AFRICAN EAGLE RESOURCES PLC
OPEN OFFER OVERSUBSCRIBED
RESULT OF GENERAL MEETING
DIRECTORS' HOLDINGS
* Open Offer oversubscribed
* Offer maximum of Euro 2.499 million (£2,136,700) raised
and 53,417,500 Offer Shares issued
* Placing of 30,804,500 new Ordinary Shares at 4p per share
completed, raising £1.2 million before expenses
* Proceeds of the Placing and Offer to fund work on African
Eagle's feasibility study of the Dutwa Nickel Project and for
general working capital
* Directors subscribed for 250,000 shares in the Open Offer
The Board of African Eagle Resources plc ("African Eagle" or the
"Company") is pleased to announce that its Placing and Open Offer
have been successfully completed, with all resolutions at the General
Meeting of the Company held on 6 August being duly passed.
The Company is delighted to report that the Open Offer to Eligible
Shareholders ("Open Offer"), which closed at 11am yesterday was
oversubscribed. After scaling back, the Offer raised Euro 2,499,939,
equivalent to £2,136,700 at the then ruling exchange rate of 1.17
Euro to £1, and accordingly, 53,417,500 Offer Shares have been issued
at a price of 4p each.
Also, the placing by Seymour Pierce of 30,804,500 new Ordinary Shares
with new and existing investors at a price of 4p each, raising gross
proceeds of approximately £1.2 million, has now been completed (the
"Placing").
Application has been made for admission to trading on AIM of the
Placing Shares and the Offer Shares and this is expected to take
place this morning. Application has also been made for admission to
trading on AltX of the Placing Shares and the Offer Shares and this
is expected to take place on 11 August.
Following the issue of these new Ordinary Shares there are
296,762,128 Ordinary Shares in issue. This figure may be used by
shareholders as the denominator for the calculations by which they
will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a
change to their interest in, African Eagle under the FSA's Disclosure
and Transparency Rules.
Mark Parker, Managing Director of African Eagle commented, "We are
delighted with the support shown by our shareholders and by leading
institutional investors. Their commitment is a clear endorsement of
the quality of the Company's prospective nickel laterite project at
Dutwa and our experienced executive and operational teams. We were
very keen to give as many of our shareholders as possible the
opportunity to take part in this fundraising and we are therefore
delighted with the fantastic take up of the Open Offer. In order to
be able to make the Open Offer, we had to work through a raft of
complex rules and regulations and we pay tribute to the guidance and
support of our advisers throughout this process, which ensured that
we were able to include as many shareholders as possible, whilst
keeping costs to a minimum."
The net proceeds of the Placing and Open Offer, after expenses, are
intended to be used, in conjunction with the Company's existing cash
resources, to make a start on work leading to a feasibility study on
African Eagle's Dutwa Nickel Project in Tanzania and for general
working capital.
Since its discovery of the Dutwa nickel deposit in June 2008, African
Eagle has completed resource drilling; received an independent
resource estimate; completed laboratory metallurgical and
mineralogical tests (which revealed that the deposit could be
processed efficiently by sulphuric acid leaching), and commissioned a
scoping study which has indicated that the project is likely to be
economically feasible.
In December 2008, African Eagle decided that the Dutwa project should
become its top priority, because the Directors believed that, of all
the Group's projects, Dutwa offered the greatest potential to add
value. With the delivery of the positive scoping study in June 2009,
the Company resolved to start work immediately on a feasibility
study.
At the end of June 2009, African Eagle held net cash of approximately
£1.5M. The estimated cost of the next stages of the feasibility
study will be approximately £1.5M to £2M, including the working
capital the Company will need to cover its general operational and
administrative expenditures. The Board therefore resolved to raise
funds through a placing of Ordinary Shares with institutional
investors.
DIRECTORS' HOLDINGS
The Directors have in total subscribed for 1,222,500 shares in the
Placing and 250,000 shares in the Open Offer.
Details of individual Directors' subscriptions and their consequent
holdings and percentages following the Placing and the Offer are as
follows:
Subscription Subscription in Number of Percentage
Director in Placing Offer Ordinary of Enlarged
Shares held, Share
after the Capital
Placing and
Offer
John Park 250,000 - 6,926,801 2.33%
Euan 250,000 - 1,060,000 0.36%
Worthington
Mark Parker 312,500 225,000* 4,033,857 1.36%
Christopher 152,500 25,000 971,730 0.33%
Davies
Bevan Metcalf 137,500 - 207,500 0.07%
Geoffrey 120,000 - 909,300 0.31%
Cooper
* to be held by Mr Mark Parker's Self-Invested Personal Pension
IMPORTANT DATES
Admission and dealings in the New Ordinary Shares to 7 August 2009
commence on AIM
CREST accounts credited with New Ordinary Shares 7 August 2009
Listing of the New Ordinary Shares on ALTx from 11 August 2009
commencement of business on
Definitive share certificates for the New Ordinary
Shares to be despatched (if appropriate) by 21 August 2009
For further information contact:
Mark Parker
Managing Director
African Eagle
+44 20 7248 6059
+44 77 5640 6899
Nicola Marrin
Seymour Pierce Limited, London
Nominated Adviser
+ 44 20 7107 8000
Charmane Russell
Russell & Associates, Johannesburg
+27 11 8803924
+27 82 8928052
Ed Portman / Leesa Peters
Conduit PR, London
+44 20 7429 6607
+44 77 3336 3501
About African Eagle
African Eagle is a diversified mineral exploration and development
company operating in eastern and central Africa. The Company's
principal advanced assets are the Dutwa nickel laterite discovery in
Tanzania, where the Company completed a scoping study in June 2009,
and its 49% interest in the Mkushi Copper Mines joint venture project
in Zambia, for which a draft feasibility study was completed in Q4
2008.
African Eagle is evaluating a second promising nickel laterite
deposit at Zanzui in Tanzania and has defined a JORC gold resource
estimated at half a million ounces at its Miyabi gold project in
Tanzania. The Company holds a well-balanced portfolio of promising
earlier stage gold, copper, platinum and uranium projects, including
the Ndola and Mokambo projects in the Zambian Copperbelt and the
Igurubi gold project in Tanzania.
Zambia, Tanzania and Mozambique, the sites of African Eagle's
projects, are all countries which have highly prospective geology,
relatively low above-ground risks and track records of successful
major investments in the metals and minerals industries.
In December 2008, African Eagle resolved to prioritise the Dutwa
project, because the Board believes that, of all the Company's
projects, it offered the greatest potential to add value. To take its
other discoveries into production, African Eagle is seeking industry
partners with records of successful mine development, by means of
joint ventures, farm-ins, spin-outs or other mechanisms.
About the Dutwa Project
African Eagle has discovered a significant nickel laterite deposit in
the Dutwa project area in the Lake Victoria Goldfield. Within
Tanzania, the project is favourably situated 100km east of the
railhead at Mwanza and close to the main Mwanza-Nairobi trunk road, a
major power line and the shore of Lake Victoria.
Since the discovery of the Dutwa nickel deposit in June 2008, African
Eagle has explored the project very quickly and cost-effectively,
including resource drilling and an independent resource estimate;
laboratory metallurgical and mineralogical tests which revealed that
the deposit could be processed efficiently by sulphuric acid
leaching. On 24 June 2009, the Company announced the results of its
"proof of concept" scoping study. The study, by GRD Minproc of Perth,
Western Australia, indicated that the project can be economically
viable, and African Eagle has now begun work towards a definitive
feasibility study.
For the study, GRD Minproc reviewed information provided by African
Eagle relating to the geology, resources, setting, mineralogy and
metallurgy of the deposit, and the infrastructure in Tanzania and
neighbouring countries, combining this information with its own
internal data and experience, to develop and calculate the economics
of ten alternative mining and process plant options. Costs were
estimated in US dollars, to an accuracy of ±30%. The economic
modelling was an iterative process, feeding back into the mining
plans and the process designs.
GRD Minproc used Whittle mine modelling to optimise the mining plan
and cut-off grade for each process option, based on the deposit model
and JORC compliant resource of 31 million tonnes at 1.1% nickel and
0.034% cobalt produced by SRK in November 2008. GRD Minproc added a
50% upside, to take into account the nearby Ngasamo laterite, which
adds a potential 15-20 million additional tonnes.
The study showed that the optimum process option is likely to be
atmospheric tank leach, but the project may also be viable using heap
leaching. High-pressure acid leach with direct solvent extraction of
the nickel is also potentially economically feasible.
The financial modelling showed that at today's nickel prices, the
project can be expected to generate a net cash-flow (EBIT) of US$ 53
million to 130 million per year over a mine life of 15 to 20 years,
depending on the processing method. The detailed results are set out
in the table below.
The study also shows a good investment case for the project, with a
post-tax internal rate of return (IRR) of 15% and a net present value
(NPV) of US$110 million, using a base case of a 10% discount rate of
10%, a US$7/lb nickel price, with the best processing option
(AL/MSP). The pre-tax NPV is US$200 million.
The cost of reagents, especially sulphur and lime, will be a major
component of operating costs and sensitivity analysis shows that
returns can be considerably increased if these costs can be
minimised. Also, as anticipated, transport costs will form a
significant contribution to operating costs and the Company will
investigate ways to minimise them. The base case used transport costs
of US$0.08 per tonne per km; the NPV rises to $210 million (post-tax)
or US$350 million (pre-tax) and the IRR increases to 15.5% if the
transport costs can be reduced by 25% and an 8% discount rate is
used.
The study demonstrated that further feasibility studies are now
justified and the Company has commenced work on these. The initial
work will be directed towards investigating ways to reduce costs and
increase revenues, together with drilling the adjacent Ngasamo
deposit, improving the resource model and refining the metallurgical
information. A start has already been made on the additional
metallurgical test work at Mintek Laboratories in South Africa,
including column and tank leach tests, sizing analysis and physical
test work to establish more definitively the optimum processing
routes.
African Eagle acquired the Dutwa project for its gold potential, but
the Company's exploration team quickly recognised that there was
significant nickel laterite potential. There is very little outcrop,
so the Company conducted extensive ground magnetic surveys to reveal
the underlying structure and geology. The Company also compiled
historical data, including detailed geological maps and trench
results dating from 1956, when rock chip samples from the trenches
over the ultramafic rocks were reported as yielding up to 1.9% nickel
and 10% chromium.
In all, African Eagle has explored a total area of more than 750km²
in the Dutwa project area. The Company holds a 90% interest, with
option to acquire 100%, over the Dutwa laterite deposit itself. In
April 2009, African Eagle signed a Letter of Intent for an option and
joint venture over another nickel laterite at Ngasamo, 5km west of
the Dutwa deposit.
Greenstones and granites underlie the project area. The greenstones,
of Archaean Nyanzian age, are mostly metamorphosed volcanic and
sedimentary rocks, with some banded iron formation in the east.
Several large ultramafic bodies occur within the greenstones and the
nickel laterites form a blanket up to 60m thick on top of these.
To investigate the nickel discovery, the Company undertook trial
drilling in June 2008. The results were very encouraging and a
139-hole reverse circulation (RC) drilling programme was completed to
delineate the resource. African Eagle also undertook a 10-hole
diamond drill programme to obtain core samples for metallurgical
testing and density measurements.
In November 2008, African Eagle announced an initial Inferred Mineral
Resource estimate of 31 million tonnes at an average grade of 1.1%
nickel and 0.034% cobalt. At a cut-off grade of 0.5% nickel, this
gives Dutwa a contained metal endowment of some 340,000 tonnes of
nickel and 11,000 tonnes of cobalt. The estimate was prepared by
independent consultants SRK Consulting (UK) Ltd in line with the
Australasian Code for Reporting of Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves
(the JORC Code). A little additional drilling and more advanced
geostatistics and deposit modelling will be needed to upgrade the
resource to Indicated category.
Ngasamo Hill, 5km west of the Dutwa deposit, is geologically very
similar and holds a laterite deposit of the order of 15 to 20 million
tonnes, which would increase the global resource at Dutwa from the
currently defined 31 million tonnes at 1.1% nickel, to some 45 - 50
million tonnes. Drilling and metallurgical tests will be needed to
confirm the size, grade and compatibility of Ngasamo. Under its
agreement with Ngasamo's owners, (Safina a.s. of the Czech Republic
and its Tanzanian subsidiary Precious Metals Refinery Company Ltd),
African Eagle can earn an interest of at least 50% and up to 75% in
Ngasamo by carrying out exploration and evaluation work, up to a
feasibility study.
Mintek Laboratories in Johannesburg investigated the mineralogy and
metallurgy of mineralised drill samples from the deposit, including
extended 'bottle roll' sulphuric acid leach tests to investigate
metal recoveries and acid consumption. Mintek also carried out
mineralogical characterisation by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning
electron microscopy (SEM) and polished section work.
The bottle roll test results showed nickel extractions of 70-90% with
an average of 83%. Cobalt extractions were mostly in the range 70 to
85%. The acid consumptions, averaging 209kg/t, are very low compared
to other Ni laterite ores worldwide.
The mineralogical investigations show that the laterite is extremely
silica-rich, with low iron and magnesium content, indicating that
Dutwa is not a typical laterite nickel deposit. Mintek believes that
much of the nickel and cobalt occurs in "wad" with manganese content
of 20-60%, nickel content of up to 20% and cobalt content of up to
10%.
The unusual mineralogy of the deposit is highly beneficial, as it
results in lower acid consumption and is expected to give good heap
leach permeability or favourable liquid-solid separation in tank
leaching. The concentration of nickel and cobalt in the manganese wad
offers the possibility that mechanical selection of high-grade
material may allow reduced throughput and hence a lower cost
processing plant.
The Company is also investigating other potential nickel laterite
deposits in Tanzania, and has completed a trial programme of RC
drilling to test a laterite at its Zanzui project, 60km to the south
of Dutwa. Results included 42m at 1.05% nickel (including 6m at
2.80%) and 33m at 0.91% nickel (including 9m at 1.41%).
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