Last checked at 14 Jul 2015 07:00
14 July 2015
Armadale Capital Plc (‘Armadale’ or ‘the Company’)
Placing to Raise £400,000 to Expand Current 678,000oz Mpokoto Gold Resource
Armadale, the AIM quoted investment company focused on natural resource projects in Africa, is pleased to announce a conditional placing (“Placing”) of 10,000,000 new ordinary shares of 0.1 pence each in the capital of the Company (“Ordinary Shares”) (the “Placing Shares”) at a price of 4.00p pence per share (the “Placing Price”) to raise gross proceeds of £400,000 with institutional and other investors.
The proceeds of the Placing will be used to further develop the Mpokoto Gold Project in the Katanga Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (“Mpokoto” or the “Project”), which has a current resource of 678,000oz at 1.45 g/t Au and is on track to commence production in H1 2016, producing approximately 25,000oz Au per annum over a nine year life of mine. The Company will use the funds primarily to commence a 2,500m drilling programme in late July 2015, which will target newly identified areas located along-strike and down dip from known mineralisation, with the ultimate aim of adding an additional 120,000 to 150,000oz Au at a grade of 1.25 to 1.5g/t Au to the current Project resource.
Justin Lewis, Director of Armadale, said:
“These funds will allow us to complete our upcoming 2,500m drill programme, which we hope will further increase our established 678,000oz resource and in turn further enhance the already favourable economics of the Project, which has a current post-tax net present value of US$55.3 million. The funds will also help advance initial work on the ground at Mpokoto, maintaining momentum as we move to the point of completing our Definitive Feasibility Study. At the same time we expect to be able to finalise our agreement with Africa Mining Contracting Services group (‘A-MCS’) to fund, develop, construct and operate Mpokoto. With US$20m proposed financing subject currently to final documentation and a defined development plan focussed on commencing commercial production in H1 2016, the next 6-12 months should be extremely active and we look forward to updating shareholders on these milestone developments in due course.”
Halcyon Corporate Pty Ltd (“Halcyon”), a company of which Justin Lewis is a director and has an indirect interest in 50 per cent. of its shares, is subscribing for 1,000,000 Placing Shares. The subscription by Halcyon for the Placing Shares is a related party transaction pursuant to the AIM Rules for Companies. The independent directors of the Company consider, having consulted with finnCap, the Company’s nominated adviser, that the terms of the subscription for Placing Shares by Halcyon are fair and reasonable insofar as the Company’s shareholders are concerned.
Following the Placing, Justin Lewis will be interested in 2,064,444 Ordinary Shares equating to 3.9 per cent. of the Company’s issued share capital.
Admission
The Placing is subject, inter alia, to admission of the Placing Shares to trading on AIM (“Admission”), which is expected to occur at 8.00 a.m. on 20 July 2015. Application has been made to the London Stock Exchange for all of the Placing Shares to be admitted to trading on AIM. The Placing Shares will, when issued, rank pari passu in all respects with the Company's existing Ordinary Shares.
Total Voting Rights
Following Admission, the Company will have 52,843,866 Ordinary Shares in issue. The Company has no shares in treasury, therefore the figure of 52,843,866 should be used by shareholders as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change of their interest in, the share capital of the Company under the FCA's Disclosure and Transparency Rules.
**ENDS**
Enquiries:
Company Justin Lewis, Director +44 207 233 1462Charles Zorab, Investor Relations
Nomad and broker: finnCap Limited Christopher Raggett/Simon Hicks +44 207 220 0500
Joint Broker: VSA Capital Limited Andrew Raca/Richard Buckle +44 203 005 5000
Press relations: St Brides Media & Finance Ltd. Hugo de Salis/Charlotte Heap +44 207 236 1177
Notes
Armadale Capital Plc is focused on investing in and developing a portfolio of investments, targeting the natural resources sector in Africa. The Company, led by a team with operational experience and a strong track record in Africa, has a strategy of identifying high growth potential businesses where it can take an active role in their advancement.
Armadale owns 80% of the Mpokoto Gold Project in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Armadale is focused on proving up the resource potential of Mpokoto with a view to commencing commercial gold production.
Armadale also holds approximately a 30% interest in Mine Restoration Investments Ltd, a South African listed company, which aims to develop profitable operations within the South African mining industry through its coal processing operation in KwaZulu Natal.
In addition, Armadale has a small portfolio of listed investments which are focused on gold and copper production and exploration. The Directors continue to maintain an active acquisition strategy and will review investment opportunities that they believe have the potential to be accretive in terms of shareholder value.
More information can be found on the website www.armadalecapitalplc.com.
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