TIDMPREM
RNS Number : 7685M
Premier African Minerals Limited
18 October 2016
Premier African Minerals Limited / Ticker: PREM / Index: AIM /
Sector: Mining
For immediate release
18 October 2016
Premier African Minerals Limited
("Premier" or the "Company")
Premier buys into significant gold asset in the DRC and Private
Placement
Premier African Minerals Limited (AIM: PREM), the London quoted
mining exploration and production company, is pleased to report
that it has acquired a 4.5% stake in Casa Mining Limited ("CASA"),
a private company registered in Mauritius that holds prospective
gold mining and exploration licences in the Democratic Republic of
Congo ("DRC"). Premier has also today raised GBP300,000 (before
costs and expenses) through the issue of new Ordinary Shares at an
issue price of 0.32 pence per new Ordinary Share, which will fund
the investment in CASA as well as for general working capital
purposes.
Highlights:
-- Premier subscribed US$250,000 for an initial interest of 4.5%
in the enlarged share capital of CASA.
-- CASA holds the rights to three mining licenses (133km2)
located in the highly prospective South Kivu province in the
eastern Congo gold belt of the DRC;
-- Over US$30 million spent by CASA since 2009, identifying a
60km long 'corridor' prospective for gold, multiple prospects
identified with some drill and trench tested returning significant
intercepts;
-- CASA has reported an initial near surface inferred resource
of 1.2 Moz @ 1.7 g/t Au at Akyanga Deposit; open along strike and
down dip;
-- Positive Scoping Study at Akyanga confirmed the potential
viability of an 80,000 oz gold per year heap leach operation, with
a total cash operating cost of US$628/oz based on current
resources; and
-- CASA plans to commence a 5,000 metre exploration program to
validate the 3 million oz potential target at Akyanga and issue a
revised scoping study by the end of 2017.
George Roach, Premier's CEO, commented:
"This investment in CASA secures exposure to an exciting gold
project in a very prospective region. The Akyanga deposit has a
large and well defined resource base as well as the potential to be
brought into production relatively quickly. The scoping study
potentially demonstrates a technically viable and economically
robust project. And, the plan to commence an exploration programme
to validate the 3 million ounce potential target should generate
significant value for the Company. I am also delighted that our
lender, Darwin, has consented to this investment which we believe
provides excellent value at a time when investment demand in the
gold sector is picking up."
The Investment
Through a private placement carried out by CASA, Premier has
subscribed for 312,500 new CASA shares for a consideration of
US$250,000, equating to approximately a 4.5% interest in the
enlarged share capital of CASA. Premier has been granted a
pre-emptive right whereby it is able to maintain a minimum 4.5% of
the entire issued share capital of CASA. The pre-emptive right must
be exercised within 30 days as of the issuance of any new ordinary
shares by CASA on the same terms as all other participants.
Furthermore, Premier has been granted an irrevocable right to
acquire a further interest of up to 30% of the total issued share
capital in the CASA within 60 days as from the date of this
announcement, on terms to be mutually agreed by the parties.
About Casa Mining Limited
CASA is a private Mauritian registered company that is the
71.25% owner and operator of the Misisi Gold Project located in
South Kivu, eastern DRC which is approximately 350km south of
Bukavu and 180km north of Kalemie.
The CASA licence holdings consist of three contiguous mining
licenses (133km2), issued in March 2015 and valid for 30 years.
These licenses, which encompass a 60km strike length of the
Tanganyika graben within the Rusizian belt ("Misisi Corridor"),
include the Akyanga deposit along with the Lubitchako, Tulongwe,
Kilombwe and Mutshobwe prospects (targets).
Over the last six years approximately US$30m was spent by CASA
developing these licenses. In addition to the regional geophysical
surveys completed over these license areas in 2011, CASA has
carried out 19,522m of diamond drilling, 2,720m of reverse
circulation drilling and excavated 6,274 line metres of trenches on
their respective licenses.
At CASA's most advanced project, the Akyanga deposit, SRK
reported a SAMREC compliant Mineral Resource with a US$1,200/oz
gold selling price and 0.5 g/t Au cut-off grade optimised pit
shell, which comprises a gross Inferred oxide gold Mineral Resource
of 5.5 Mt at a grade of 1.5 g/t Au for approximately 272 koz of
contained metal. SRK has further reported a gross Inferred
transition gold Mineral Resource of 16.2 Mt at a grade of 1.8 g/t
Au for approximately 927 koz of contained metal.
MDM Engineering Projects Ltd ("MDM"), in conjunction with SRK
Consulting UK Limited ("SRK"), completed a scoping feasibility
study for the Akyanga deposit resulting in an ungeared NPV (8%) and
IRR of US$171m and 35% respectively at a US$1,300/oz gold price.
This assumed a contract mining scenario with an initial capital
cost estimate of US$87.4m and a total operating cost of
US$628/oz.
CASA is currently planning a 5,000 metre drilling program with
the aim to validate the 3 million ounce potential of the Akyanga
deposit. Subsequent to this exploration program, CASA will issue a
revised scoping study for a potentially larger gold mining
operation.
CASA most recent available accounts are for the year ended 31
December 2015. CASA's pre-revenue loss for the year ended 31
December 2015 US$2,741,000. Total assets as at 31 December 2015
amounted to US$683,000. Further details on Casa's activities are
available from its website, http://www.casamining.com.
Subscription
Premier has today raised GBP300,000 million (before costs and
expenses) through, conditional on admission, an issue of 93,750,000
new ordinary shares ("Subscription Shares") at a subscription price
of 0.32 pence per Subscription Share (the "Subscription"). The
proceeds of the Subscription will be used to fund the initial
investment in Casa as well as general working capital purposes of
Premier.
The Subscription Shares will, when issued, rank pari passu in
all respects with the existing ordinary shares. Application will be
made for the Subscription Shares to be admitted to trading on AIM
and admission is expected to take place on or around 24 October
2016.
Related Party Transaction
Michael Foster, a Director of Premier, is a director and
Chairman of CASA. In addition, Michael Foster is interested in
approximately 5.6% of the issued share capital of CASA.
Accordingly, the Investment in CASA has been treated as a related
party transaction for the purposes of the AIM Rules. The Board of
Premier, other than Michael Foster, have not participated in the
Investment and are therefore independent under the AIM Rules for
the purposes of considering the Investment (the "Independent
Directors"). The Independent Directors consider, having consulted
with the Company's nominated adviser, that the terms of the
Investment are fair and reasonable insofar as the Company's
shareholders are concerned.
Total Voting Rights
Following the issue of the Subscription Shares, the Company's
issued share capital consists of 1,979,963,770 Ordinary Shares,
with voting rights. This figure may be used by shareholders in the
Company as the denominator for the calculation by which they will
determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a
change to their interest in, the share capital of the Company under
the Financial Conduct Authority's Disclosure and Transparency
Rules.
Forward Looking Statements:
Certain statements in this announcement, are, or may be deemed
to be, forward looking statements. Forward looking statements are
identi ed by their use of terms and phrases such as "believe",
"could", "should" "envisage", "estimate", "intend", "may", "plan",
"will" or the negative of those, variations or comparable
expressions, including references to assumptions. These forward
looking statements are not based on historical facts but rather on
the Directors' current expectations and assumptions regarding the
Company's future growth, results of operations, performance, future
capital and other expenditures (including the amount, nature and
sources of funding thereof), competitive advantages, business
prospects and opportunities. Such forward looking statements re ect
the Directors' current beliefs and assumptions and are based on
information currently available to the Directors. A number of
factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the
results discussed in the forward looking statements including risks
associated with vulnerability to general economic and business
conditions, competition, environmental and other regulatory
changes, actions by governmental authorities, the availability of
capital markets, reliance on key personnel, uninsured and
underinsured losses and other factors, many of which are beyond the
control of the Company. Although any forward looking statements
contained in this announcement are based upon what the Directors
believe to be reasonable assumptions, the Company cannot assure
investors that actual results will be consistent with such forward
looking statements.
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes
of Article 7 of EU Regulation 596/2014.
Glossary
"Au" Gold.
"carbon-in-column" Carbon-in-column or CIC means
a technological operation in
which gold and silver dissolved
in clean leach solution are
absorbed onto activated carbon
which is layered horizontally
in vertical columns.
"Core drilling" A drilling method that uses
a rotating barrel and an annular-shaped,
diamond impregnated rock-cutting
bit to produce cylindrical rock
cores and lift such cores to
the surface, where they may
be collected, examined and assayed.
"cut-off grade"" The minimum grade at which mineralized
material can be economically
mined and processed (used in
the calculation of ore reserves).
"diamond core drilling" A method of exploration in which
rock samples from underground
are retrieved as core (whole
rock cylinders) for further
examination and assaying.
"Dip" The inclination of a geologic
structure (bed, vein, fault,
etc.) from the horizontal; dip
is always measured downwards
at right angles to the strike.
"Exploration" Activity ultimately aimed at
discovery of ore reserves for
exploitation. Consists of sample
collection and analysis, including
reconnaissance, geophysical
and geochemical surveys, trenching,
drilling, etc.
"Ga" Billion years.
"Graben" An elongated block of the earth's
crust lying between two faults
and displaced downwards relative
to the blocks on either side,
as in a rift valley.
"g/t" Gram per tonne.
"heap leach" A technological operation in
which crushed material is laid
on a sloping, impervious pad
where it is leached by cyanide
solution to dissolve gold and/or
silver. Metals are subsequently
recovered from pregnant leach
solution by CIC or the Merrill
Crowe process.
"Inferred resource" The part of a resource for which
tonnage, grade and content can
be estimated with a low level
of confidence. It is inferred
from geological evidence and
assumed but not verified geological
and/or grade continuity. It
is based on information gathered
through appropriate techniques
from locations such as outcrops,
trenches, pits, workings and
drill holes which may be limited
or of uncertain quality and
reliability.
"Km" Kilometres.
"Koz" Thousand ounces.
"m" Metres.
"MDM" MDM Engineering Projects Ltd.
"Mineral Resource" A concentration or occurrence
of material of intrinsic economic
interest in or on the Earth's
crust in such form, quality
and quantity that there are
reasonable prospects for eventual
economic extraction. The location,
quantity, grade, geological
characteristics and continuity
of a Mineral Resource are known,
estimated or interpreted from
specific geological evidence
and knowledge. Mineral Resources
are sub-divided, in order of
increasing geological confidence,
into Inferred, Indicated and
Measured categories.
"Moz" Million ounces.
"Mt" Million tonnes.
"Optimised Pit The most profitable open pit,
Shells" given a mineral resource and
a set of economic and metallurgical
parameters.
"Oz" Troy ounce (31.1035 g).
"Production" The amount of pure precious
metals, measured in thousands
of ounces for gold, millions
of ounces for silver and tonnes
for copper, produced following
processing.
"Prospect" A mining property, the value
of which has not been determined
by exploration.
"Reverse circulation" A drilling method that uses
a rotating cutting bit within
a double-walled drill pipe and
produces rock chips rather than
core. Air is circulated down
to the bit between the inner
and outer wall of the drill
pipe. The chips are forced to
the surface through the centre
of the drill pipe and are collected,
examined and assayed.
"SAMREC" South African Code for Reporting
of Mineral Resources and Mineral
Reserves.
"SRK" SRK Consulting (UK) Limited
(SRK) is an associate company
of the international group holding
company, SRK Consulting (Global)
Limited (the SRK Group).
"Strike" A horizontal extension of an
ore body or mineralisation.
"Tonne" Metric ton.
"Trench" A long, narrow excavation dug
through overburden, or blasted
out of rock, to expose a vein
or ore structure.
Enquiries:
Premier African Minerals Tel: +44 (0)7734
Fuad Sillem Limited 922074
---------------------- --------------------------- ------------------
Michael Cornish Beaumont Cornish Tel: +44 (0) 207
/ Roland Cornish Limited 628 3396
(Nominated Adviser)
---------------------- --------------------------- ------------------
Jerry Keen/Edward Shore Capital Stockbrokers Tel: +44 (0) 207
Mansfield Limited 408 4090
---------------------- --------------------------- ------------------
Charles Goodwin/Aidan
Stanley /Dominic Yellow Jersey PR Tel: +44 (0) 7747
Barretto Limited 788 221
---------------------- --------------------------- ------------------
Notes to Editors:
Premier African Minerals Limited (AIM: PREM) is a
multi-commodity mining and natural resource development company
focused in Southern and Western Africa with production started at
its flagship RHA project in Zimbabwe.
The Company has a diverse portfolio of projects, which includes
tungsten, rare earth elements, gold, lithium and tantalum in
Zimbabwe and Benin, encompassing brownfield projects with near-term
production potential to grass-roots exploration. The Company also
holds 2 million shares in Circum Minerals Limited ("Circum"), the
owners of the Danakil Potash Project in Ethiopia, which has the
potential to be a world class asset. At present those shares are
valued at US$4 million based on the latest price at which Circum
has accepted subscriptions.
ENDS
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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