15 May 2023 07:00
THE INFORMATION CONTAINED WITHIN THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS DEEMED BY THE COMPANY TO CONSTITUTE INSIDE INFORMATION AS STIPULATED UNDER ARTICLE 7 OF THE MARKET ABUSE REGULATION (EU) 596/2014 AS AMENDED BY REGULATION 11 OF THE MARKET ABUSE (AMENDMENT) (EU EXIT) REGULATIONS 2019/310.
15 May 2023
Suspension of Operations at Minto & Update on Financial Position of Pembridge Resources Plc
London, United Kingdom - Pembridge Resources plc (LSE: PERE) ("Pembridge" or the "Company") announces the following news.
Minto Metals Corp. ("Minto") has announced the Suspension of Operations at the Minto Mine as of 13 May 2023 and the Company has been informed by Minto that it is unlikely to be in a position to repay the Company approximately C$2 million ("Minto Receivable"), C$250,000 of which is payable in instalments during the remainder of 2023, unless Minto raises capital in the near term.
The Minto Receivable is considered critical to the cash flow of the Company for the next 12 months as the Company has approximately US$350,000 of short-term liabilities and US$126,000 of cash as at today. The investment in Minto and the Minto Receivable represent over 90% of the Company's assets. The Board of Directors of the Company have started a process of assessing the ability of the Company to continue as a going concern together with a review of all available options given the difficult financial position of the Company following the recent announcement made by Minto.
The Board will consider all possible sources of financing to enable the Company to continue as a going concern but if none are available in the immediate term professional advice will be obtained on whether delisting from the London Stock Exchange is appropriate and the restructuring/insolvency options that are available.
Gati Al-Jebouri has resigned from his position of Director and Chairman of the Audit Committee of Minto as of 12 May 2023 due to the conflict of interest arising from the fact that the Company has a claim against Minto as described above.
The full press release from Minto relating to Suspension of Operations is available at the following link.http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/3958Z_1-2023-5-15.pdf
Gati Al-Jebouri, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Pembridge said:
"It is very disappointing that Minto has been unable to raise capital and that Minto has suspended operations as of 13 May 2023. Minto is unlikely to be able to repay Pembridge as scheduled, despite all the support provided to Minto by its shareholders, including Pembridge.
As a result of this material uncertainty to the Company, the Board has no option but to carefully assess the financial viability of the Company, consider delisting from the London Stock Exchange as well as obtaining appropriate professional advice on the restructuring and insolvency options available. The Board will consider every feasible option available to ensure that any losses are minimised for all creditors and other stakeholders of the Company."
Cautionary Statement
This News Release includes certain "forward-looking statements" which are not comprised of historical facts. Forward-looking statements include estimates and statements that describe the Company's future plans, objectives or goals, including words to the effect that the Company, or management, expects a stated condition or result to occur. Forward-looking statements may be identified by such terms as "believes", "anticipates", "expects", "estimates", "may", "could", "would", "will", or "plan". Since forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Although these statements are based on information currently available to the Company, the Company provides no assurance that actual results will meet management's expectations. Risks, uncertainties and other factors involved with forward-looking information could cause actual events, results, performance, prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Forward-looking information in this news release includes, but is not limited to, the Company's intentions regarding its objectives, goals or future plans and statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking information include, but are not limited to, the Company's ability to predict or counteract the potential impact of COVID-19 coronavirus on factors relevant to the Company's business, failure to identify additional mineral resources, failure to convert estimated mineral resources to reserves with more advanced studies, the inability to eventually complete a feasibility study which could support a production decision, the preliminary nature of metallurgical test results may not be representative of the deposit as a whole, delays in obtaining or failures to obtain required governmental, environmental or other project approvals, political risks, uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing needed in the future, changes in equity markets, inflation, changes in exchange rates, fluctuations in commodity prices, delays in the development of projects, capital, operating and reclamation costs varying significantly from estimates and the other risks involved in the mineral exploration and development industry, and those risks set out in the Company's public documents. Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking information in this news release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information, which only applies as of the date of this news release, and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed time frames or at all. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by law.
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITORS
Pembridge is a mining company that is listed on the standard segment of the Official List of the FCA and trading on the main market for listed securities of London Stock Exchange plc. Pembridge has an investment in Minto Metals Corp, a British Columbia incorporated business listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "MNTO" that operates the Minto mine in Yukon, Canada.
About Minto Metals Corp
Minto Metals Corp operates the underground copper-gold-silver mine located in central Yukon, approximately 240 kilometres north of the capital Whitehorse along the Klondike Highway. In excess of US$350 million of capital expenditure has been invested into Minto operations since site construction began in 2006. The Minto mine was in continuous production between 2007 and 2018, when the mine was placed onto temporary care and maintenance. Pembridge acquired the Minto mine from Capstone Mining Corporation in June 2019 and restarted operations in October 2019.
Enquiries:
Pembridge Resources plc: +44 (0)7905 125740
Gati Al-Jebouri, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board
David James, Chief Financial Officer
Tavira Financial Ltd: +44 (0)20 7100 5100
Jonathan Evans