Berkeley will go ahead with share placement and one acquisition

Miner and metals processor Berkeley Mineral Resources has today announced that its due diligence on BMR's proposed purchase of all the remaining stockpiles of tailings, not presently owned by it at the Kabwe mine, in Zambia, has been completed satisfactorily. The acquisition is now expected to go forward shortly. Following completion, Enviro Mining Ltd and its two Zambian-registered subsidiaries, Enviro Processing and Enviro Props, will become wholly-owned subsidiaries of BMR.Of particular importance, the company has decided not to proceed further with the proposed acquisition referred to in the company's announcement of 11 May 2011. It now considers that the purchase price indicated was substantially higher than the acquisition's value to BMR, management explains.However, the agreement between BMR and Novum Securities, for a proposed placement of 145m new shares, at 4p each, continues apace.As far as the Kabwe transaction is concerned, the company has indicated that, "Completion of the Kabwe acquisition will mark a further significant milestone in the development of BMR into a major producer of zinc and lead. Directly thereafter, we intend to finalise the design and sourcing of the processing plant, which is fully funded, to enable us to rapidly exploit the very substantial resources acquired at Kabwe."Lastly, the company has indicated that, "it is still progressing with the acquisition of tailings dumps at Luanshya and reviewing other opportunities to expand the business." As of 11:56 London time shares of Berkeley Mineral Resources are moving down by 4.20%, to 6.28p, in London trading. AB