Cerillion Regulatory News (CER)

14 Aug 2007 09:07

Celtic Resources Holdings PLC14 August 2007 Celtic Resources Holdings Plc ("Celtic" or "the Company") Severstal acquires strategic holding in Celtic Celtic is pleased to announce that ZAO Severstal Resurs ("Severstal Resurs"), which manages the mining assets of OAO Severstal ("Severstal") has informed theCompany that Severstal's subsidiary, Bluecone Limited, has agreed to acquire for cash approximately 12.3 million shares of €0.25 each in the Company ("Ordinary Shares"), a c.22% interest in the current issued share capital, through a purchase of Ordinary Shares from Aton International Limited. Severstal is an international steel producer with a listing on the RussianTrading System and the London Stock Exchange. Incorporated in 1993, the companyfocuses on high value-added and unique niche products and has a successful trackrecord of acquiring and integrating high-quality assets in North America andEurope. Severstal's mining assets in Russia are securing its supplies of rawmaterials. In 2006 Severstal produced 17.6 million tonnes of steel and hadrevenues of US$12.4bn, PBT of US$1.8bn and EPS of US$1.27..Celtic Chairman, Peter Hannen, said, "We are delighted to welcome Severstal into Celtic as our largest shareholder. They are a major player in the Russian Iron and Steel industry and are currently expanding internationally and we look forward to working with them productively and profitably to achieve our strategic objectives in the region". For further information please contact: Kevin Foo / Jonathan Scott-Barrett Jane Stacey / Leesa PetersCeltic Resources Holdings Plc Conduit PRTel: + 44 (0)20 7921 8800 Tel: +44 (0)20 7429 6606 / (0)792 292 3306Investors@celticresources.com jane@conduitpr.com Simon Raggett / Braden Saunders Peter KrensStrand Partners Limited Mirabaud Securities LimitedTel: +44 (0) 20 7409 3494 Tel: +44 (0)20 7878 3362 www.celticresources.com Celtic Resources Holdings Plc Celtic operates the Suzdal and Zherek gold mines and the Shorskoye molybdenum mine in Kazakhstan and has a 74.51% interest in the Tominskoye copper project in the Chelyabinsk region of southern Russia. It produced approximately 62,000 ounces of gold in 2006 and had a pre-tax profit of US$39.8m. It is a leader in the processing of refractory gold ores and operates the only BIOX plant in the FSU at its Suzdal mine. Celtic intends to use its strong balance sheet, sound operating record and cash flow from its three operating mines to achieve the following key targets within three years: • Substantially increase our gold reserves by acquisition and internal growth • Increase gold production to more than 300,000 oz/yr • Maintain cash operating costs at less than US$350/oz • Develop highly profitable base metal projects through acquisition and exploration with selected partners • Build on current levels of profit and to continually strengthen our balance sheet. Severstal Resurs Severstal Resurs manages all of Severstal's mining operations. Severstal is an international steel producer with a listing on the Russian Trading System and the London Stock Exchange. Severstal Resurs consists of four high-quality mining complexes in northwest Russia and in Western Siberia producing iron ore and coking coal, and is the second largest producer of pellets and coking coal in Russia. In 2006 Severstal's Mining division produced 5.4 million tons of coal concentrate, 2.2 million tons of coking coal, 2.1 million tons of steam coal, 9.5 million tons of iron ore pellets and 4.5 million tons of iron ore concentrate. The reserves and resources of the company were estimated by IMC Limited to be 1.8 billion tonnes of iron ore as at 1 January 2006 and 0.7 billion tonnes of coal as at 1 April 2006. The scrap business of Severstal Resurs consists of a number of scrap metal yards in the Northwestern, central and Southern parts of Russia. The total processing capacity is 1.3 million tonnes of scrap per year. Scrap is delivered to Europe and the Middle East through the ports of St. Petersburg, Murmansk, Arkhangelsk, Rostov and Taganrog. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange