5 Mar 2019 07:00
5 March 2019
Fox Marble Holdings plc
("Fox Marble" or the "Company")
Resumption of production in Northern Macedonia and new sales
· Commercial extraction resumed of Alexandrian marble from Prilep Quarry.
· 400 tonne order of Alexandrian White completed and paid for in February 2019.
· New equipment deployed in quarry to increase production.
Fox Marble is pleased to announce the resumption of production after the usual winter shut down in our Prilep quarry in Northern Macedonia. The quarry, which contains white marble marketed as Alexandrian White, is now also producing substantial quantities of Alexandrian Blue from a newly developed section on the east side of the site. The quarry is expected to benefit from the deployment of additional equipment to significantly increase production levels to satisfy growing demand.
In February Fox Marble sold, and received payment for, 400 tonnes of Alexandrian White blocks to a new customer. The customer is shipping these blocks to their facility in Drama in Northern Greece for processing. This customer was responsible for supplying similar material to the Sheik Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi and has indicated their intention to purchase additional quantities of this marble on a regular basis throughout the year.
Chris Gilbert, CEO, commented "This large volume block order to a new customer so early in the year following the winter break is an encouraging sign for the upcoming year. The customer, who has a long history of selling material from the Prilep area throughout the world, has indicated an intent to buy further quantities of this material throughout 2019. The increase in monthly production at this quarry, following the investment made in equipment and resourcing, gives us the ability to supply more significant orders having developed robust markets for our stone worldwide".
The information communicated in this announcement is inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation 596/2014.
For more information on Fox Marble please visit www.foxmarble.net or contact:
Fox Marble Holdings plc |
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Chris Gilbert, Chief Executive Officer | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7380 0999 |
Fiona Hadfield, Finance Director | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7380 0999 |
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Brandon Hill Capital (Broker) |
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Oliver Stansfield | Tel: +44 (0) 20 3463 5000 |
Cairn Financial Advisers LLP (Nomad) |
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Liam Murray Sandy Jamieson
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Notes to Editors:
Fox Marble (AIM: FOX), is a marble production, processing and distribution company in Kosovo and the Balkans region.
Its marble products, which includes Illirico Bianco, Illirico Selene, Grigio Argento and are gaining traction globally both to international wholesale companies as well as being supplied directly into luxury residential properties. In the UK these include among others St George's Homes and Capital and Counties Plc's Lillie Square development. In Sydney, Australia Rosso Cait, Alexandrian White and Breccia Paradisea marble have been used in what is expected to be Australia's most expensive residential property. These sales serve to demonstrate the desirability of Fox's premium marble products as the stone of choice in some of the most prestigious and expensive residential developments around the world.
Fox Marble holds 40 year mining licences for six separate marble quarries with a maiden JORC resource indicating an in-situ valuation of approximately Euro 16.5 billion. Fox has taken three of the six sites into production (the Drini and Maleshevë quarries, both in Kosovo and from the Prilep Quarry in Macedonia) and continues to increase production. Notably, Fox has access to over 300 million cubic metres (over 1bn tons) of premium quality marble.
Marble demand continues to grow with stable pricing, predominantly driven by the construction and real-estate industries, on which Fox is looking to capitalise.