26th Sep 2007 08:05
GVM Metals Ltd26 September 2007 26 September 2007 GVM METALS LIMITED ACQUISITION OF FURTHER COAL INTERESTS IN SOUTH AFRICA GVM Metals Limited ("GVM" or the "Company"), the Australian mineral processingand coal mining company with assets in South Africa, is pleased to announce thatit has executed a Heads of Agreement to acquire 60% of the issued capital ofTshikunda Mining (Proprietary) Limited ("Tshikunda"), a company owned by BasaniInvestments (Proprietary) Limited (60%), and Ndilo Resources (Proprietary)Limited - which owns the Tshikunda Coal Project, a 32,000 Ha property situatedbetween the Company's Baobab project and Exxaro's Tshikondeni coking coal mine. Completion of both transactions will take GVM's interest in the Tshikunda CoalProject to 60%. The consideration payable to acquire Tshikunda is ZAR20 million (approximatelyA$3.5 million), subject to the following suspensive conditions: 1. obtaining the necessary approvals in terms of section 11 of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development ("MPRD") Bill of South Africa; 2. obtaining the requisite approvals of the South African Reserve Bank as are applicable; 3. obtaining any required approvals from the ASX. Tshikunda Coal Project The Tshikunda Coal Project consists of granted prospecting rights over 32,583hectares in the Soutpansberg / Pafuri coalfields located within the LimpopoProvince in the north of South Africa. The area to be acquired adjoins theTshikondeni coal mine held by Exxaro Limited. The total area of the TshikundaCoal Project is 32,583 Ha, bringing GVM's total interests in the Soutpansbergcoalfields to approximately 55,000 Ha. The Company holds a further 8,000 Ha aspart of its Thuli coal project. GVM have committed up to ZAR50 million (approximately A$8.5 million) to explorethe prospect to a 'bankable' stage. Thereafter, the parties will contributedevelopment or capital expenditure on a pro rata basis. GVM Managing Director Simon Farrell said that the acquisition was an importantdevelopment in the Company's goal of becoming a major player in the developmentof the Limpopo coalfields. "Whilst very limited work has been undertaken on thearea in the past, it is now widely considered to be highly prospective as asignificant source of hard coking coal. What is particularly exciting is thatboth Rio Tinto and ourselves believe the rank of coals improve eastwards oftheir Chapudi and our Baobab projects and given that the value of coking coal isnow roughly double that of thermal coal, the dependence of a proximate powerstation to get the project up and running starts to disappear." Authorised by: Simon FarrellManaging Director Contacts: Simon Farrell - GVM Metals Leesa Peters / Abby Singleton - Conduit PR+ 61 417 985 383 +44 (0) 20 7429 6600 /6606 Olly Cairns - Blue Oar Securities Petronella Gorrie - The Event Shop+61 (0) 8 6430 1630 +27 82 827 8815 www.gvm.com.au This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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