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Quarterly Report

29th Apr 2013 07:30

RNS Number : 4334D
Nyota Minerals Limited
29 April 2013
 



 

 

 

 

 

Nyota Minerals Limited ('Nyota' or 'the Company')

Quarterly Report

 

Nyota Minerals Limited (ASX/AIM: NYO), the gold exploration and development company in East Africa, is pleased to provide its Quarterly Report for the three months ended 31 March 2013.

 

Overview

 

·; Results of the Feeder Zone drilling at the Tulu Kapi Gold Project ('Tulu Kapi') underpin the potential to significantly enhance the economic and operational fundamentals demonstrated in the Feasibility Study ('FS')

·; Initial in-house Inferred Resource estimate of 1.1Mt at 5.4 g/t for 188,000 oz gold delineated in the high grade Feeder Zone located beneath the FS open pit

·; Confirmation from the Ministry of Mines in Ethiopia that the FS, including the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment ('ESIA') complies with all regulations ahead of issuance of a Mining Licence

·; Placing for £4 million announced with support received from new and existing shareholders including Centamin plc ('Centamin') and Resource Capital Fund V L.P. ('RCF')

·; Cost-cutting initiatives implemented and on-going

 

Nyota Chief Executive Officer Richard Chase said, "Having demonstrated the fundamentals of developing our first project with the Tulu Kapi project area, the receipt of high grade results from the Feeder Zone highlights the strong potential to significantly enhance the economic returns of the project.

 

"Having just raised £4 million, with support from our long-term shareholders Centamin and RCF, we are able to continue those studies to develop further the FS and study a number of key areas of sensitivity within this. We are also implementing initiatives aimed at cutting corporate overheads and reducing operational expenditure. Whilst the terms of a Mining Licence are agreed, Directors will continue to meet with officials in Ethiopia on a monthly basis to drive progress."

 

Results from the High Grade Feeder Zone

 

The FS announced in December, which importantly is only based on the initial open pit component of the wider Tulu Kapi Gold Project, confirmed that annual gold production of 105,000 ounces per annum at an average grade of 1.82 g/t was achievable, equating to total gold production of 924,000oz over the proposed life of mine.

 

The Feeder Zone sits entirely outside of the designed open pit and is one of several targets in the locale of the proposed Tulu Kapi open pit which the Board believe can be developed to significantly enhance the economic and operational fundamentals demonstrated in the FS.

 

The Company was pleased to provide in the period under review the final results of its 7,866 metre (18 holes) Feeder Zone drilling programme which commenced in September 2012.

 

These results, which enabled the delineation of an initial in-house Inferred Resource estimate of 1.1 million tonnes at an average grade of 5.4g/t containing 188,000 ounces of gold, demonstrate the potential for a significant high grade resource that would be developed via an underground mine. Delivered intersections included 15.04g/t Au over 9.45m, 10.55g/t Au over 13.96m, 5.34g/t Au over 12.25m and 5.24g/t Au over 26m. Importantly, the Feeder Zone is open down-plunge in a north-northeast direction and appears to crop-out in the proposed open pit in the "Southwest Extension".

 

As a result of the improved understanding of the Feeder Zone mineralisation a revised geological model has been constructed and a work programme designed to test it. This programme has two key low-cost components that are underway using existing personnel:

 

·; to examine existing drilling that would be expected to have intercepted the up-plunge extension of the feeder zone and in particular where it appears to crop-out at surface in the Southwest Extension; and

·; to undertake a desk-top study to examine the possible costs, limitations and opportunities of an underground mine to exploit the mineralisation.

 

On completion of this programme the results will be used to support a scoping study of the Feeder Zone. Subject to positive results from these studies, and the availability of funding, an additional drill programme to test a minimum of 300m of strike length in the NNE (down plunge) direction would also be considered to increase the size of the available resource.

 

Mining Licence

 

The Company continues to progress negotiations with the Ethiopian Ministry of Mines ('the Ministry') regarding the fiscal and legal aspects of developing the open pit gold mine at Tulu Kapi as envisaged in the FS.

 

With this in mind, the Company was pleased to announce that the Ministry has confirmed in writing that the FS, including the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment ('ESIA'), complies with all regulations and satisfies the requirements for the issuance of a large scale Mining Licence. Negotiations on the fiscal terms have been constructive and the Board believe that there is a mutual understanding between the Company and the Ethiopian Government over an equitable sharing of the benefits that will arise from the development of Tulu Kapi.

 

Nyota will continue to push for the timely completion of these negotiations and we look forward to providing further updates in the coming months.

 

Successful Raising of £4 million placing

 

In February 2013, we announced a Placing to raise £4 million with new institutional investors and existing shareholders including Centamin and RCF. 200,000,000 shares were issued in in two tranches at an issue price of $0.03 (£0.02) each.

 

Following the General Meeting on 4 April and completion of the Placing, Centamin has a 19.4% shareholding after subscribing for a further 81,000,000 new shares, and RCF has a 13.0% shareholding after subscribing for a further 50,000,000 new shares.

 

The Placing was conducted in tandem with a Share Purchase Plan ('SPP') which enabled eligible shareholders of the Company to subscribe for new Ordinary Shares at the same price as the Placing, up to a maximum investment of A$15,000 per shareholder. This raised an additional $374,100 before expenses.

 

The Company intends to direct the funds towards:

·; completing a review of the FS for Tulu Kapi, in particular the mining scenario, costs and implementation plan;

·; completing a scoping study of the Feeder Zone, which was not included in the FS;

·; continuing its negotiations with the Ethiopian Government for the issue of a Mining Licence for Tulu Kapi; and

·; for general working capital.

 

Financial Results

 

Nyota had cash of A$1.5 million as at 31 March 2013. This figure excludes the receipt of funds from the second tranche of the Placing and the SPP, with a further A$3.4m received following shareholder approval at the General Meeting held on 4 April 2013.

 

A comprehensive cost reduction exercise announced at the time of the Placing is well underway and has so far resulted in:

 

·; the retirement of two Board directors;

·; the termination of two senior ex-pat staff based in Ethiopia - the COO and the project processing manager;

·; the standing-down of all rigs in Ethiopia and termination of the drilling contract;

·; the termination of all non-essential studies and contracts; and

·; the consolidation of finance and administration functions to London.

 

Although the loss of expertise from a project is to be avoided as far as possible, the Directors are confident that the core knowledge generated through the FS is retained.

 

As a result of the above changes, significant annualised savings have been made, but one-off termination costs and other liabilities have also crystallised and are spread across March and April.

 

The Board continues to believe that, based on the information available to it today, that cash is sufficient until the end of September 2013.

 

TO VIEW THE ASX APPENDIX 5B, PLEASE CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING LINK:

 

http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/4334D_-2013-4-29.pdf

 

For further information please visit www.nyotaminerals.com or contact:

 

Richard Chase

Nyota Minerals Ltd

Chief Executive Officer

+44 (0) 20 7400 5740

[email protected]

 

Anthony Rowland

Nyota Minerals Ltd

Business Development

+44 (0) 20 7400 5740

[email protected]

 

Richard Morrison

Nominated Adviser

RFC Ambrian Limited

+44 (0) 20 3440 6800

 

 

Jen Boorer

Nominated Adviser

RFC Ambrian Limited

+44 (0) 20 3440 6800

 

 

Susie Geliher

Financial PR

St Brides Media & Finance Ltd

 

+44 (0) 20 7236 1177

Elisabeth Cowell

Financial PR

St Brides Media & Finance Ltd

 

+44 (0) 20 7236 1177

Guy Wilkes

Joint Broker

Ocean Equities Limited

 

+44 (0) 20 7786 4370

 

Rory Scott

Joint Broker

Mirabaud Securities LLP

+44 (0)20 7878 3360

 

 

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