19 Jun 2015 16:30
Results of Annual General Meeting and General Meeting
Annual General Meeting
Avocet Mining PLC ("Avocet" or the "Company") confirms that all resolutions at the Annual General Meeting of its shareholders, held on 19 June 2015, were carried as proposed. The final proxy voting figures for the meeting are shown below:
Resolution | Votes fora | Votes for % | Votes against | Votes against % | Votes validly cast | Votes cast as % of shares with voting rightsc | Votes withheldb | |
Ordinary Resolutions | ||||||||
1 | Receipt of reports and financial statements for the year ended 31 De 2014 | 49,910,247 | 100.00% | 700 | 0.00% | 49,910,947 | 23.87% | 11,507 |
2 | Receipt of Directors' remuneration report for the year ended 31 Dec 2014 | 49,780,577 | 99.77% | 112,736 | 0.23% | 49,893,313 | 23.87% | 25,197 |
3 | Re-appointment of R P Edey as Director | 34,530,211 | 97.03% | 1,056,935 | 2.97% | 35,587,146 | 17.02% | 14,331,324 |
4 | Re-appointment of B J Rourke as Director | 34,530,211 | 97.03% | 1,056,935 | 2.97% | 35,587,146 | 17.02% | 14,331,324 |
5 | Re-appointment of G Wylie as Director | 34,530,211 | 97.03% | 1,056,935 | 2.97% | 35,587,146 | 17.02% | 14,331,324 |
6 | Re-appointment of D C Cather as Director | 35,413,146 | 99.51% | 174,000 | 0.49% | 35,587,146 | 17.02% | 14,331,324 |
7 | Re-appointment of A M Norris as Director | 35,411,646 | 99.51% | 174,000 | 0.49% | 35,585,646 | 17.02% | 14,331,324 |
8 | Re-appointment of Grant Thornton UK LLP as auditors of the Company | 49,804,723 | 99.80% | 100,000 | 0.20% | 49,904,723 | 23.87% | 13,787 |
9 | Authority to determine the auditors' remuneration | 49,815,247 | 99.80% | 101,700 | 0.20% | 49,916,947 | 23.88% | 1,563 |
10 | Authority to allot shares (s551 Co Act 2006) | 44,778,777 | 99.77% | 102,046 | 0.23% | 44,880,823 | 21.47% | 5,037,647 |
Special Resolutions | ||||||||
11 | Authority to disapply pre-emption rights up to 5% of share capital | 49,798,512 | 99.77% | 112,435 | 0.23% | 49,910,947 | 23.87% | 7,563 |
12 | Authority to purchase own shares up to 10% of share capital | 49,806,946 | 99.79% | 104,001 | 0.21% | 49,910,947 | 23.87% | 7,563 |
General Meeting
In addition, the Company confirms that both resolutions at the General Meeting of its shareholders, also held on 19 June 2015, were carried as proposed. The final proxy voting figures for this meeting are shown below:
Resolution | Votes fora | Votes for % | Votes against | Votes against % | Votes validly cast | Votes cast as % of shares with voting rightsc | Votes withheldb | |
Ordinary Resolution | ||||||||
1 | Approval of the related party loan from Manchester Securities Corp ("Elliott Lender"), an affiliate of Elliott Management Corporation ("Elliott") | 21,488,128 | 99.15% | 183,408 | 0.85% | 21,671,536 | 11.99% | 7,563 |
Special Resolution | ||||||||
2 | Amendment to the Directors' borrowing powers under article 16.2 of the Company's Articles of Association | 21,660,052 | 100.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 21,660,052 | 10.36% | 19,047 |
Notes
a) "Votes for" includes those votes giving discretion to the Chairman
b) "Votes withheld" do not count toward votes cast "for" or "against" a resolution
c) As at 19 June 2015, the Company had 209,496,710 ordinary shares in issue, of which 209,054,701 represented ordinary shares with voting rights (after excluding 442,009 treasury shares). Ordinary shares with voting rights were entitled to vote for all resolutions at the Annual General Meeting and the General Meeting, with the exception of Resolution 1 of the General Meeting, where Elliott's holding of 28,245,037 ordinary shares was not entitled to vote in accordance with the Listing Rules.
The Company is in the process of finalising the arrangements for the Elliott Security in respect of the Third Elliott Loan Facility as detailed in the circular dated 22 May 2015 (the "Circular"). The Elliott Security is expected to be completed during the course of July, at which point the first tranche of US$0.2 million of the third facility of the Third Elliott Loan Facility will be draw down. The Company believes that its current financial resources will be adequate until that time.
In accordance with the Listing Rule 9.6.2, a copy of the Special Resolutions passed at these meetings has been submitted to the National Storage Mechanism and will shortly be available for inspection at www.hemscott.com/nsm.do.
Unless the context otherwise requires, capitalised terms used in this announcement shall have the meanings given to them in the Circular.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT
Avocet Mining PLC | Bell Pottinger Financial PR Consultants | J.P. Morgan Cazenove Corporate Broker | Strand Hanson Limited Sponsor |
David Cather, CEOMike Norris, FD | Daniel Thöle | Michael Wentworth-Stanley | Richard TullochAndrew Emmott |
+44 20 3709 2570 | +44 20 2772 2500 | +44 20 7742 4000
| +44 20 7409 3494 |
NOTES TO EDITORS
Avocet Mining PLC ("Avocet" or the "Company") is an unhedged gold mining and exploration company listed on the London Stock Exchange (ticker: AVM.L) and the Oslo Børs (ticker: AVM.OL). The Company's principal activities are gold mining and exploration in West Africa.
In Burkina Faso the Company owns 90% of the Inata Gold Mine. The Inata Gold Mine poured its first gold in December 2009 and produced 86,037 ounces of gold in 2014. Other assets in Burkina Faso include eight exploration permits surrounding the Inata Gold Mine in the broader Bélahouro region. The most advanced of these projects is Souma, some 20 kilometres from the Inata Gold Mine.
In Guinea, Avocet owns 100% of the Tri-K Project in the north east of the country. Drilling to date has outlined a Mineral Resource of 3.0 million ounces, and in October 2013 the Company announced a maiden Ore Reserve on the oxide portion of the orebody, which is suitable for heap leaching, of 0.5 million ounces. As an alternative, the potential exists to exploit the entire 3.0 million ounce Tri-K orebody via the CIL processing method. The Company announced on 2 April 2015 that an exploitation permit had been awarded for Tri-K.