Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure
Certain information contained in this announcement would have been deemed inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 until the release of this announcement.
2 June 2017
Strategic Minerals plc
("Strategic Minerals" or the "Company" or "SML")
Cobre Magnetite Operations Update
Strategic Minerals PLC (AIM: SML; USOTC; SMCDY), the diversified mineral production and development company, announces that its wholly owned subsidiary Southern Minerals Group ("SMG") has received the final payment of US$175,000 due under its rail settlement agreement with the rail provider at the Cobre magnetite tailings operation ('Cobre'), New Mexico, USA and has confirmed and commenced its substantial new contract to supply a minimum of 4,000 tons of magnetite per month.
The receipt yesterday of US$175,000, in relation to the rail settlement reached in July 2016, completes the balance of the US$675,000 due under the agreement.
As reported on 10 April 2017, SMG contracted with a substantial new client to supply a minimum of 4,000 tons of magnetite per month (minimum 48,000 tons in a full year). This client has, in addition to lodging a US$250,000 deposit, now confirmed and commenced the contract. Both SMG and the client have worked closely to deliver this result and the level of co-operation shown by both sides augurs well for the term of the contract.
Commenting, John Peters, Managing Director of Strategic Minerals, said:
"The commencement of the new contract at Cobre provides the potential to double our existing record breaking sales performance and sets the Company on a profitable course for the years ahead. By underwriting an additional minimum 4,000 tons per month and with this likely to improve our existing profit margins at Cobre, the cash and profitability of the overall Strategic Minerals group appears strong and improving.
"The commencement of the new contract at Cobre, combined with the receipt of the final payment due under the rail settlement agreement, places Strategic Minerals in a healthy cash position ready to internally fund proposed drilling requirements for our Redmoor and CARE projects in the UK and Australia, as well as opening up potential for involvement in additional projects."
For further information, please contact:
Strategic Minerals plc +61 (0) 414 727 965
John Peters
Managing Director
www.strategicminerals.net
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Notes to Editors
Strategic Minerals Plc is an AIM-quoted, diversified mineral development and production company with projects in the United States of America, the UK and Australia. The Company is focused on acquiring and developing cash generative, high quality projects which meet local market demand for commodities and utilising this cash flow to undertake value added exploration.
In September 2011, 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 January 2016 with the acquisition of shares in Central Australian Rare Earths Pty Ltd, which holds tenements in Western Australia and the Northern Territory that are prospective for cobalt, gold, nickel sulphides and rare earths. The Company has since acquired all shares in Central Australian Rare Earths Pty Ltd. In May 2016, an additional exploration asset was acquired when the company entered into an agreement with New Age Exploration Limited to acquire up to 50% of the Redmoor Tin/Tungsten project in Cornwall, UK. This 50% acquisition has now been completed and drilling at the project has commenced.
