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.
8th April 2019
Strategic Minerals plc
("Strategic Minerals", "SML" or the "Company")
Settlement of the Balance of the Redmoor Acquisition set for 30 May 2019
Strategic Minerals plc (AIM: SML; USOTC: SMCDY), a producing mineral company actively developing projects prospective for battery materials, is pleased to announce that further to the announcement made on 18 March 2019, the Company has been informed by New Age Exploration Limited ("NAE") that it will not be required to refer its decision to sell its entire 50% shareholding in Cornwall Resources Limited ("CRL"), the joint venture vehicle developing the Redmoor Tin/Tungsten project in Cornwall ("Redmoor"), to shareholders at a general meeting. Considering this information, NAE and SML have agreed on a settlement date for the transaction of 30 May 2019. The settlement is subject to NAE confirming the form of both the promissory note and royalty stream, although this is considered largely an administrative process and not likely to delay settlement.
Commenting, John Peters, Managing Director, Strategic Minerals, said:
"Recent meetings with wholesale mining investment funds have highlighted the level of interest that the Redmoor Tin/Tungsten project has engendered.
"We are pleased that, subject to standard documentation, the contract will settle at the end of May 2019 and the Company will gain full control on project timing and investment. The Company looks forward to developing Redmoor to Pre-Feasibility status, at which time it believes it can better demonstrate the project's underlying value to the market."
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 distribution rights to 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 September 2018, the Company entered contracts for the sale of certain CARE tenements that have been identified as gold targets.
In May 2016, the Company entered into an agreement with New Age Exploration Limited and, in February 2017, acquired 50% of the Redmoor Tin/Tungsten project in Cornwall, UK. The bulk of the funds from the Company's investment were utilised to complete a drilling programme that year. The drilling programme resulted in a significant upgrade of the resource. The 12-hole 2018 drilling programme has now been completed and the resource update that resulted was announced in February 2019. In March 2019, the Company entered into arrangements to acquire the balance of the Redmoor Tin/Tungsten project in Cornwall, UK.
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.
