16 August 2019
AfriTin Mining Limited
("AfriTin" or the "Company")
Working Capital Facility
&
Related Party Transaction
AfriTin Mining Limited (AIM: ATM), a tin mining company with assets in Namibia and South Africa, is pleased to announce that the Company has agreed a £2.4m working capital facility with Nedbank Namibia ("Nedbank").
Nedbank Namibia Working Capital Facility
A working capital facility (the "Nedbank Facility") of N$35,000,000 (c. £2.0 million) and a VAT facility for N$8,000,000 (c. £456,000) has been entered into today between the Company's subsidiary, AfriTin Mining Namibia Proprietary Limited and Nedbank.
The salient terms of the Facility are as follows:
· A VAT facility for N$8,000,000. This Facility is simply secured by assessed/audited VAT returns (refunds) which have not been paid by Namibia Inland Revenue yet;
· For the remaining N$35,000,000, the loan is repayable in full on the date being 12months from the date of execution and Interest accrues on the loan at a rate of JIBAR plus 3.658% (being approximately 10.7%);
· The Loan has a Facility fee of N$200,000 and an annual renewal fee of N$115,000; and
· Both AfriTin, as the parent company of AfriTin Mining Namibia Proprietary Limited, and Bushveld Minerals Limited ("Bushveld"), a shareholder holding approximately 8% of the Company, have offered surety for the loan to Nedbank as collateral in the form of a joint suretyship from AfriTin and Bushveld.
o The Bushveld suretyship will be limited to N$30,000,000 (i.e. the current standby working capital facility amount); and,
o In the unlikely event of default, Nedbank will first call on the suretyship of the parent company of the AfriTin Group (i.e. AfriTin Mining Limited). In the event that AfriTin Mining Limited cannot make payment, it is only at this point that Nedbank will call upon the Bushveld suretyship of N$30,000,000.
Related Party Transaction
As announced on 22 May 2019 (the "Announcement"), AfriTin and Bushveld had entered into a £1.7m (ZAR 30m) Standby Working Capital Facility ("SWC Facility"). However, it has been agreed that the SWC Facility will be amended, so that instead of providing the SWC Facility to AfriTin, Bushveld will stand surety for the Nedbank Facility for £1.7m (ZAR30m). Bushveld retains its security for the surety from the SWC Facility, (the terms of the security are as set out in the Announcement) and in the event the surety is called upon by Nedbank, the terms of that draw down, as set out in the Announcement, will also apply.
As Bushveld have held more than 10% of the Company's shares in the last 12 months, the execution of this addendum is treated as a related party transaction under the AIM Rules. The directors of the Company, with the exception of Anthony Viljoen who is a director of Bushveld , consider that, having consulted with WH Ireland, the Company's nominated adviser, the terms of the transaction are fair and reasonable insofar as the Company's shareholders are concerned.
Anthony Viljoen, CEO of AfriTin Mining, commented:
"This Facility will enable the technical team to focus on a successful ramp-up in order to achieve the design capacity of the Phase 1 Pilot Plant as the Company transitions into cashflow. Procuring financing from a local Namibian financial institution highlights that there is sufficient comfort and belief in AfriTin's long-term business case and emphasises the importance of the Uis Tin Mine to the national economy.
Having secured a working capital facility for the ramp-up phase of the Pilot Plant, AfriTin is on track to creating the first revenue-generating, conflict-free asset in our portfolio."
Additional Related Party Transaction
At the same time, the Company has also executed a consultancy agreement with its Non-Executive Director, Laurence Robb, pursuant to which Laurence will receive £2000 per month (plus reasonable travel expenses) in return for undertaking additional geology related-work on behalf of the Company, including identifying and evaluating potential acquisition opportunities (the " Consultancy Agreement").
As Laurence Robb is a Non-Executive Director of the Company the execution of the Consultancy Agreement is treated as a related party transaction under the AIM Rules. The directors of the Company, with the exception of Laurence Robb who is a party to the transaction, consider that having consulted with WH Ireland, the Company's nominated adviser, the terms of the transaction are fair and reasonable insofar as the Company's shareholders are concerned.
The Company also anticipates announcing first tin concentrate and the execution of an offtake agreement shortly.
The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information under the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014.
For further information, please visit www.afritinmining.com or contact:
AfriTin Mining Limited |
|
Anthony Viljoen, CEO |
+27 (11) 268 6555 |
Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker |
|
WH Ireland Limited Katy Mitchell James Sinclair-Ford |
+44 (0) 207 220 1666 |
Corporate Adviser and Joint Broker |
|
H&P Advisory Limited Andrew Chubb Jay Ashfield Nilesh Patel |
+44 (0) 20 7907 8500 |
Joint Broker |
|
NOVUM Securities Limited Jon Belliss |
+44 (0)20 7399 9400 |
Financial PR (United Kingdom) |
|
Tavistock |
+44 (0) 207 920 3150 |
Jos Simson Barney Hayward |
|
About AfriTin Mining Limited
Notes to Editors
AfriTin Mining is the first pure tin company listed in London and its vision is to create a portfolio of world-class, conflict-free, tin-producing assets. The Company's flagship asset is the Uis brownfield tin mine in Namibia, formerly the world's largest hard-rock tin mine.
AfriTin is managed by an experienced board of directors and management team with a current two-fold strategy: fast track Uis brownfield tin mine in Namibia to commercial production in 2019 ramping up to 5,000 tonnes of tin concentrate, and consolidation of other quality African tin assets. The Company strives to capitalise on the solid supply/demand fundamentals of tin by developing a critical mass of tin resource inventory, achieving production in the near term and further scaling production by consolidating tin assets in Africa.
