Emmerson Regulatory News (EML)

Emmerson Plc / Ticker: EML / Index: LSE / Sector: Mining

12 July 2019

Raises £2.25 million in an Oversubscribed Placement to Fund the Continued Acceleration of Development of the World Class Khemisset Potash Project

Emmerson Plc ("Emmerson" or the "Company"), the Moroccan focused potash development company, is pleased to announce that it has raised £2.25 million (before expenses) through an oversubscribed placing of 60,000,000 new ordinary shares of no-par value each in the share capital of the Company ("Placing Shares") at a price of 3.75 pence per share (the "Issue Price") (collectively the "Fundraising").

The placing was led by joint brokers Shard Capital Partners LLC ("Shard") and Optiva Securities Limited ("Optiva"). The funds raised will primarily support the Company as it continues to rapidly develop the world class Khemisset Potash Project ("Khemisset" or the "Project") through the delivery of key work streams.

Hayden Locke, CEO of Emmerson, commented:

"The support that we have received in this fundraise, for which demand significantly exceeded our minimum targeted figure, is very encouraging and demonstrates a strong belief from our investors in the potential of Emmerson and the Khemisset Project.

"These funds enable us to continue our strategy of rapidly advancing the Project and our discussions with various potential strategic partners, without the pressure of impending short term capital requirements.

"The second half of the year will see significant project related news flow including metallurgical test work results, an updated Mineral Resource Estimate, various partner discussions in country, continuing offtake discussions and the delivery of the full Feasibility Study.

"This work builds upon the findings of the Scoping Study for Khemisset, which highlighted its sector leading capital costs and EBITDA margins, delivering post tax cash flow of nearly US$190 million per annum, and a post-tax NPV10 of US$1.14 billion using independent industry analyst price forecast.

The Emmerson team looks forward to continuing to update shareholders with details of our progress."

Details of the Fundraising

Use of proceeds

It is intended that the proceeds of the Fundraising will principally be used for the continuation of development of the Project post the delivery of the Feasibility Study, including progressing debt financing and strategic partner discussions, any additional technical work required post the Feasibility Study including further drilling, metallurgical testing and engineering studies and to cover general working capital expenses for the Company.

Admission and Total Voting Rights

The Company has raised £2.25 million, before expenses, through the issue of the Placing Shares with certain existing Shareholders and new investors.

Accordingly, an application has been made for the Placing Shares to be admitted to the Official List of the UK Listing Authority by way of a Standard Listing ("Admission") and it is expected that Admission will become effective and dealing in the Placing Shares will commence on or around the 16th of July 2019. The Placing Shares will rank pari passu with the existing ordinary shares of the Company. 

Following Admission, the enlarged issued share capital of the Company will comprise of 686,132,385 ordinary shares of no-par value each. No ordinary shares are held in Treasury. The total number of voting rights in the Company is therefore 686,132,385.

The above figure of 686,132,385 ordinary shares may be used by shareholders of the Company as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change in their interest in, the share capital of the Company under the Financial Conduct Authority's Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules.

**ENDS**

Notes to Editors

Emmerson's primary focus is on developing the Project located in Northern Morocco. The Project has a large JORC Resource Estimate (2012) of 311.4Mt @ 10.2% K2O and significant exploration potential with an accelerated development pathway targeting a low capex, high margin mine. Khemisset is perfectly located to capitalise on the expected growth of African fertiliser consumption whilst also being located on the doorstep of European markets. This unique positioning means the Project will receive a premium netback price compared to existing potash producers. The need to feed the world's rapidly increasing population is driving demand for potash and Emmerson is well placed to benefit from the opportunities this presents. The Scoping Study released in November 2018 indicated Khemisset has the potential to be among the lowest capital cost development stage potash projects in the world and also, as a result of its location, one of the highest margin projects. This delivered outstanding economics including a post-tax NPV10 of US$1.14 billion using industry expert, Argus', price forecasts.

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014.