| Fri 21 Jan 2011, 9:00 | | AEA - African Eagle Resources plc - Placing to raise GBP3.7 million |
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AEA
AEA
AEA - African Eagle Resources plc - Placing to raise GBP3.7 million
oversubscribed
African Eagle Resources plc
Incorporated in England and Wales
(Registration number 3912362)
(AIM share code: AFE AIM ISIN: GB0003394813)
(JSE share code: AEA JSE ISIN: GB0003394813)
PLACING TO RAISE GBP3.7 MILLION OVERSUBSCRIBED
African Eagle Resources plc ("African Eagle" or the "Company", AIM: AFE and
AltX: AEA) is pleased to announce that a placing of 23,860,000 new ordinary
shares in the London market was oversubscribed, and successfully raised GBP3.7
million at 15.5p per share.
The proceeds of the placing, together with the Company`s current net cash of
some GBP3.25 million, will be used to maintain the momentum of work on the pre-
feasibility study and bankable feasibility study for the Dutwa nickel laterite
project in Tanzania, and to fund the general working capital requirements of the
Group.
African Eagle chairman Euan Worthington, commented today: "We are delighted to
have received such a high level of support from new and existing institutional
shareholders for this capital raising, which was oversubscribed. With our
brokers, we have been putting a lot of effort into explaining the Dutwa project
to UK institutional investors. It recently became clear that there was strong
demand for our shares, not only from existing shareholders but also from other
institutional investors. Although we budgeted our current cash to be sufficient
to complete the pre-feasibility study, we considered it prudent to have a
reserve, in view of the weak pound and current inflationary trends."
"I would like to thank MWB Limited and Anglo Pacific Group plc, two important
shareholders, for raising their stakes and to welcome two new major institutions
onto our shareholders` register."
"We are maintaining good progress on the Dutwa project and expect continuing
news flow between now and the completion of the pre-feasibility study in Q3. We
continue to deliver on our intention to spin out our legacy assets, with
valuable deals already completed on uranium and gold projects. The Board
recently delegated our COO, Chris Davies, to spin out our Zambian copper assets
into a new vehicle, with a view to a listing or sale."
Details of the placing
Seymour Pierce and Ocean Equities, the company`s joint brokers, arranged a
placing of 23,860,000 new ordinary shares at a price of 15.5p each (the
"Placing"), to raise gross proceeds of approximately GBP3.7 million with new and
existing investors. The Placing represents approximately 5.83% of the issued
ordinary share capital of the Company, as enlarged by the Placing. The expenses
of the Placing will be approximately GBP0.2 million.
The Company has made an application for the 23,860,000 new shares to be admitted
to trading on AIM and listing on AltX, with dealings expected to commence on 26
January 2011. Following the placement, the total number of shares allotted and
issued will be 409,154,128.
Bevan Metcalf
Company Secretary
Sponsor
Merchantec Capital
21 January 2011
For further information on African Eagle, see the Company`s web site
www.africaneagle.co.uk or contact one of the following:
Euan Worthington / Mark Parker
African Eagle Resources plc
+44 20 7248 6059
+44 77 5640 6899
Jeremy Stephenson / Nicola Marrin
Seymour Pierce Limited, London
Nominated Adviser and Co-Broker
+ 44 20 7107 8000
Guy Wilkes
Ocean Equities Limited, London
Co-broker
+ 44 20 7786 4370
Charmane Russell / Marion Brower
Russell & Associates, Johannesburg
+ 27 11 8803924
+ 27 82 8928052
Ed Portman / Leesa Peters
Tavistock Communications, London
+ 44 20 7920 3150
+ 44 77 3336 3501
Dutwa project overview
African Eagle is developing the major Dutwa nickel project in Tanzania. The
Company discovered Dutwa in 2008 and is now conducting a feasibility study.
Economic modelling in late 2010 indicated a pre-tax project NPV of US$650
million at a nickel price of $8/lb, with an estimated average cash cost of
$3.37/lb nickel. The model was based on throughput of 3 million tonnes per year
for 26 years with processing by atmospheric tank leaching to a mixed hydroxide
intermediate product, requiring estimated initial capex of $600M and yielding
life of mine earnings of $8.2bn at $8/lb nickel. The mining schedule was derived
from Whittle optimisations of block models of an October 2010 inferred mineral
resources. The financial models will be progressively improved as the
feasibility study progresses.
Mineral resources are currently 98.6 million tonnes grading 0.93% nickel and
0.02% cobalt, of which 46.2 million tonnes are in the JORC indicated category
and the remainder in the JORC inferred category. The Company believes that
further drilling will increase the total resource by up to 10Mt.
The Dutwa project consists of two nickel laterite deposits which form the caps
of two ridges about 7km apart. The current JORC mineral resources, at a 0.43%
nickel equivalent cut-off, are 98.6Mt grading 0.93% nickel and 0.02% cobalt,
containing in total 948,000 tonnes nickel metal equivalent. Of this, about half
is now in the indicated category and half in the inferred. Because the deposits
are at the surface, mining will be straightforward and strip ratios very low.
The Ni equivalent grade (NiEq) is calculated using the following formula:
NiEq = Ni + ( Co * (RCo/RNi) * (PCo/PNi) ) = Ni + (Co * 1.32)
using metal prices (P) of US$10/pound Ni and US$17/pound Co, and metal recovery
factors (R) of 90% for Ni and 70% for Co, derived from metallurgical test work
conducted by African Eagle.
The Company believes that the resources can be increased by another 8Mt to 10Mt
with further drilling. There is also future upside at Zanzui, 50km to the south,
where the Company is evaluating another significant nickel laterite resource,
and at Nyawa, 15km west of Dutwa.
Metallurgical tests have shown that the nickel ores are unusually easy to
process, giving good recoveries from heap or tank leaching at atmospheric
pressure, with no need for costly high pressure acid leach (HPAL).
African Eagle currently holds a 90% interest in the eastern Wamangola deposit,
which hosts approximately 60% of the total resource, with an option to acquire
100%. The Company has signed a joint venture with the SAFINA Group of the Czech
Republic under which African Eagle will earn an interest of between 50% and 75%
in the western Ngasamo deposit by conducting and funding evaluation work. On
completion of the feasibility study, the two companies` joint venture interests
will be converted into equity in the combined project. African Eagle estimates
that it will then hold about 76% of the equity.
About African Eagle
Since discovering a major nickel oxide deposit at Dutwa in Tanzania, African
Eagle is in transition from an explorer into a nickel company. The company
completed a positive scoping study on the Dutwa deposit in July 2009 and is now
working towards a feasibility study.
In addition to Dutwa, African Eagle is also evaluating a second promising nickel
oxide at Zanzui, which is located 60km from Dutwa. The Company holds a 49%
interest in the Mkushi Copper Mines joint venture in Zambia, for which a draft
feasibility study was completed in Q4 2008. It also holds a half million ounce
gold resource at the Miyabi project in Tanzania, and a portfolio of gold and
base metal exploration assets, including two projects in the Zambian Copperbelt.
Date: 21/01/2011 09:00:01 Produced by the JSE SENS Department.
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