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.
3 September 2018
Strategic Minerals plc
("Strategic Minerals", "SML" or the "Company")
CARE Gold Tenements Sale
Strategic Minerals plc (AIM: SML; USOTC: SMCDY), a producing mineral company actively developing projects prospective for battery materials, is pleased to announce that it has signed an "in principle" agreement in relation to the divestments of certain tenements, that have been identified as gold targets, currently owned by its wholly owned subsidiary, Central Australian Rare Earths Pty Ltd ("CARE"), to ASX listed Great Southern Mining Ltd ("GSN"), subject to a one week due diligence and effective transfer of title.
Highlights
· The Company has agreed to arrange the sale of the following tenements to GSN:
- E38/2829
- E38/2442
- E38/2587
- E38/2856
· The tenements in the agreement are 100% owned by CARE.
· Total consideration for the sale is AUD 145,000 to be paid by way of AUD 100,000 in cash and issuance to CARE of 1,000,000 shares in GSN at an issue price of AUD 0.045. A non-refundable deposit of AUD 50,000 will be deposited on exchange of contracts and the cash balance and the shares will be provided on transfer of title.
· 500,000 GSN shares will be subject to a voluntary escrow until 30 December 2018, with the balance voluntarily escrowed until 30 June 2019.
· The sale of these tenements channels the Company's focus for CARE on nickel/cobalt and rare earth exploration.
Commenting, John Peters, Managing Director of Strategic Minerals, said:
"As a result of the ongoing evaluation and rationalisation of the CARE tenements, the board has decided that the tenements identified as gold targets are not in line with the Company's strategy of pursuing battery-related metals and the sale of these assets allows Strategic Minerals to focus future exploration on nickel sulphides, cobalt and rare earth elements.
"The Company looks forward to updating the market shortly on its plans to undertake further drilling around Hanns Camp, notably at Hanns Camp South, which is showing good signs of nickel sulphide prospectivity."
Notes to Editors
Strategic Minerals Plc is an AIM-quoted, operating minerals company actively developing projects prospective for battery materials. It has an operation in the United States of America and development projects in the UK and Australia. The Company is focused on utilising its operating cash flows, along with capital raisings, to develop high quality projects aimed at supplying the metals and minerals being sought in the burgeoning electric vehicle/battery market.
In September 2011, Strategic Minerals acquired the Cobre magnetite tailings dam project in New Mexico, USA, a cash-generating asset, which it brought into production in 2012 and which continues to provide a revenue stream for the Company. This operating revenue stream is utilised to cover company overheads and invest in development projects orientated to supplying the burgeoning electric vehicle/battery market.
In January 2016, the portfolio was expanded 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 earth elements. The Company has since acquired all shares in Central Australian Rare Earths Pty Ltd.
In May 2016, 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 was completed in February 2017 and a drilling programme completed in 2017 resulted in a significant upgrade of the resource. Phase 1 of the 2018 drill programme is underway.
In March 2018, the Company completed the acquisition of the Leigh Creek Copper Mine situated in the copper rich belt of South Australia and is currently working to bring this into operation in 2019.
