27 October 2015
Strategic Minerals plc
("Strategic Minerals" or the "Company")
Appointment of Acting Mine Manager for Tatu Operations
Strategic Minerals plc (AIM: SML; USOTC: SMCDY), the diversified mineral development and production company, is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr Lincoln Smith of Terra Firma Mining Services as acting mine manager and site senior executive for the Tatu Coal project located on the North Island of New Zealand.
Mr Smith has worked in the underground mining industry for over 22 years as a Miner, Deputy, Under Manager, Production Manager and Mine Manager and specialises in difficult mining conditions and non-routine mining activities, such as recovering fallen roadways, cavity support and recovery operations. Accordingly, he has considerable experience in strata control, productivity improvement and mining optimisation projects.
Mr Smith has been heavily involved in underground equipment selection and visited a number of European and Australian operations to assess mining conditions and equipment capabilities, particularly as they relate to the geological challenges encountered in some regions of New Zealand. He is registered as a Mine Incident Controller with WorkSafe New Zealand.
Commenting on the appointment, Mr John Peters, Strategic Minerals' Managing Director, said: "Lincoln is a seasoned and respected New Zealand underground miner who has been advising Strategic Minerals on its planned bulk sample extraction at its Tatu Coal project. His appointment reflects the expected extraction of the coal bulk sample from the proposed Tatu coal mine.
"With the recent announcement by Solid Energy of the closure of the Huntly East coal mine (located on the North Island of New Zealand), and its intention not to look to on-sell the mine, we believe the results from our bulk sample should be of keen interest to those local companies sourcing coal from this region and whose operations are geared to this particular type of coal."
For further information, please contact:
Strategic Minerals plc John Peters Managing Director |
+61 414 727 965 |
Allenby Capital Limited Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker Jeremy Porter James Reeve |
+44 (0)20 3328 5656 |
Cornhill Capital Limited Joint Broker James Sheehan Colin Rowbury |
+44 (0)20 3700 2516 |
Yellow Jersey PR Financial PR Dominic Barretto Alistair de Kare-Silver |
+44 (0)7768 537 739 |
Notes to Editors
Strategic Minerals plc is an AIM quoted, diversified mineral development and production company, with projects in the United States of America and New Zealand. The Company is focused on acquiring and developing cash generative, high quality projects which meet local market demand for commodities.
In September 2011, the Strategic Minerals purchased, its first cash generating asset, the Cobre magnetite tailings dam project in New Mexico, USA which it brought into production in 2012 and which continues to provide a revenue stream for the Company. The portfolio was expanded in March 2015 with the acquisition of the Tatu Coal Mine located in North Island, New Zealand. Strategic Minerals is now developing this project with the expectation it will make its first thermal coal sales by H1 2016.
