Emmerson Plc / Ticker: EML / Index: AIM / Sector: Mining

27 January 2022

Emmerson Plc

("Emmerson" or "the Company")

Further Basic Engineering Packages Awarded to Reminex S.A.

Emmerson, the Moroccan focused potash development company, is pleased to announce the award of the balance of the Basic Engineering scope of the Khemisset Potash Project ("Khemisset" or the "Project") outside of the Mineral Processing Facility to Reminex S.A. ("Reminex"), the engineering arm of the Moroccan mining company Managem Group.  

Overview

-      Following award of the Basic Engineering package for the Mineral Processing Facility to Barr Engineering in November 2021, the Company has awarded the balance of the Basic Engineering scope to Reminex pursuant to a thorough pre-qualification, competitive tender and negotiation process.

-      The ability to award the Basic Engineering for the Project has been facilitated by the proceeds from the recent transformational strategic investment by the Singaporean fund Global Sustainable Minerals and Gold Quay Capital. This enables the Company to continue Project development alongside activities pursuant to financial close.

-      Reminex is the engineering arm of Managem Group, the Moroccan mining company that designs, builds and operates mines in Morocco and Africa (managemgroup.com/en).

-      The Company continues to build capacity to enable execution of the EPCM strategy following completion of the Basic Engineering works.

Graham Clarke, CEO, commented:

"The award of the balance of the Basic Engineering comes as a result of a thorough competitive tender process executed by the Project team and enables us to continue towards full EPCM commencement during the year of 2022.

"Reminex has extensive experience accrued over decades of operating within the Moroccan mining sector. Its substantial expertise will be vital for adapting our Khemisset Project to the local standards and for the provision of advice and assistance in the remaining permitting and due diligence processes alongside Basic Engineering.

"2022 will be a transformative year for the Company as we execute the final workstreams towards construction. We are expecting to make progress concurrently on drilling activities, Basic Engineering, discussions with other potential equity and lending banks, preparations for EPCM execution and finalisation of permitting activities. The Emmerson team look forward to working closely with Reminex to build long-term benefits for the kingdom of Morocco."

Details

The award of this scope to Reminex enables the completion of the entire Project Basic Engineering. Reminex has also partnered with the Canadian engineering firm BBA (bba.ca) to add a further level of due diligence on design assurance, operational readiness, and risk management. This configuration allows the Company to design the project infrastructures in compliance with Moroccan requirements whilst also benefitting from the additional experience of an internationally renowned partner. Further to this, the Company intends to engage into a long-term technical partnership of its own to undertake similar functions during the upcoming EPCM phase.

The scope of works included covers the following packages:

-      Package 1: Water supply solution to mine site.

-      Package 2: Power supply solution to mine site.

-      Package 3: Mine site access including highway junction.

-      Package 4: Mine site infrastructure.

-      Package 5: Portal & access declines.

-      Package 6: Tailings Storage Facility.

About Reminex

Reminex is the Research & Development, Engineering and Project Delivery arm of Managem Group (www.managemgroup.com/en ), an international and integrated Moroccan mining group, operating for more than nine decades and established in nine countries across Africa. For 40 years, Reminex has been able to rely on the professionalism, expertise, and innovative spirit of its engineering team to deliver and improve mining assets of Managem before it recently started delivering projects for external clients that have operations in Morocco and in West Africa.

Reminex has combined capabilities in process design, mine design, project engineering, project delivery to a proven track record in operating mines and process plants in various projects including salt, gold, silver, copper, cobalt, zinc and lead in different locations including Morocco, Guinea, Sudan, Gabon, Niger, DR Congo. More relevant is the recently commissioned $200 million Tri-K gold mine in Guinea.

**ENDS**

For further information, please visit www.emmersonplc.com, follow us on Twitter (@emmerson_plc), or contact: 

Notes to Editors

Emmerson's primary focus is on developing the Project located in Morocco.  The Project has a large JORC Resource Estimate (2012) of 537Mt @ 9.24% K₂O and significant exploration potential with an accelerated development pathway targeting a low capex, high margin mine. Khemisset is perfectly located to capitalise on the expected growth of African fertiliser consumption whilst also being located on the doorstep of European markets. This unique positioning means the Project will receive a premium netback price compared to existing potash producers. The need to feed the world's rapidly increasing population is driving demand for potash and Emmerson is well placed to benefit from the opportunities this presents. The Feasibility Study released in June 2020 indicated Khemisset has the potential to be among the lowest capital cost development stage potash projects in the world and also, as a result of its location, one of the highest margin projects. This delivered outstanding economics including a post-tax NPV₈ of approximately US$1.4 billion using industry expert, Argus', price forecasts.