Berkeley Mineral Resources Regulatory News (BMR)

Berkeley Mineral Resources PLC

("BMR" or the "Company")

General Update and Board Appointment

Investigation

The Company announced on 11 December 2014 that significant progress had been made concerning the investigation of the classification and valuation of £4.3 million of assets.

The Company engaged the services of Crowe Clark Whitehill ("CCW"), a leading national audit, tax and advisory firm, for the investigation.

The Board is currently preparing the preliminary results of the Company for the year ended 30 June 2014. Although the CCW review is yet to be completed, the Board anticipates that the results will incorporate write-downs in the range of £10 million to £12 million. This will facilitate completion of the audit for that year.

Auditors

The Board is pleased to announce that the Company has engaged the services of CCW as auditors in respect of the year ended 30 June 2014.

Operations in Zambia

The Board also announced on 11 December 2014 that it continues to progress the Company's activities at Kabwe and that the Directors are currently undertaking a peer review of the definitive feasibility study ("DFS") for processing the washplant tailings ("WPT") in order to advance the project.

The peer review of the DFS and other related test work undertaken on the WPT is well advanced. The testwork and related studies support the Board's current view of gravity separation as the preferred treatment route to produce a saleable zinc/lead concentrate. The proposed leaching of the rejected size fractions (fines, and iron-bearing material) from the gravity separation process may not be a viable option in the short term. Although not entirely ruled out, the Board currently considers that the amount of time and money required to pursue this method of zinc/lead recovery may not be justified.

Starting in February 2015, BMR will be undertaking a series of confirmatory bulk sample tests on the WPT to finalise the plant flow sheet and spiral design. This will include optimising scrubbing and milling times, to maximise zinc/lead liberation, and the spiral plant configuration, to achieve maximum metal recovery. From this bulk sample test work, the Board expects to confirm the percentage recovery and grade of zinc/lead in the concentrate.

At the same time, preliminary metallurgical and mineralogical test work will start on the leach residue tailings at Kabwe, BMR's largest JORC compliant resource.

In addition, the Directors are reviewing prospects for realising value from the Company's copper interests.

Overheads

The Directors have been assessing the current cost base of the Company in order to limit the monthly expenditure and to align the costs with its operational requirements. Reductions in the UK office headcount of three contractors and four employees and associated costs, including the former chairman's company car, have already been made, although the financial impact is delayed due to redundancy costs.

New director

The Board is pleased to announce that Jeremy Hawke has today been appointed a director of the Company with direct responsibility for its operations.

Jeremy Hawke is a Chartered Engineer who spent the first 17 years of his mining career in senior operating positions with the Anglo American Corporation in Zambia and DRC and later Rio Tinto in Namibia. His first mining industry appointment was at the Broken Hill lead and zinc mine, later to become the Kabwe Mine in Zambia. After Namibia he moved to South Africa where he started his own manufacturing company producing high speed diesel engine protection equipment for open pit earth moving equipment. On his return to the UK he worked for International Mining Consultants as Principal Mechanical Engineer, where he led a number of World Bank and EU funded mining projects, principally in Africa. Over the past 3 years Jeremy has been involved in a variety of tailings re-treatment projects for the recovery of copper, gold, iron and earlier diamonds. This past year he has overseen the metallurgical, mining and equipment selection programmes for a major tailings retreatment project on the Zambian Copperbelt. Founder of AIM-listed African Mining and Exploration (now Savannah Resources, ticker SAV), Jeremy is currently a director of New Resource Management Services Ltd, a niche mining and geological consulting company.

Financial control procedures

Finally, the Board has also acted to improve significantly the Company's financial control procedures, an area that was previously inadequate, and has retained the services as financial controller of Norman Lott ACA, with previous experience as a part-time finance director of a number of AIM-listed companies.

Alex Borrelli, Chairman, commented:

"I look forward to concluding this unfortunate chapter in the Company's history with the completion of the investigation and publishing the results for the year ended 30 June 2014.

"I appreciate the patience of our shareholders while we have been working to conclude matters and while the trading of the Company's shares on AIM remains suspended.

"I am working closely with our streamlined accounting function on the draft financial statements and expect that the final results for the year ended 30 June 2014 will be announced at the end of February/early March, with an AGM thereafter. At that meeting, I propose to put forward to shareholders proposals for a share re-organisation and a share capital consolidation. We anticipate that trading of the shares will remain suspended pending publication of the results and clarification of the Company's financial position.

"I am grateful for the support of our advisers and consultants who have provided valuable assistance at the Company.

"Notwithstanding the material issues that have required our full attention, I believe that we are in a fortunate position with the asset base at Kabwe and the significant progress that has already been achieved towards realising the potential of the WPT. I look forward to working closely with Jeremy Hawke to realise the benefits for our shareholders."

The names of all companies and partnerships of which Jeremy Hawke, aged 75, has been a director or partner at any time in the previous five years are set out below:

There are no other matters which are required to be announced pursuant to paragraph (g) of Schedule 2 to the AIM Rules.

For further information: 

Berkeley Mineral Resources Plc 07747 020 600

Alex Borrelli, Chairman

WH Ireland Limited 020 7220 1666

Chris Fielding, Head of Corporate Finance