results for the year ended 30 June 2014.
"I appreciate the patience of our shareholders while we have
been working to conclude matters and while the trading of the
Company's shares on AIM remains suspended.
"I am working closely with our streamlined accounting function
on the draft financial statements and expect that the final results
for the year ended 30 June 2014 will be announced at the end of
February/early March, with an AGM thereafter. At that meeting, I
propose to put forward to shareholders proposals for a share
re-organisation and a share capital consolidation. We anticipate
that trading of the shares will remain suspended pending
publication of the results and clarification of the Company's
financial position.
"I am grateful for the support of our advisers and consultants
who have provided valuable assistance at the Company.
"Notwithstanding the material issues that have required our full
attention, I believe that we are in a fortunate position with the
asset base at Kabwe and the significant progress that has already
been achieved towards realising the potential of the WPT. I look
forward to working closely with Jeremy Hawke to realise the
benefits for our shareholders."
The names of all companies and partnerships of which Jeremy
Hawke, aged 75, has been a director or partner at any time in the
previous five years are set out below:
New Resource Management Services Current
Limited
--------------------------------- --------
Mineralfields Limited Current
--------------------------------- --------
Balkans Mining and Smelting Current
Limited
--------------------------------- --------
There are no other matters which are required to be announced
pursuant to paragraph (g) of Schedule 2 to the AIM Rules.
For further information:
Berkeley Mineral Resources Plc 07747 020 600
Alex Borrelli, Chairman
WH Ireland Limited 020 7220 1666
Chris Fielding, Head of Corporate Finance
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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