24th Dec 2009 12:15
Uranium Resources plc / Market: AIM / Epic: URA / Sector: Exploration
24 December 2009
Uranium Resources plc ('Uranium Resources') or ('the Company')
Placing to raise approximately £2.0 million
Uranium Resources plc, the AIM listed uranium exploration and development company, is pleased to announce that it has conditionally raised approximately £2.0 million before expenses by way of a placing of 104.0 million new ordinary shares in the capital of the Company ('Placing Shares') to Estes Limited, a new strategic investor, at a price of 1.92p per Placing Share ('Placing').
The Company intends to use the proceeds of the Placing as follows:
to pay A$2.5 million (approximately £1.371 million) to Indago Resources Limited ('Indago') to complete the acquisition of all of Indago's interest in Uranium Resources uranium portfolio in Southern Tanzania as announced on 30 October 2009 ("Indago Acquisition"). On completion of the Indago Acquisition, Uranium Resources will control and operate all of its assets in Tanzania;
to carry out further exploration activities during 2010 over the Company's uranium interests at the Mtonya, Ruhuhu and Ruvuma projects; and
for general working capital requirements to advance its position as a uranium exploration company in southern Tanzania and focus on expanding its uranium portfolio.
Completion of the Indago Acquisition is conditional on the relevant parties to the various joint venture agreements executing and delivering assignments of the Indago Group's joint venture interests in favour of Uranium Resources, Uranium Resources completing a fundraising of at least £1.6 million and Uranium Resources obtaining all necessary regulatory and shareholder approvals. On completion of the fundraising, the Indago Acquisition agreement will be unconditional. Uranium Resources and Indago have agreed to extend the date for completion to 11 January 2010.
Pursuant to the Indago Acquisition, Uranium Resources will pay a cash consideration of A$2.5 million and issue A$400,000 of new ordinary shares in the capital of the Company to Indago at a price of 1.92p per share ('Consideration Shares'), such number of shares to be determined by reference to the A$:£ exchange rate as at the date of completion of the Placing as published by the Reserve Bank of Australia. A further announcement will be made once the Consideration Shares have been issued.
Estes Limited is part of the Tangent Fund Group. The parent company, Tangent Fund Limited, is a Cayman Islands registered investment fund with in excess of US$1.16 billion under management. The fund is an active investor in growth companies within the resources sector and has primarily invested in pig iron and ferro manganese production and oil and gas services companies. Estes Limited will appoint Vyacheslav Medvedev, as a Director of Uranium Resources in due course.
Uranium Resources Managing Director said, "We are delighted to have completed this £2.0 million placing which highlights the support we have secured from our new strategic cornerstone shareholder, Estes Limited. This is an important milestone in the development of Uranium Resources uranium portfolio in Tanzania because it enables us to take operational and economic control of our assets and the exploration programmes. This will consolidate our position as a significant uranium exploration company in southern Tanzania.
"Importantly, we now wholly own the highly prospective Mtonya project which returned high grade intercepts from recent exploration programmes. Significantly, the project is located adjacent to Mantra Resources' Mkuju River Project which has 44.4 million tonnes averaging 455 ppm U3O8 for a contained 44.6 million pounds of U3O8 at a lower cut-off grade of 200 ppm U3O8. Similarly, Uranex NL, which has exploration acreage on our northern boundary, has announced that significant grades and thicknesses of uranium mineralisation have been intercepted at their Mkuju Grand Central prospect which they state is located along strike of Mantra's SWC and our Grandfather prospects. Looking forward, Mtonya will become our primary focus in 2010 and we look forward to generating new results from our exploration campaign.
"In addition, we have an established coal joint venture with Rio Tinto which complements our uranium exploration in the country, giving us increased exposure in our target area of Tanzania. With this in mind, I believe Uranium Resources is in a strong position to realise its growth potential and I look forward to the coming year and market appreciation of the value created within the Company."
Estes Limited's Vyacheslav Medvedev said, "Estes has identified Uranium Resources as an attractive investment opportunity with a solid portfolio of uranium exploration projects in the established mining district of southern Tanzania. Our new strategic investment in the Company will provide Estes with early exposure to the potentially lucrative uranium market, and in turn, the funds from this placing will enable the acceleration of its defined development plan to the benefit of all shareholders."
The Placing is conditional inter alia on admission of the Placing Shares to trading on AIM ('Admission'). It is expected that Admission will occur, and dealings in the Placing Shares will commence at 8.00 a.m. on 4 January 2010. The Placing Shares, when issued, will rank pari passu in all respects with the Company's existing issued ordinary shares.
Following the Admission, the Placing Shares will represent approximately 26.3 per cent. of the Company's enlarged issued share capital, which will then comprise 395.0 million ordinary shares of 0.1 pence each.
**ENDS**
For further information please visit www.uraniumresources.co.uk or contact:
|
Alex Gostevskikh |
Uranium Resources plc |
Tel: +44 (0) 7997 713377 |
|
Ross Warner |
Uranium Resources plc |
Tel: +44 (0) 7760 487769 |
|
Hugh Warner |
Uranium Resources plc |
Tel: +61 (0) 413 621 652 |
|
Richard Swindells |
Ambrian Partners Ltd (Nomad) |
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7634 4700 |
|
Hugo de Salis |
St Brides Media & Finance Ltd |
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7236 1177 |
|
Felicity Edwards |
St Brides Media & Finance Ltd |
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7236 1177 Tel: +44 (0) 79 7721 7410 |
Notes to editors
Uranium Resources plc is an AIM listed exploration and development company. It is the Company's strategy to advance its existing assets and strengthen its portfolio via opportunistic acquisition. Uranium Resources has uranium licences in the highly prospective Karoo Basin in Southern Tanzania where it currently has a land package in excess of 12,700 sq. km. Additionally it has a JV agreement with Rio Tinto Resources to develop the coal potential of 2,938 sq. km of the Company's exploration licence areas in southern Tanzania.
Disclaimer:
The Placing Shares have not been, and will not be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "US Securities Act") or with any securities regulatory authority of any state or other jurisdiction of the United States and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, any US Person as that term is defined in Regulation S under the US Securities Act without registration under, or absent an exemption from the registration requirements of, the US Securities Act. The Company has not been registered and will not register under the United States Investment Company Act of 1940.
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