16th Apr 2015 07:00
16 April 2015
Alexander Mining plc
("Alexander" or the "Company")
Licence Agreement for Sivas Copper Project in Turkey
Alexander Mining plc is pleased to report that it has signed a definitive licence agreement ("Agreement") with Ebullio Resources Fund ("Ebullio") and RCR Quantum Madencilik İthalat İhracat Sanayi ve Ticaret Anonim Şirketi ("RCR Quantum"). Ebullio is a significant shareholder in Alexander with a holding of 3.91 per cent. and also holds 75 per cent. of the equity in RCR Quantum. RCR Quantum's main asset is its 75 per cent. joint venture interest in the Sivas copper mineral property ("Sivas") in the Republic of Turkey.
Ebullio intends to sell a minority stake of at least 20 per cent. of its equity holding in RCR Quantum to a third party consortium (the "RCR Quantum Equity Sale"). As part of this arrangement, Ebullio has disposed of 7.8 per cent. of its former 11.7 per cent. holding in Alexander to the consortium (thereby reducing its holding to 3.91 per cent.). Under the terms of the Agreement, which is binding, conditional on completion of the RCR Quantum Equity Sale, Alexander will grant to RCR Quantum a licence to use its proprietary leaching technologies ("Leaching Technologies") on amenable ore sourced from Sivas on the following terms:
I. Ebullio will pay to Alexander 25 per cent. of the net proceeds received by Ebullio from the RCR Quantum Equity Sale.
II. On completion a cash payment by RCR Quantum of US$100,000 to Alexander, plus US$100,000 for certain technical consultancy services.
III. Alexander will receive a royalty of 3.0 per cent. of gross saleable metal products produced using the Leaching Technologies from the potential mine at Sivas.
IV. Alexander will receive US$10,000 per calendar month until the potential Sivas mine plant commissioning date or such date upon which RCR Quantum notifies Alexander that it has chosen to terminate the project.
Related Party Transaction
As a former substantial shareholder in Alexander, Ebullio is a related party of the Company and the Agreement constitutes a related party transaction as defined by Rule 13 of the AIM Rules for Companies. The directors of the Company, having consulted with Northland Capital Partners Limited, the Company's Nominated Adviser, consider that the terms of the Agreement are fair and reasonable in so far as the Company's shareholders are concerned.
Martin Rosser, Chief Executive Officer, said: "Ebullio's and Alexander's interest in Sivas goes back to a potential transaction over a year ago. We look forward to working closely together with RCR Quantum on its Sivas project, which has significant potential for the use of our Leaching Technologies."
Lars Steffensen, Executive Managing Partner, Ebullio Capital Management LLP, said:
"We are delighted to have obtained this licence for the Sivas copper project, subject to a sale of our interest in RCR Quantum. Along with our consortium partners, we intend Sivas to be the first of many mines that are able to utilise Alexander's Leaching Technologies.
"The Sivas mine has the potential to place us amongst the lowest cost copper producers in the world and be the cornerstone in our quest to build a significant copper focused mining group."
Background on Sivas Copper Project
The property covers an area of approximately 5,240 hectares in the Sivas Region of East Central Turkey. Although more exploration, including drilling, is required, extensive work has already been performed on this property by companies including Falconbridge/Noranda (now part of Glencore).
Falconbridge prepared an internal report which concluded that the property was prospective for the discovery of significant tonnages of copper bearing materials, including potential by-products such as gold, nickel and cobalt. Falconbridge stated that the two main target areas, the MZ and the SEZ zones, had the potential to host a major deposit.
ENDS
Enquiries
Alexander Mining plc
Martin Rosser Chief Executive Officer Mobile: +44 (0) 7770 865 341 | Matt Sutcliffe Executive Chairman Mobile: +44 (0) 7887 930 758 |
Email: [email protected] Website: www.alexandermining.com | |
Northland Capital Partners Limited Nominated Adviser and Broker Tel: +44 (0) 20 7382 1100 Matthew Johnson / Gerry Beaney (Corporate Finance) John Howes / Mark Treharne (Corporate Broking) |
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