Anooraq Announces Results of Annual & Extraordinary General Meetings, Changes to the Board of Directors & Signing of Definitive
June 16 2009 - 8:30AM
PR Newswire (US)
VANCOUVER, June 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Anooraq Resources
Corporation ("Anooraq" or the "Company") (TSXV: ARQ; NYSE Amex:
ANO; JSE: ARQ) announces that all the resolutions proposed at the
annual general meeting ("AGM") held on Monday, June 15, 2009 were
passed by the requisite majorities of votes. The following
directors did not stand for re-election at the AGM: Mr. Scott
Cousens, Mr. Robert Dickinson, Mr. David Elliott and Dr. Popo
Molefe. The board wishes to thank these directors for their
contribution to the board and the company over the past years and
to wish each of them every success in their future endeavours. The
Company also advises that all the relevant resolutions relating to
the acquisition by Anooraq of, among other things, an effective 51%
interest in Lebowa Platinum Mine ("Lebowa") from Anglo Platinum
Limited ("Anglo Platinum") ("the Acquisition"), as well as the
resolutions relating to the amendments to the stock option plan and
the compensation transactions, were passed by the requisite
majorities of votes at the extraordinary general meeting held
immediately after the AGM on Monday, June 15, 2009. All of the
material agreements relating to the Acquisition, including
definitive funding agreements relating to: - the provision of ZAR
750 million (C$103.6 million) of senior debt funding by Standard
Chartered Bank plc; - the issue of cumulative redeemable "A"
preference shares to Rustenburg Platinum Mines Limited ("RPM"), a
wholly owned subsidiary of Anglo Platinum, in order to raise ZAR
1.2 billion (C$0.17 billion); - the issue of cumulative convertible
"B" preference shares to a special purpose financing vehicle
established between Anglo Platinum and Pelawan in order to raise
ZAR 1.1 billion (C$0.15 billion); - the provision by Anglo Platinum
of two facilities - an operating cash flow shortfall facility of up
to a maximum of ZAR 750 million (C$103.6 million) and a standby
loan facility, comprising up to a maximum of 29/49 of RPM's
attributable share of the free cash flows from Lebowa; and - the
provision by Anglo Platinum of approximately ZAR 150 million
(C$20.7 million) to facilitate the participation of communities and
Lebowa employees in the transaction have been signed by the
relevant parties. The Company anticipates that the remaining
conditions precedent to the Acquisition will be fulfilled or waived
by June 30, 2009 and that the Acquisition will accordingly become
unconditional with effect from July 1, 2009. On behalf of the Board
of Directors Philip Kotze President and CEO The TSX Venture
Exchange does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or
accuracy of this release. The NYSE Amex Exchange has neither
approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release.
Cautionary and Forward Looking Information This release includes
certain statements that may be deemed "forward looking statements".
All statements in this release, other than statements of historical
facts, that address potential acquisitions, future production,
reserve potential, exploration drilling, exploitation activities
and events or developments that Anooraq expects are forward looking
statements. Anooraq believes that such forward looking statements
are based on reasonable assumptions, including assumptions that:
the Transaction will complete; Lebowa will continue to achieve
production levels similar to previous years; Anooraq will be able
to complete its financing strategy on relatively favourable terms;
and the Ga-Phasha and Platreef Project exploration results will
continue to be positive. Forward looking statements however, are
not guarantees of future performance and actual results or
developments may differ materially from those in forward looking
statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ
materially from those in forward looking statements include market
prices, exploitation and exploration successes, changes in and the
effect of government policies with respect to mining and natural
resource exploration and exploitation and continued availability of
capital and financing, and general economic, market or business
conditions. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are
not guarantees of future performance and those actual results or
developments may differ materially from those projected in the
forward looking statements. For further information on Anooraq,
investors should review the Company's annual information form filed
on http://www.sedar.com/ or its form 20-F with the United States
Securities and Exchange Commission and its other home jurisdiction
filings that are available at http://www.sedar.com/. DATASOURCE:
Anooraq Resources Corporation CONTACT: on Anooraq and its South
African properties, please visit our website
http://www.anooraqresources.com/ or call investor services in South
Africa at +27 11 883 0831 or in North America at 1-800-667-2114
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