LONDON (Alliance News) - Metal Tiger PLC on Monday said it has progressed its strategic review of the business and said its number one priority remains creating value and returning it to shareholders as it shuffled the board so current Non-Executive Alex Borelli can become chief executive.
In a separate statement later Monday, Metal Tiger also published an update on its joint venture in the Kalahari copper belt in Botswana where it has established the recent discovery inside the T3 deposit was made for a "relatively modest" cost.
Metal Tiger operates out of two core divisions but the primary strategy is based around the Metal Projects unit that invests directly into assets whereas the other division, Metal Tiger Asset Trading, invests in companies at corporate level.
Metal Tiger said its "ultimate objective" is to distribute the material value created to shareholders through cash and equity distributions.
Metal Tiger said it is applying to the High Court, subject to shareholder approval at a general meeting, for a cancellation of the existing share premium account to enable the company to undertake a distribution of cash or equity holdings to shareholders "should circumstances present an opportunity to do so."
"By way of example this could arise if a current or future interest in the Metal Project division is sold for cash or equity, or if an interest is spun-out into an initial public offering or reverse-takeover vehicle. Shareholders should be aware that until a distribution is formally announced there is no certainty that any such distribution will occur," said Metal Tiger.
"Details of the general meeting to ratify the application to the High Court above will be provided to the market shortly. This general meeting will also include a resolution allowing the company to buy back its own shares with the intention of taking such shares into treasury or for cancellation as the company's board deems appropriate," the company added.
Metal Tiger said it plans to dedicate a portion of its management and financial resources to investigate new opportunities that could bolster the portfolio by acquiring interests held through third party vehicles, including but not restricted to investee companies.
To undertake the latter, the Metal Tiger Asset Trading division is to expand and will now be responsible for managing the company's existing equity, warrant and royalty investment activities and will be responsible for creating value from interests within the Metal Projects division should the company decide to make a distribution to shareholders.
Current Non-Executive Alex Borelli will become the company's new chief executive as of next Monday, meaning current CEO Paul Johnson is stepping down. Johnson will still hold a consultancy role at the firm that will specifically focus on new project pipeline development and the crystallisation of value from current and pipeline interests, enabling distributions to shareholders to be considered.
"I am very pleased to announce this restructuring. Given the progress achieved, it is the view of the board that it is paramount to have the CEO role undertaken by someone with the management skills, discipline and market recognition needed to pursue significant growth of the company's valuation and increase the extent of institutional engagement with the company," said outgoing CEO Johnson.
In the separate statement regarding the Kalahari joint venture with Australian-listed MOD resources, in which it holds a 30% stake versus MOD's 70%, the company said it has evaluated the investment made into the discovery to date, adding that further exploration drilling is now underway.
"With the completion of the maiden resource at T3, the joint venture has taken the opportunity to take stock of our investment in T3 to date. The T3 deposit has been taken from a discrete copper in soil anomaly, through initial reverse circulation drilling confirmation, and subsequent diamond hole drill-out, to a JORC compliant mineral resource estimate in only six months, demonstrating real value for a relatively modest spend," said Chief Executive Paul Johnson.
"As we continue to explore the T3 dome and extend the T3 resource, the exploration team will continue to carefully manage the programme in order to maximise the potential exploration returns," he added. "This exploration potential includes the current prospect of a drill hole confirming further significant copper associated with the strong IP geophysics anomaly located immediately down-dip, below, the current T3 resource."
Metal Tiger said the total all-in cost of the T3 deposit, in the six months from discovery to the maiden resource of 350,000 tonnes of copper being declared, was USD1.7 million, equal to 22.0 cents per pound of copper found.
"The very low discovery cost and relatively modest investment in the T3 Resource definition has generated significant value for the MOD/Metal Tiger joint venture," said Metal Tiger.
Exploration work in the final quarter of this year will include investigating a number of IP geophysics targets, soil geochemistry anomalies and structural targets. Drilling has commenced on the first IP geophysics target; a large anomaly interpreted to be 500.0 metres down-dip of the T3 resource.
Assays are currently being analysed from the first five in-fill holes within the T3 resource area and regional in-soil sampling is ongoing.
Metal Tiger shares were down 4.1% to 3.02 pence per share on Monday morning.
By Joshua Warner; joshuawarner@alliancenews.com; @JoshAlliance
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