Last checked at 13 Mar 2023 11:30
Empire Metals Limited / LON: EEE / Sector: Natural Resources
13 March 2023
Empire Metals Limited
("Empire" or "the Company")
Placing to Raise £1.25M to Accelerate Exploration at the Company's Pitfield Project
& Investor Presentation
Empire Metals Limited is pleased to announce that it has raised £1.25 million before expenses by way of a placing of 55,555,554 new ordinary shares of no par value in the capital of the Company (the 'Placing Shares'), with new and existing shareholders in the Company, at a price of 2.25 pence per Placing Share (the 'Placing').
The net proceeds of the Placing will be primarily used to allow the Company to more rapidly advance the Company's exploration plans at the Pitfield Copper Project in Western Australia ('Pitfield'), which has demonstrated strong potential to be a new "Giant" copper province. These funds will be used to expand the set of drill-ready targets that were developed as a result of the geochemical and geophysical programmes now completed at Pitfield. Empire is now fully funded for an expanded maiden drilling campaign at Pitfield to evaluate the economic potential of sediment-hosted stratabound copper (SSC) targets defined by the work completed to date.
Mr Shaun Bunn (Managing Director) and Mr Gregory Kuenzel (Finance Director) have each subscribed for 1,111,111 Placing Shares. Dr Neil O'Brien (Non-Executive Chairman) has subscribed for 444,444 Placing Shares. Following this purchase, Mr Bunn's total beneficial ownership interest in the Company is 2,111,111 ordinary shares of no par value in the capital of the Company ('Ordinary Shares'), representing 0.44% of the Company's issued share capital, Dr O'Brien's total beneficial ownership interest in the Company is 2,094,444 Ordinary Shares , representing 0.43% of the Company's issued share capital, and Mr Kuenzel's total beneficial ownership interest in the Company is 3,708,578 Ordinary Shares, representing 0.77% of the Company's issued share capital.
Shaun Bunn, Managing Director, said: "We are delighted to have successfully raised these new funds and with a high level of support from new and existing shareholders which has been most welcome and gratifying particularly in these current market conditions. With this raise the Company will prepare for a more comprehensive and expanded exploration drilling programme at our emerging "Giant" copper exploration project at Pitfield.
"The technical advances at Pitfield, and our understanding of the geology, has grown rapidly over the past few months. We have successfully completed airborne magnetic and electro-magnetic surveys, soil and rock sampling, geochemical and geological surface mapping, and most recently surface geophysical mapping using DD-IP all of which have confirmed Pitfield's potential as a giant copper district. As a result, we have many drill-ready targets and we are very excited to commence our maiden reconnaissance drilling programme at Pitfield in the coming weeks."
Application for Admission
The Placing Shares will rank pari passu in all respects with the existing ordinary shares of no par value in the capital of the Company. Application has been made to the London Stock Exchange for the Placing Shares to be admitted to trading on AIM ('Admission'). It is expected that Admission will become effective on or around 17 March 2023. As a result of the issue of the Placing Shares as described above, the issued share capital of the Company now consists of 482,879,172 ordinary shares of no-par value.
Investor Presentation
The Company can also confirm that it will provide a live presentation on 16 March 2023 at 11:00 am GMT. The presentation will provide additional information on the Pitfield Project, in addition to details on Empire's new kaolin discovery at its Eclipse-Gindalbie Project.
The presentation is open to all existing and potential shareholders. Questions can be submitted pre-event via the Investor Meet Company dashboard up until 9am the day before the meeting or at any time during the live presentation.
Investors can sign up to Investor Meet Company for free and add to meet EMPIRE METALS LIMITED via:
https://www.investormeetcompany.com/empire-metals-limited/register-investor
Investors who already follow EMPIRE METALS LIMITED on the Investor Meet Company platform will automatically be invited.
Warrants
The Company has agreed to issue warrants over a total of 773,333 ordinary shares in the Company exercisable at 3.375p per share for a period of two years from date of grant to Shard Capital Partners LLP (Joint Broker).
Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure
Certain information contained in this announcement would have been deemed inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014, as incorporated into UK law by the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, until the release of this announcement.
NOTIFICATION AND PUBLIC DISCLOSURE OF TRANSACTIONS BY PERSONS DISCHARGING MANAGERIAL RESPONSIBILITIES AND PERSONS CLOSELY ASSOCIATED WITH THEM
1. | Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities/person closely associated | |||||||
a) | Name: | Shaun Bunn | ||||||
2. | Reason for the notification | |||||||
a) | Position/status: | Managing Director | ||||||
b) | Initial notification/Amendment: | Initial notification | ||||||
3. | Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor | |||||||
a) | Name: | Empire Metals Limited | ||||||
b) | LEI: | 2138002IOR7OCZZPB279 | ||||||
4. | Details of the transaction(s): section to be repeated for (i) each type of instrument; (ii) each type of transaction; (iii) each date; and (iv) each place where transactions have been conducted | |||||||
a) | Description of the financial instrument, type of instrument: Identification code: | Ordinary shares of no par value VGG9688A1003 | ||||||
b) | Nature of the transaction: | Placing of options over ordinary shares | ||||||
c) | Price(s) and volume(s): |
| ||||||
d) | Aggregated information: Aggregated volume: Price:
| Single transactions as in 4 c) above
| ||||||
e) | Date of the transaction: | 2023-03-13 09:00 hrs UTC | ||||||
f) | Place of the transaction: | Outside a trading venue | ||||||
1. | Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities/person closely associated | |||||||
a) | Name: | Neil O'Brien | ||||||
2. | Reason for the notification | |||||||
a) | Position/status: | Non-Executive Chairman | ||||||
b) | Initial notification/Amendment: | Initial notification | ||||||
3. | Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor | |||||||
a) | Name: | Empire Metals Limited | ||||||
b) | LEI: | 2138002IOR7OCZZPB279 | ||||||
4. | Details of the transaction(s): section to be repeated for (i) each type of instrument; (ii) each type of transaction; (iii) each date; and (iv) each place where transactions have been conducted | |||||||
a) | Description of the financial instrument, type of instrument: Identification code: | Ordinary shares of no par value VGG9688A1003 | ||||||
b) | Nature of the transaction: | Placing of options over ordinary shares | ||||||
c) | Price(s) and volume(s): |
| ||||||
d) | Aggregated information: Aggregated volume: Price:
| Single transactions as in 4 c) above
| ||||||
e) | Date of the transaction: | 2023-03-13 09:00 hrs UTC | ||||||
f) | Place of the transaction: | Outside a trading venue | ||||||
1. | Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities/person closely associated | |||||||
a) | Name: | Gregory Kuenzel | ||||||
2. | Reason for the notification | |||||||
a) | Position/status: | Finance Director | ||||||
b) | Initial notification/Amendment: | Initial notification | ||||||
3. | Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor | |||||||
a) | Name: | Empire Metals Limited | ||||||
b) | LEI: | 2138002IOR7OCZZPB279 | ||||||
4. | Details of the transaction(s): section to be repeated for (i) each type of instrument; (ii) each type of transaction; (iii) each date; and (iv) each place where transactions have been conducted | |||||||
a) | Description of the financial instrument, type of instrument: Identification code: | Ordinary shares of no par value VGG9688A1003 | ||||||
b) | Nature of the transaction: | Placing of options over ordinary shares | ||||||
c) | Price(s) and volume(s): |
| ||||||
d) | Aggregated information: Aggregated volume: Price:
| Single transactions as in 4 c) above
| ||||||
e) | Date of the transaction: | 2023-03-13 09:00 hrs UTC | ||||||
f) | Place of the transaction: | Outside a trading venue | ||||||
**ENDS**
For further information please visit www.empiremetals.co.uk or contact:
Empire Metals Ltd Shaun Bunn / Greg Kuenzel | Tel: 020 7907 9327 |
S. P. Angel Corporate Finance LLP (Nomad & Broker) Ewan Leggat / Adam Cowl | Tel: 020 3470 0470 |
Shard Capital Partners LLP (Joint Broker) Damon Heath / Erik Woolgar | Tel: 020 7186 9950 |
St Brides Partners Ltd (Financial PR) Susie Geliher / Ana Ribeiro / Max Bennett | Tel: 020 7236 1177 |
About Empire Metals Limited
Empire Metals is an AIM-listed (LON: EEE) exploration and resource development company with a project portfolio comprising gold interests in Australia and Austria.
The Company's strategy is to develop a pipeline of projects at different stages in the development curve. Its current focus is on the Pitfield Copper Project in Western Australia, which has demonstrated strong potential to be a new "Giant" copper province. The Company is also advancing the Eclipse-Gindalbie Project in Western Australia, which is prospective for high-grade gold and also kaolin, which is used extensively in a number of industries and is considered to be a desirable feedstock for the production of high-purity alumina - an essential component in lithium-ion batteries.
The Company also has two further exploration projects in Australia; the Walton Copper-Gold Project in Western Australia, and the Stavely Copper-Gold Project in the Stavely Arc region of Victoria, in addition to three precious metals projects located in a historically high-grade gold production region in central-southern Austria.