18 Feb 2022 18:09
18 February 2022
Arc Minerals Ltd
('Arc' or the 'Company')
Settlement of All Legal Cases
The Company is pleased to announce that the parties to the ongoing legal cases in Zambia and in the UK have come to an agreement to settle various disputed matters and for all legal proceedings to be permanently dropped (the "Settlement Agreement"). The Settlement Agreement will now be submitted to Zambian courts to effect a Consent Judgement which will have the force of law.
Nick von Schirnding, Executive Chairman of Arc, commented:
"I am very pleased to have executed the Settlement Agreement which allows us to move on from what has been a lengthy period of uncertainty. The settlement is in the best interests of the Company and its shareholders and allows us to focus on operations and also accelerate our discussions with interested major mining companies."
In return for the claimant parties, being Terra Metals Limited, Zambia Mineral Exchange Corporation Limited and certain of their related parties(i), relinquishing all claims against Zamsort Limited ("Zamsort") or any other company in the Arc group, present or contingent, and in full and final settlement of all claims, and conditional upon consent orders being issued by the relevant courts in Zambia and the UK in formal conclusion of all matters, the Company has agreed to transfer to the claimant parties the entire issued share capital of Zamsort held by the Arc group (being 66% of the issued share capital of Zamsort), which owns the pilot plant. The group will also consent to the claimant parties applying for the 8 square kilometre small mining and small exploration license areas that were previously in existence at Zamsort prior to Arc's involvement and which currently form part of Handa's licence 19906-HQ-LEL. Arc's share of the book value of the pilot plant was approximately USD 1.98M at 31 Dec 2020 and it had been kept on care and maintenance since 2020. In addition, the settlement includes share options to be issued by the Company to the claimant parties to the value of USD 200,000 (using a Black-Scholes valuation model) and a modest cash component at a cost to the Company of £73,000 payable within 14 days of execution of the consent orders and £48,000 payable 9 months later. The Company will make a further announcement concerning details of the share options once the consent orders have been obtained.
The disposal of Zamsort will not affect the Directors plans for the continuing exploration and development of the Company's projects in Zambia.
(i) including Mumena Mushinge, Brian Chisala and Katambi Bulawayo
Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) 596/2014 as it forms part of UK domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ("MAR"), and is disclosed in accordance with the Company's obligations under Article 17 of MAR.
Contacts
Arc Minerals Ltd Nick von Schirnding (Executive Chairman)
| +44 (0) 20 7917 2942
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SP Angel (Nominated Adviser & Joint Broker) Ewan Leggat / Adam Cowl | +44 (0) 20 3470 0470
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WH Ireland Ltd (Joint Broker) Harry Ansell / Katy Mitchell | +44 (0) 20 7220 1666 |