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.
6 September 2019
Strategic Minerals plc
("Strategic Minerals", "SML" or the "Company")
Receipt of R&D Grant
Strategic Minerals plc (AIM: SML; USOTC: SMCDY), a producing mineral company actively developing projects prospective for battery materials, announces that the SML group has today received A$296,594-33 as a Research and Development grant/re-imbursement from the Australian Taxation Office in relation to works conducted at Leigh Creek Copper Mine Pty Ltd ("LCCM").
The payment recognises a portion of works conducted at LCCM and a subsequent claim is expected next year. Management is currently evaluating funding alternatives to bring forward a portion of this anticipated payment.
John Peters, Managing Director of Strategic Minerals, commented:
"The Research and Development re-imbursement reflects the substantial works being undertaken at Leigh Creek in preparation for restoring full operations in 2020. The receipt confirms our expectation of cash flow from the Australian Taxation Office and reinforces our expectation of a higher amount next year."
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 Australia along with 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 prospective for cobalt, 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 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. This was followed in 2018 with a 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. This was completed on 24 July 2019
In March 2018, the Company completed the acquisition of the Leigh Creek Copper Mine situated in the copper rich belt of South Australia and brought the project into limited production in April 2019, with full production expected in 2020.
