26th Jul 2017 07:00
26 July 2017
Blenheim Natural Resources Plc
("Blenheim" or the "Company")
Completion of the acquisition of a 40 per cent. interest in Mansa Lithium Inc.
Further to the Company's announcement on 3 July 2017, Blenheim is pleased to confirm that all conditions of the share purchase agreement made between the Company and Xantus Inc. ("Share Purchase Agreement") have been satisfied and the Company has completed its acquisition of a 40 per cent. interest in Mansa Lithium Inc. ("Mansa").
Pursuant to the terms of the Share Purchase Agreement, the Company has allotted 100,000,000 ordinary shares of 0.1 pence in the capital of the Company (the "Consideration Shares") to Xantus Inc. and an application has been made for the Consideration Shares, which will rank pari passu with the Company's existing issued ordinary share capital, to be admitted to trading on AIM, a market controlled and operated by the London Stock Exchange ("AIM"). Dealings in the Consideration Shares on AIM are expected to commence at 8.00 a.m. on 31 July 2017 ("Admission").
Total Voting Rights
For the purposes of the Financial Conduct Authority's Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules ("DTRs"), following Admission, Blenheim will have 726,174,497 ordinary shares of 0.1 pence each in issue with voting rights attached (one vote per share). Blenheim does not hold any shares in treasury. This figure of 726,174,497 may be used by shareholders in the Company 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 the Company, under the DTRs.
Blenheim's Chairman, Chris Ells, commented: "With due diligence completed to Blenheim's satisfaction and a full exploration permit granted over the Dieba project area in Mali, all conditions have now been fulfilled for Blenheim's investment into Mansa. Mansa's work programme has been agreed and exploration work is due to start immediately over two highly prospective areas at Dieba and Nimissila. The phase 1 work programme should be completed within 2 months, before moving onto the next phase of work. We look forward to giving further details on the results of Mansa's work programme in the near future. My fellow directors and I consider that Mansa's project interests are highly prospective and we look forward to seeing the results of the work programme on ground contiguous to known lithium discoveries."
Background: Lithium in Mali
Southern Mali has emerged as a highly prospective lithium province where rapidly maturing exploration projects owned by Birimian Limited ("Birminian", ASX:BGS) and Kodal Minerals plc ("Kodal", AIM: KOD) are creating a critical mass of lithium exploration projects.
Birimian's Bougouni lithium project contains a reported JORC Mineral Resource of 32.9Mt at 1.37 per cent. Li2O for 451,000 tonnes of contained Li2O at 0.4 per cent. cut-off. Kodal has yet to announce a resource, but has reported wide, high-grade lithium pegmatite drill intersections from its Kassokoro permit. Kodal also recently announced initial flotation test results on drill chips from its Kassokoro permit showing that high-grade lithium (spodumene) concentrate, of suitable quality for producing lithium carbonate with low levels of impurities, had been produced from initial beneficiation test results, with recoveries of 80 per cent. to 87 per cent.
Further information on Mansa
Through the acquisition of its 40 per cent. interest in Mansa, Blenheim has now completed the strategic investment in a company that holds the Dieba exploration permit in Mali. In addition, Mansa has the right to acquire an 80 per cent. initial indirect interest in the Nimissila exploration project in southern Mali, which is owned by La Societe Omnium Invest SA ("Omnium"). Further details of the Nimissila permit and Mansa's right to acquire an 80 per cent. interest in this permit are set out in the Company's announcement dated 3 July 2017.
The Dieba exploration permit and the Nimissila exploration permit abut licences with known lithium pegmatites.
Nashwan Holdings Ltd investment update
As announced on 30 March 2017, Blenheim has conditionally agreed to purchase a 30 per cent. interest in Nashwan Holdings Ltd ("Nashwan"). Nashwan has applied for exploration permits over the Djidje and Menianbala licence areas in the Republic of Mali, which it currently holds under prospecting permits. Nashwan has advised the Company that the procedures for grant of the exploration permits for both areas are close to completion. Further details of the Company's conditional acquisition of a 30 per cent. interest in Nashwan are set out in the Company's announcement dated 30 March 2017.
Ends
For further information please contact:
Chris Ells Mark Parker | Blenheim Natural Resources Plc | +44 (0) 1622 844601 +44 (0) 77 84170825 |
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Colin Aaronson/Jamie Barklem/ Daniel Bush | Grant Thornton UK LLP | +44 (0) 20 7383 5100 |
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Nick Emerson | SI Capital Ltd | +44 (0) 1483 413500 |
Lucy Williams / Duncan Vasey | Peterhouse Corporate Finance Limited | +44 (0) 20 7469 0932 |
Colin Rowbury | Cornhill Capital Limited | +44 (0) 20 7710 9610 |
The information contained within this announcement is deemed to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014. Upon the publication of this announcement, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.
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