NYOTA MINERALS LIMITED
11 December 2014
Nyota Minerals Limited (ASX/AIM: NYO), the exploration company, is pleased to provide a licencing update for its 100% owned Northern Block exploration licences in Western Ethiopia ('Northern Blocks') (Figure 1) and its strategy.
Overview Brantham and Towchester annual licence renewals received
o Significant reduction in renewed licence area as a result of a decision by the Ethiopian Ministry of Mines not to renew or issue exploration licences in any areas to be affected by the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam
o None of the priority exploration targets affected
The Mining Licence application for the mechanised mining of the Abay River (or Blue Nile) gravel terraces is being considered internally by the Ministry of Mines and, as is necessary, other government departments - progress will be reported to the market in due course when Nyota is informed
o Preparations for mobilisation have been suspended until such time as definitive guidance is provided by the Ministry of Mines
New opportunities in Ethiopia and in additional jurisdictions being considered in gold and other commodities
BRANTHAM and TOWCHESER LICENCE RENEWAL100% owned by Nyota
As described in the September 2014 operational update, Nyota applied for the annual renewal of the licences prior to their expiry in July as follows:
The application for the renewal of the Towchester licence was for the Gombo block only. The decision having been taken that further exploration expenditure could not
be justified on the Dura Block as the likelihood of discovering a deposit that is economically viable at this time, is low and without a commitment to exploration expenditure the chances of the licence being renewed were also low.
The application for the renewal of the Brantham licence included only the statutory
25% reduction in the area. The main body of the licence being characterised by a northwest alignment of anomalies and targets extending for approximately 45km from Boka West in the southeast to Tsoli-Mole in the northwest, running through Bendokoro in the middle and interpreted to be located along a NW-SE trending regional scale structure.
Following submission, the Ministry of Mines has taken the decision not to renew any licence areas (or to issue new exploration licences) that will be affected by the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. This primarily affects the Towchester licence, where the rationale for the renewal of those areas was to conduct exploration and prospecting in support of the proposed mechanised mining of the alluvial deposits that will be inundated by the rising water level.
In the event the following licence areas have been renewed this week by the Ministry of
Mines (see also Figure 1) with an effective date of 30 July: Brantham 717 km2 (reduced from
1,346 km2); Towchester 48 km2 (reduced from 1,002 km2), excluding the mining licence application area of 48km2 (see below).
The new licences keep intact the NW-SE lineament of anomalies within the Brantham area and preserve for Nyota the extension of that lineament in the Towchetser licence; which is particularly important as this is immediately adjacent to the Boka West target. However the remainder of the Towchester licence has either been relinquished or was not renewed.
The application for a Mining Licence, submitted in the name of Towchester for the conversion of a portion of the exploration licence as it was in April 2014, is unaffected by the decision not to renew or to issue exploration licences for any areas that will be affected by the rising water of the dam. Indeed, the intent of this application and its timeliness was precisely because the river gravels will be submerged and their value otherwise lost.
The application is still being considered by the Ministry of Mines and, as is necessary, by other government departments. Those deliberations are internal and Nyota cannot, therefore, report progress with the application. The need to preserve cash and to focus human resources means that the preparations reported in September have been suspended until such time as it has a clear and unequivocal view of the likely outcome and timing.
The Directors continue to review new opportunities as they arise. These include new projects inside Ethiopia and elsewhere and in a variety of commodities.
The primary objective of the Board is to regenerate the Company following the disposal of the Tulu Kapi project and the distribution of its shareholding in KEFI Minerals shares to eligible Nyota shareholders; as set out in the Shareholder Circular for the approval of that transaction.
The Board will provide further updates in due course.
For further information please visit www.nyotaminerals.comor contact:
Richard Chase | Nyota Minerals Ltd Chief Executive Officer | +61 (0)8 9324 2955 info@nyotaminerals.com |
Michael Cornish Roland Cornish | Beaumont Cornish Limited Nominated Advisor and Joint Broker | +44 (0) 20 7628 3396 |
Martin Lampshire Colin Rowbury | Daniel Stewart & Company Plc Joint Broker | +44 (0)20 7776 6550 |
Susie Geliher/ Elisabeth Cowell | Financial PR St Brides Media & Finance Ltd | +44 (0) 20 7236 1177 |
A copy of this announcement is available at the Company's website. Neither the contents of the Company's website nor the contents of any website accessible from hyperlinks on the Company's website (or any other website) is incorporated into, or forms part of, this announcement.
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