TIDMMKA
RNS Number : 3564Z
Mkango Resources Limited
10 January 2020
MKANGO RESOURCES LTD.
550 Burrard Street
Suite 2900
Vancouver
BC V6C 0A3
Canada
MKANGO SUBSIDIARY MAGINITO COMPLETES THE ACQUISITION OF A 25%
INTEREST IN HYPROMAG, A UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM SPINOUT FOCUSED ON
RARE EARTH MAGNET RECYCLING
London / Vancouver: January 10, 2020 - Mkango Resources Ltd.
(AIM/TSX-V: MKA) (the "Company" or "Mkango") is pleased to announce
that its subsidiary, Maginito Limited ("Maginito"), has completed
the acquisition of an initial 25% interest in HyProMag Limited
("HyProMag"), a private, United Kingdom-based company focused on
rare earth magnet recycling, as previously announced on 23
September 2019 (the "Transaction"). Maginito has invested an
initial GBP300,000 for a 25% interest in HyProMag, and has an
option to invest a further GBP1 million to increase its interest up
to 49%.
Maginito is 75.5% owned by Mkango, which is completing a
Feasibility Study for the Songwe Hill rare earths project in
Malawi, and 24.5% owned by Talaxis Limited ("Talaxis"), a
wholly-owned subsidiary of Noble Group Holdings Limited ("Noble")
focused on technology metals investment and development. Maginito
is a related party of Mkango, Talaxis and Noble.
Consistent with Maginito's strategy focused on downstream
opportunities relating to the rare earths supply chain, the
Transaction will generate potential synergies, such as first right
to supply primary production if required for blending with recycled
production from HyProMag, as well as product offtake and marketing
rights, leading to enhanced marketing flexibility and access to
downstream markets for rare earth permanent magnets, which are
critical materials for electric vehicles, wind turbines, consumer
electronics and other technology applications.
Highlights of the Transaction include:
-- HyProMag has licenced a patented process for extracting and
demagnetising neodymium iron boron ("NdFeB") alloy powders from
magnets embedded in scrap and redundant equipment named HPMS
(Hydrogen Processing of Magnet Scrap). This was originally
developed within the Magnetic Materials Group ("MMG") at the
University of Birmingham ("UoB").
-- Maginito has invested GBP300,000 for an initial 25% interest
in HyProMag and provided a GBP200,000 convertible loan facility,
both of which will be fully funded from Maginito's existing cash
resources which are earmarked for such strategic investments.
Maginito has a four-year option to increase its interest in
HyProMag to up to 49% by investing an additional GBP1 million.
Maginito has a right of first refusal to acquire the balance of
HyProMag.
-- The founding directors of HyProMag, comprising Professor
Emeritus Rex Harris, former Head of the MMG, Professor Allan
Walton, current Head of the MMG, and two Honorary Fellows, Dr John
Speight and Mr David Kennedy, are leading world experts in the
field of rare earth magnetic materials, alloys and hydrogen
technology, and have significant industry experience. Pursuant to
the Transaction, HyProMag has appointed William Dawes, a Director
of Maginito and CEO of Mkango, to join the Board of HyProMag.
-- Maginito's initial investment of GBP300,000 will fully
satisfy HyProMag's matched funding requirements for the three year,
GBP2.6 million Innovate UK grant funded project, "Rare-Earth
Recycling for E-Machines" ("RaRE"), which aims to establish a pilot
rare earth magnet recycling facility at Tyseley Energy Park,
Birmingham ("Tyseley"), to produce sintered rare earth (NdFeB)
magnets for use in new electric motor designs for automotive use,
and includes Advanced Electrical Machines Research Limited and UoB
as collaborators.
William Dawes, Chief Executive of Mkango stated: "We are very
pleased to become a substantial shareholder of HyProMag via
Maginito and look forward to working with the HyProMag team,
supporting the future growth of the company and development of this
very exciting technology. We see rare earth magnet recycling as a
major growth industry, complementing the development of new
sustainable primary production, such as Mkango's advanced stage
Songwe Hill rare earths project in Malawi. This investment further
enhances Mkango's role in developing a robust and sustainable
electric vehicle and clean technology supply chain for global
markets."
Daniel Mamadou, Executive Director of Talaxis said: "Our
investment in HyProMag marks an exciting step for Maginito and for
Talaxis. We are proud to be part of a project that has the
potential to revolutionise the magnet recycling sector and support
the growing global shift towards renewable energy and electric
vehicles. This investment further strengthens our position as the
supply partner of choice in the technology metals industry and
underlines Noble's wider commitment to decarbonisation and
sustainability."
About HyProMag
The Magnetic Materials Group within the School of Metallurgy at
the University of Birmingham has been active in the field of rare
earth alloys and processing of permanent magnets using hydrogen for
over 40 years. Originated by Professor Rex Harris, the hydrogen
decrepitation method, which is used to reduce NdFeB alloys to a
powder, is now ubiquitously employed in worldwide magnet
processing. In a further development, the MMG patented a process
for extracting and demagnetising NdFeB powders from magnets
embedded in redundant equipment using hydrogen in a process called
HPMS (Hydrogen Processing of Magnet Scrap). This patent and related
intellectual property is at the core of HyProMag. The MMG continues
to develop new research and development opportunities, cooperates
widely in Europe and is currently involved in two significant EU
projects (SusMagPro and Neohire). The directors of HyProMag all
provide their expertise to the MMG and there is potential for
HyProMag to gain possible future access to new intellectual
property.
HyProMag's strategy is to establish a recycling facility for
NdFeB magnets at Tyseley in Birmingham to provide a sustainable
solution for the supply of NdFeB magnets and alloy powders for a
wide range of markets including, for example, automotive and
electronics. A number of product options are being evaluated
including hydrogen decrepitated (HD) demagnetised powders suitable
for magnet producers, alloy ingot remelted from HD powders suitable
for alloy feed or magnet production, anisotropic alloy powders
(HDDR) for bonded magnets and sintered NdFeB magnets as required by
the RaRE project for automotive applications.
About Mkango Resources Limited
Mkango's primary business is exploration for rare earth elements
and associated minerals in the Republic of Malawi, a country whose
hospitable people have earned it a reputation as "the warm heart of
Africa". The Company holds interests in four exclusive prospecting
licenses in Malawi: the Phalombe licence, the Thambani licence, the
Chimimbe Hill licence and the Mchinji licence.
The main exploration target in the 51% held Phalombe licence is
the Songwe Hill rare earths deposit. This features
carbonatite-hosted rare earth mineralisation and was subject to
previous exploration in the late 1980s. Mkango completed an updated
Pre-Feasibility Study for the project in November 2015 and a
Feasibility Study is currently underway, the initial phases of
which included a 10,900 metre drilling programme and an updated
mineral resource estimate, announced in February 2019. In March
2019, the Company announced receipt of a GBP7 million (C$12.3
million) investment from Talaxis to fund completion of the
Feasibility Study. Following completion of the Feasibility Study,
Talaxis has an option to acquire a further 26% interest in Songwe
by arranging financing for project development including funding
the equity component thereof.
The main exploration targets in Mkango's remaining three 100%
held licences are, in the Thambani licence, uranium, niobium,
tantalum and zircon, in the Chimimbe Hill licence, nickel and
cobalt, and in the Mchinji licence, nickel, cobalt, base metals and
graphite.
Mkango also holds a 75.5% interest in Maginito with the balance
owned by Talaxis. Maginito is focused on downstream opportunities
relating to the rare earths supply chain, in particular neodymium
alloy powders, magnet and other technologies geared to accelerating
growth in the electric vehicle market.
For more information, please visit www.mkango.ca.
About Talaxis
Founded in 2016, Talaxis is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Noble
Group Holdings Limited and invests in and develops projects that
are related to technology metals, with a special focus on rare
earth elements. Talaxis focuses on battery and electric vehicle
materials such as nickel, lithium, graphite and vanadium. Talaxis
has supply chain partners in the upstream and midstream segments,
and also focuses on research and development solutions for
industrial consumers in the downstream segment. Talaxis prioritises
sustainable ventures with a strong emphasis on corporate social
responsibility. These include projects that contribute to the
decarbonisation of the economy and that are aligned with the United
Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
For more information, please visit www.talaxis.com.
Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure
Certain information contained in this announcement may have been
deemed inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of
Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 until the release of this
announcement.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains forward-looking statements (within
the meaning of that term under applicable securities laws) with
respect to Mkango, its business and the Project. Generally, forward
looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as
"plans", "expects" or "is expected", "scheduled", "estimates"
"intends", "anticipates", "believes", or variations of such words
and phrases, or statements that certain actions, events or results
"can", "may", "could", "would", "should", "might" or "will", occur
or be achieved, or the negative connotations thereof. Forward
looking statements in this news release include statements with
respect to the global market for products using the rare earth
metals the Company is exploring for, completion of the feasibility
study and of the Transaction contemplated in the agreement with
HyProMag, as well as plans for Tyseley and first commercial sales
from Tyseley. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on
forward-looking statements, as there can be no assurance that the
plans, intentions or expectations upon which they are based will
occur. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve numerous
assumptions, known and unknown risks and uncertainties, both
general and specific, that contribute to the possibility that the
predictions, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking
statements will not occur, which may cause actual performance and
results in future periods to differ materially from any estimates
or projections of future performance or results expressed or
implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors and risks
include, without limiting the foregoing, market demand for the
metals and associated downstream products for which Mkango is
exploring, researching and developing, the positive results of a
feasibility study on the Project, delays in obtaining financing or
governmental or stock exchange approvals. The forward-looking
statements contained in this news release are made as of the date
of this news release. Except as required by law, the Company
disclaims any intention and assumes no obligation to update or
revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise, except as required by
applicable law. Additionally, the Company undertakes no obligation
to comment on the expectations of, or statements made by, third
parties in respect of the matters discussed above.
For further information on Mkango, please contact:
Mkango Resources Limited
William Dawes Alexander Lemon
Chief Executive Officer President
will@mkango.ca alex@mkango.ca
UK: +44 207 3722 744
Canada: +1 403 444 5979
www.mkango.ca
@MkangoResources
Blytheweigh
Financial Public Relations
Tim Blythe, Camilla Horsfall
UK: +44 207 138 3204
SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP
Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker
Jeff Keating, Caroline Rowe
UK: +44 20 3470 0470
Alternative Resource Capital
Joint Broker
Alex Wood, Rob Collins
UK: +44 20 7186 9004; +44 20 7186 9001
For more information about Talaxis, please visit www.talaxis.com
or contact:
Finsbury
Alastair Hetherington, Dorothy Burwell, Humza Vanderman
Tel: +44 20 7251 3801
Email: noble@finsbury.com
Citadel-MAGNUS
Peter Brookes, Helen McCombie
Tel: +61 2 8234 0100
Email: media@citadelmagnus.com
The TSX Venture Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved
the contents of this press release. Neither the TSX Venture
Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is
defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts
responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a
solicitation of an offer to buy any equity or other securities of
the Company in the United States. The securities of the Company
will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of
1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act") and may not be offered
or sold within the United States to, or for the account or benefit
of, U.S. persons except in certain transactions exempt from the
registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act.
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the
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END
MSCZZGGMVLVGGZM
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