2 Mar 2012 07:00
Alecto Minerals plc / EPIC: ALO / Market: AIM / Sector: Exploration & Development
2 March 2012
Alecto Minerals plc ('Alecto' or 'the Company')
Positive Update on Acquisition of Ethiopian Gold Projects and Issue of Equity
Alecto Minerals plc, the AIM listed multi-commodity exploration and development company with projects in Ethiopia and Mauritania, is pleased to announce that it has completed the acquisition of Nubian Gold Exploration Limited ('Nubian Gold'), owner of the 1,953 sq km Aysid-Metekel Gold Project. At the same time, Alecto has made the first share based payment in respect of the acquisition of Rift Valley Resources Ltd ('Rift Valley'), owner of the 945.5 sq km Wayu Boda Gold Project ('Wayu Boda').
Both projects are located in mineral rich regions of Ethiopia and are wholly owned by the Company.
In addition, the Company has signed a deed of variation in relation to the share purchase agreement to acquire Rift Valley which reduces the total purchase price payable by Alecto by 10 per cent. This has been negotiated further to receiving notification that the Company requires an additional exploration licence for emeralds at Wayu Boda, as outlined in the announcement dated 9 December 2012.
Alecto Executive Director Damian Conboy said, "We have received encouraging findings from initial reconnaissance work across our Ethiopian gold portfolio, which provides us with exposure to two highly prospective mineralised regions. In light of this, we are delighted to secure our holdings over both licences. Additionally, we are pleased to announce the negotiation of a 10% discount for Wayu Boda, which has extensive artisanal work targeting gold on site. Importantly, as recently reported in the Ethiopian newspapers*, the National Mining Corporation has discovered a major gold deposit in the regional state of Oromia, located within 20km from Wayu Boda's eastern boundary and with this in mind, we believe the renegotiation of the purchase price represents a fair outcome for shareholders."
Issue of Equity
Alecto has issued and allotted 19,526,628 new ordinary shares of 0.7 pence each in the capital of the Company to the vendors of Nubian Gold in satisfaction of the second share based payment due and 12,470,718 new ordinary shares of 0.7 pence each to the vendors of Rift Valley in satisfaction of the first share based payment due.
Alecto has applied for the 31,997,346 ordinary shares, which will rank pari passu with the Company's existing ordinary shares in issue, to be admitted to trading on AIM ('Admission'). It is expected that Admission will be effective and that dealings will commence on 6 March 2012.
The vendors have agreed not to dispose of 22,734,899 of the consideration shares for 12 months following their allotment.
The total enlarged issued share capital of the Company following Admission will be 227,134,094 ordinary shares of 0.7 pence each in the Company. The above figure may 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 to their interest in, the share capital of the Company under the Disclosure and Transparency Rules.
As a result of the issue of equity to the vendors of Nubian Gold and Rift Valley, the following shareholders have crossed reportable thresholds:
Shareholder | Number of Shares | Percentage of Issued Share Capital |
Michael Johnson | 10,301,770 | 4.54% |
Wondimu Yohannes | 13,201,828 | 5.81% |
Helen Johnson | 8,444,322 | 3.72% |
* Source: http://www.addisfortune.com/National%20Mining%20Corporation%20Hits%20Jackpot.htm
**ENDS**
For further information, please visit www.alectominerals.com or contact:
Damian Conboy | Alecto Minerals plc | Tel: 020 3006 0260 |
Ewan Leggat | Fairfax I.S. PLC - Joint Broker | Tel: 020 7598 5368 |
Katy Birkin | Fairfax I.S. PLC - Joint Broker | Tel: 020 7598 5368 |
Jonathan Evans | Fox-Davies Capital Ltd - Nominated Adviser & Joint Broker | Tel: 020 3463 5000 |
Elisabeth Cowell | St Brides Media & Finance Ltd | Tel: 020 7236 1177 |
Hugo de Salis | St Brides Media & Finance Ltd | Tel: 020 7236 1177 |
Notes:
Alecto Minerals plc is an AIM listed exploration company focussed on Africa with a diverse portfolio of exploration assets in Mauritania and Ethiopia. Also, The Company is currently conducting due diligence on the 711 sq km bauxite licence 223 located in the highly prospective south west coastal region of Guinea which already has established infrastructure and producing bauxite operations. The Company believes the project has the potential to host an in-situ bauxite resource of over 500 million tonnes.
Additionally, in Mauritania, it has three gold and base metal development licences totalling 1,902 sq km and two uranium licences totalling 1,592 sq km in the highly prospective Mauritanide mobile belt. It also holds the 1,953 sq km gold exploration licence in the highly prospective Aysid-Metekel region of north western Ethiopia and the 945 sq km Wayu Boda gold licence in the mineral-rich central-southern Adola greenstone belt in southern Ethiopia.
The Company is committed to conducting exploratory work across its portfolio, designed to strengthen its knowledge of the assets and delineate targets for further exploration. In tandem, the Board continues to evaluate a number of synergistic assets to build shareholder value.