21 Dec 2012 07:00
Berkeley Mineral Resources Plc
("BMR" or "the Company")
AGM Statement
A Year of Continued Progress
At today's Annual General Meeting Masoud Alikhani, Chairman of Berkeley Mineral Resources Plc, the AIM listed resource company engaged in theprocessing of tailing dumps in Zambia, will make the following comments:
"In the Year to June your Company made a number of important strategic advances. We have acquired additional recoverable material at Kabwe, carried out test work on the Kabwe tailings to maximise recovery, appointed a company to oversee the work on the processing plant and secured substantial initial resources of copper tailings.
Following delays over a Zambian Government moratorium we finally received clearance for the transfer of the Large-scale Licence at Kabwe in May 2012, which was followed in August by BMR securing the Large-scale surface rights over all the remaining Kabwe resources. These include the underground mine which contains an estimated 51 million tonnes of un-mined or partly-mined ore at a combined Lead and Zinc grade of 4.01%. BMR now has control over the whole Kabwe site and we are moving towards establishing a processing plant on site.
In June 2012, we concluded an agreement with Yunnan Xiangyun Feilong Nonferrous Metal Company ("Feilong") and they have carried out extensive test work on the lead and zinc tailings at Kabwe with a view to maximising returns. Last week we signed an agreement with Ascot Group Limited, the company that introduced us to Feilong, to oversee the design and installation of the beneficiation plant at Kabwe. Tests show that we can produce a very acceptable 40-48% lead and zinc concentrate from the material.
During the year the Company also took the opportunity to commence the acquisition of copper tailings in Zambia. In December 2011, BMR signed an Option Agreement giving it the exclusive right to carry out due diligence on three copper clusters located at Chingola, Northern Zambia, the first of which was acquired in July 2012.
In October 2012 we acquired further copper tailings and commenced a pilot programme which is intended to produce copper cathode and first cash flow in 2013 from stockpiles located at the former Bwana Mkubwa mine in Northern Zambia by acquiring a 75% shareholding in Ndola Mineral Resources Limited and by implementing a joint venture with artisanal miners there.
We now intend to process our tailings on site in Zambia to produce and ship concentrate rather than just bagging unprocessed tailings. This removes any logistical problems, reduces shipping costs, and, by adding value, increases the returns. Lead, zinc and copper have favourable demand profiles going forward.
Having acquired our original options over tailings in 2009 I feel that we have since then made significant progress and have substantially increased the value of the Company. At today's prices we have over $1.2 billion of material above ground and awaiting processing. With the recovery rates anticipated this is a very valuable stockpile of material. In addition, we also have a significant underground resource available at Kabwe.
I would like to thank our shareholders for their support and the staff both in UK and Zambia for all their hard work. BMR now has a substantial resource and detailed plans in place to maximise the returns from it."
21 December 2012
For further information please contact:
Berkeley Mineral Resources Plc
Masoud Alikhani, Chairman
020 7408 1181
Seymour Pierce
Stewart Dickson / Jonathan Wright (Corporate Finance)
Jeremy Stephenson / Richard Redmayne (Corporate Broking)
020 7107 8000
Lothbury Financial Services
Michael Padley /Gary Middleton
020 3440 7620