27th Jul 2012 07:00
Wolf Minerals Limited
Quarterly Activities Report
For the period ending 30th June 2012
Australian speciality minerals exploration and development company, Wolf Minerals Limited (Wolf) is pleased to provide the following update on the Hemerdon Ball tungsten and tin project in Devon, UK for the three month period to 30th June 2012.
Highlights from the June quarter include:
ü $5 million capital raise
ü Heads of Terms signed for Hemerdon tungsten offtake and £20 million project funding
ü Link road construction nearing completion
ü Tenders received for Plant & Infrastructure EPC Contract
ü Appointment of UK based Process Plant Manager
Events subsequent to the end of the quarter
At the EGM on 16 July 2012 shareholders approved the second tranche of the A$5 million capital raise representing A$3.85 million. These funds have not been included in the June quarter cash balance of A$2.1 million as they were received after 30 June 2012.
A$5 million capital raise from senior shareholders
In May the Company announced that it had raised A$5 million via a placement to two of its major shareholders, Resource Capital Fund V LP (RCF) and Traxys Projects LP (Traxys). The placement was for a total of 18,518,519 ordinary shares at a price of 27 cents (17p) per share. RCF subscribed for 16,666,667 ordinary shares and Traxys subscribed for 1,851,852 ordinary shares.
The placement funds will be used to provide additional working capital for the Company as it continues to finalise its financing arrangements for the Hemerdon Project and, will help ensure that Wolf maintains its development schedule at the project and covers costs associated with construction of the Hemerdon link road.
The Company issued 4,351,852 shares under its existing 15% authority to allot shares for cash and the remaining shares were issued after shareholder approval was granted at a General Meeting held on the 16th of July.
Wolf values the strong working relationship it has with its senior shareholders and welcomes the continued support of RCF and Traxys, via the placement.
Hemerdon tungsten offtake Heads of Terms and £20M project funding
On the 20th of April, the Company signed a non-binding Heads of Terms (Heads) for tungsten offtake from the Hemerdon project, plus a £20 million loan facility with Wolfram Bergbau und Hutten AG, Austria (WBH) and Global Tungsten & Powders Corp, Pennsylvania, USA (GTP).
The offtake agreements will cover 80% of Hemerdon's expected average annual tungsten concentrate output for a minimum of five years (extendable under mutual consent) and are part of a joint effort between WBH and GTP to support the development of the Hemerdon project as a major new tungsten mine.
Also, subject to technical and legal due-diligence, as well as board approvals, WBH and GTP will provide a £20 million loan facility to Wolf, which will form part of the project's funding package. This is in addition to the senior debt facility of £55 million announced on 5 March 2012.
Wolf expects to complete the final documentation for the offtake agreements, in conjunction with documentation for the lending banks, in due course and will advise the market at that time.
Under the Heads Wolf is expected to supply a 65% tungsten trioxide, wolframite concentrate based on standard commercial terms. The Hemerdon mine is expected to produce an average of 345,000 metric tonne units (mtu's) of tungsten trioxide in concentrates per annum, and 450 tonnes of tin.
Construction update at Hemerdon Project
Construction at the Hemerdon project formally began in the first quarter this year, with work commencing on the construction of the link road at the project.
Construction continues to progress well and the road is scheduled to be completed in the near future. The construction of the link road is a requirement of the project's planning permission. It consists of 600 metres of public road, which is designed to remove a long-term constriction in the local traffic network.
Plant & Infrastructure EPC Contract update
Wolf previously advised that following a pre-qualification process, tender documents had been issued to international engineering contractors to competitively bid for the EPC contract to design, construct, and commission the new processing plant and associated infrastructure at the Hemerdon project.
The Company advises that tenders have been received and that the company is continuing to evaluate the bids.
Appointment of UK based Process Plant Manager
Wolf has appointed Gillian Hall to be the Process Plant Manager for the Hemerdon project. Gillian has strong experience in gravity separation techniques that are fundamental to the success of the Hemerdon plant. Gillian graduated from the University of Leeds in 1978 with a degree in mineral processing. Gillian has gained valuable experience in a variety of commodities globally including tin, gold and industrial minerals over the last 30 years.
Most recently Gillian worked for Intertech and was involved in the design, procurement and shipping of complete processing plant packages for customers in Russia and the CIS. Following the acquisition of Intertech by Bateman in 2008 Gillian moved to work with FLSmidth in the global process technology and systems group.
ENDS
For further details, please contact:
Wolf Minerals Limited Humphrey Hale | +61 8 6364 3776 |
Investec Mark Wellesley-Wood/Neil Elliot/Chris Sim | +44 20 7597 5970
|
Newgate Threadneedle Josh Royston/Beth Harris | +44 (0) 20 7653 9850 |
About Wolf Minerals
Wolf Mineral 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.
Related Shares:
Wolf Minerals