30th Oct 2012 07:00
Wolf Minerals Limited
Quarterly Activities Report
For the period ending 30th September 2012
Specialty metal exploration and development company, Wolf Minerals Limited (ASX: WLF, AIM: WLFE) (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 September 2012.
Highlights from the June quarter include:
ü Key environmental approvals for Hemerdon project received
ü Finance providers mandated to seek credit approval for £75 million in project funding
ü Construction of Hemerdon Link Road completed and road opened
Key environmental approvals for Hemerdon project received
In September the Company reported that it had received key environmental approvals for the Hemerdon project, with the granting of seven water permits for the operation of the Hemerdon mine from the Environment Agency (EA).
The water licenses cover the entire operation of the Hemerdon mine, including the abstract of the required volume of water for the processing plant and the discharge of water from pit dewatering activities, and represent a key set of environmental approvals for the project.
The specific water licenses issued were;
§ EPR/QP3420XX Southern Smallhanger Pond discharge.
§ SW/047/0002/001 Tory Pond Abstraction
§ SW/047/0002/003 Tory Pond Impoundment
§ SW/047/0002/006 Smallhanger North Storage Pond Abstraction
§ SW/047/0002/007 Smallhanger South Storage Pond Abstraction
§ SW/047/0002/004 Tory Brook Abstraction (at Loughter Mill Weir)
§ SW/047/0002/005 Tory Brook Impoundment (Loughter Mill Weir)
Devon County Council updated the existing planning permission to develop the Hemerdon mine in January 2011. Subsequent to this and as a requirement prior to operating the mine, Wolf was required to seek additional permits from the EA prior to the commencement of operations.
These included the water licenses and a waste dump license that satisfies the EU Mine Waste Directive. The process of evaluating the seven water permits included a statutory public consultation period and input from key stake holders such as Natural England and the Wildlife Trust.
The granting of the water permits demonstrates the continued progress being achieved in the development of the Hemerdon project in to a world class tungsten and tin mining operation.
Finance providers mandated to seek credit approval for £75 million in project funding for Hemerdon
Also in September, Wolf mandated its senior debt providers, UniCredit Bank AG (UniCredit Corporate & Investment Banking), ING Bank N.V. and Caterpillar Financial SARL, to seek a revised credit approval to provide £75 million (~AU$114 million) in senior debt finance facilities to fund the commercial development of the Hemerdon project.
The revised debt funding proposal came about during the completion of documentation for the previous credit approved £55 million senior debt facility and £20 million in subordinated debt funding, offered by the Company's tungsten offtake partners.
An opportunity to simplify the financing structure was identified. This resulted in the existing senior debt providers seeking to expand their position from £55 million to £75 million. As a result, Wolf proposes to finalise its Hemerdon tungsten offtake agreements without the requirement for the subordinated debt.
Wolf has ceased to progress the existing credit approved offer of £55 million of senior debt and mandated the Company's existing banking syndicate to seek credit approval for the expanded and simplified funding package. This simplified funding solution will support the planned construction of the Hemerdon project, based on the Definitive Feasibility Study completed in May 2011.
Provision of the senior debt finance facility is subject to completion of the project finance documentation and the usual credit approvals and conditions precedent customary for a financing of this nature. Wolf will provide further details on the timeframe for the credit approval for the revised funding facility in due course.
Construction of Hemerdon Link Road completed and road opened
In July, Wolf announced that the construction of the Hemerdon Project Link Road had been completed, and the road was opened.
The road was officially opened on 27 July by Councillor John Hart, Leader of Devon County Council, Wolf Managing Director Humphrey Hale, MP for Devon South West Gary Streeter and representatives from the communities of Plymouth and the South Hams as well as Sparkwell and Lee Moor parishes.
The Link Road is a 600 metre long public access road, which was constructed as part of Wolf's planning permission for the development of the Hemerdon project. The road is designed to remove a long-term constriction in the local traffic network. It is also intended to benefit other local extractive operations and create a long term piece of infrastructure to support safe and efficient transportation in the local area.
Construction of the Link Road began in January this year and formally marked the commencement of construction at the project. It is the first major infrastructure work completed in the development path to bring the Hemerdon into production.
The Link Road was constructed by Bardon Contracting, an Aggregate Industries UK Ltd. business. The road will now be adopted by Devon highways.
ENDS
For further details, please contact:
Wolf Minerals Limited Humphrey Hale | +61 8 6364 3776 |
Investec Chris Sim/Neil Elliot | +44 20 7597 5970
|
Newgate Threadneedle Beth Harris/Josh Royston | +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.
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