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Quarterly Activities Report

30th Jan 2012 07:00

RNS Number : 3323W
Wolf Minerals Limited
30 January 2012
 



30th January 2012

 

Wolf Minerals Limited

 

("Wolf" or "the Company")(ASX: WLF AIM: WLFE)

 

 

Quarterly Activities Report

 

For the period ending 31st December 2011

 

Australian specialist minerals exploration and development company, Wolf Minerals Limited is pleased to provide the following update on the Hemerdon Ball tungsten and tin project in Devon, UK for the three month period to 31st December 2011.

 

Highlights include:

ü Appointment of senior debt providers to raise GBP£55 million project finance for the Hemerdon Tungsten Project

ü Company completed successful listing on AIM

ü All planning permissions granted and contractor selected to construct Hemerdon link road

ü Wolf receives formal UK Government support post the period end for the Hemerdon Tungsten Project

 

 

 

 

 

Appointment of senior debt providers to raise GBP£55 million project finance for the Hemerdon Tungsten Project

 

In December, the Company mandated UniCredit Bank AG (UniCredit Corporate & Investment Banking), ING Bank N.V. and Caterpillar Financial SARL to provide senior debt finance facilities totalling GBP£55 million (AUD$81.58 million) to fund the commercial development of the Hemerdon Project in Southwest England.

 

The funding will support the planned construction of the Hemerdon project, based on the completed Definitive Feasibility Study (released in May 2011). The study confirmed the robust economic viability of the project and estimated a net present value of GBP£74 million1.

 

UniCredit Bank AG, ING Bank N.V. and Caterpillar Financial SARL are recognised global leaders in mining project finance. They were appointed following the completion of a competitive process facilitated by Optimum Capital Pty Ltd, which incorporated a technical due diligence review undertaken on behalf of the financiers by Micon International and a further independent marketing study by Roskill Consulting Group.

 

This review process supported the findings of the Definitive Feasibility Study and the robust economics of the project.

 

Provision of the senior debt finance facilities is subject to completion of the project finance documentation and the usual credit approvals and conditions precedent customary for a financing of this nature. The current timetable is for the lenders to obtain credit approval for the facilities in February.

 

Wolf is also in continuing discussions with potential off-take partners to provide subordinated debt for the project. The total debt facilities will enable Wolf to minimise the equity component of the funding package required to put Hemerdon into production.

 

Successful listing and commencement of trading on AIM

 

Wolf completed its successful listing on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange on 30 November. The Company's shares commenced trading on AIM on the same day.

 

Wolf trades on AIM under the ticker WLFE.

 

The Company's AIM listing was a compliance listing, whereby its entire existing ordinary share capital was listed on AIM. There was no capital raising associated with the listing. Evolution Securities Limited acted as the Company's Nominated Adviser and Broker.

 

AIM is the London Stock Exchange's international market for smaller emerging companies. It is the most successful growth market in the world, and since its launch in 1995, more than 3,000 companies from around the world have listed on AIM.

 

Given the advanced stage nature of the Wolf's core Hemerdon Project and its UK location, the Company viewed the AIM listing as a natural fit for Wolf and a logical next-step in its development.

 

The AIM listing is designed to provide a direct mechanism for UK investors to share in Wolf's growth, and the Company will benefit from having direct access to the London capital market.

 

Planning permissions granted and contractor appointed to construct the Hemerdon link road

 

Also in December, the Company reported that all relevant planning permissions for the Hemerdon link road had been received, and that a contractor had been appointed to construct the road. The existing planning permission for the mine was updated in January 2011.

 

Bardon Contracting, an Aggregate Industries UK Ltd. business, will construct the 600 metre link road between Lee Moor Road and West Park Hill in Plympton. This is an important milestone for Wolf as it will place the Company in a position to break ground on the Hemerdon project in the near future.

 

As specified in the conditions of the main mine permit, the public link road will be constructed to remove a long term constriction in the transport network prior to developing the mine. It is intended that the new road will benefit other local extractive operations and create a long term piece of infrastructure to support safe and efficient transportation in the local area.

 

Bardon was selected following a competitive tender process and have already completed work on the detailed design of the two bridges required. Work is expected to start on site in the near future and the road is scheduled to be completed in June.

 

UK Government support for the Hemerdon Tungsten Project from UK Minister of State for Trade and Investment

 

Subsequent to the end of the quarter (as announced on 13 January 2012), Wolf reported that it had received formal UK Government support for the development of the Hemerdon Tungsten and Tin project in Devon, in Southwest England.

 

The support came directly from the UK Minister of State for Trade, Lord Green of Hurstpierpoint, and represented a significant acknowledgement of the importance of the Hemerdon project to the local community and to the UK and wider EU.

 

The Minister wrote to Wolf to offer his support to the Company following the successful completion of planning consents for the development of the Hemerdon project. Lord Green said that he hoped the Company would be able to proceed quickly with the development of the project.

 

In offering his support to Wolf, Lord Green said: "This is an important project for a number of reasons; to the local community in terms of jobs and wealth creation and to the UK and wider EU in securing supplies of tungsten. I am aware that tungsten ranks highly in both the British Geological Society and EU's critical raw materials lists and that it has unique properties that are impossible to replace in certain specialised industrial applications."

 

1 Based on the assumptions as announced to the market on 16 May 2011.

 

For further details, please contact:

 

Wolf Minerals Limited

Humphrey Hale

 

+61 8 6364 3776

Evolution Securities Limited

Mark Wellesley-Wood/Neil Elliot

+44 (0) 20 7071 4300

 

Newgate Threadneedle

Laurence Read/Beth Harris

+44 (0) 20 7653 9855

 

 

About Wolf Minerals

 

Wolf Minerals is an ASX listed and AIM listed specialty metals company focused on developing the world class Hemerdon Tungsten and Tin Project, in Devon, in the south-west of the UK. The Company holds an option over 100% of the Hemerdon project, which the Directors consider to be one of the largest undeveloped tungsten and tin resources in the western world. It is ranked as the fourth largest tungsten deposit in the world in terms of contained tungsten metal, by The British Geological Survey. The Company aims to develop the project into a large scale, open pit mining operation, which will position it as a world class tungsten and tin producer. Wolf recently released a positive Definitive Feasibility Study for the Hemerdon project, and it has updated planning permission for mining until 2021.

 

 

 

This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
 
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