| Wed 4 May 2011, 8:01 | | AQP - Acquisition of mineral rights adjacent to Everest Mine |
|
AQP
AQP
AQP - Acquisition of mineral rights adjacent to Everest Mine
Aquarius Platinum Limited
(Incorporated in Bermuda)
Registration Number: EC26290
Share Code JSE: AQP
ISIN Code: BMG0440M1284
ACQUISITION OF MINERAL RIGHTS ADJACENT TO EVEREST MINE
Aquarius Platinum Limited ("Aquarius" or the "Company") is pleased to announce
that both Aquarius and Aquarius Platinum (South Africa) (Proprietary) Limited
("AQPSA") have entered into a binding Sale of Rights Agreement (the "Agreement")
with Northam Platinum Limited and its subsidiaries (the "Northam Group") to
acquire the platinum group metals ("PGM") and associated base metals mineral
rights on farms adjacent to AQPSA`s Everest Mine on the Eastern Limb of the
Bushveld Igneous Complex.
Aquarius Group companies will pay the sum of R1.2 billion at transaction close
(approximately US$179 million) to the Northam Group (net of any value added tax
and other tax charges that may arise from the transaction), subject to certain
conditions being met as more fully detailed below. The acquisition cost will be
funded both from Aquarius` existing cash resources and from future cashflow
generated by operations.
The mineral rights acquired comprise several farms underlain by both the UG2 and
Merensky reef horizons, collectively called "Booysendal South" and contain
approximately 31.1 million ounces of PGM (4E) resources (comprising 1.9 million
ounces of measured, 7.5 million ounces of indicated and 21.7 million ounces of
inferred PGM (4E) resources) after geological losses and will increase Aquarius`
current resource base by approximately 24%.
Booysendal South - Contained Resources
Reef Category Grade Resource (Moz 4E) (after
(g/t) geological losses)
UG2 Measured 3.31 1.6
Indicated 3.44 5.8
Inferred 2.95 13.3
Total 3.09 20.7
Merensky Measured 2.74 0.3
Indicated 3.21 1.7
Inferred 3.69 8.4
Total 3.56 10.4
Total Measured 3.19 1.9
Indicated 3.38 7.5
Inferred 3.19 21.7
Total 3.24 31.1
Please refer to www.aquariusplatinum.com for Fig. 1 Growth of Aquarius` PGM
Resources
Transaction Rationale
The UG2 ore body at Booysendal South is contiguous with Aquarius` Everest Mine,
and as a result Aquarius is uniquely placed to access this reef horizon in the
short to medium term from the existing Everest infrastructure. Adding Booysendal
South to the Everest mine plan has the potential to extend the life of the
Everest Mine from some 8 years to in excess of 30 plus years, while also
potentially enabling Aquarius to raise mining volumes at Everest to make use of
both current excess and potential expansion capacity at the Everest processing
plant.
The resources contained in Booysendal South are substantial and will add
significantly to Aquarius` existing resource base, in keeping with the Company`s
strategy of resource expansion.
Accessing the Booysendal South ore body from the existing Everest infrastructure
will also significantly reduce the environmental impact of mining the properties
relative to any greenfield project plan sited on the properties.
The Agreement accordingly enables Aquarius to both optimise and expand its
Everest operation with modest stay-in-business and brownfield capital
expenditures, and bring to account an important undeveloped PGM property in the
nearer term.
Please refer to www.aquariusplatinum.com for Fig. 2: Booysendal
Conditions Precedent
The closing of this transaction is subject to several conditions precedent, the
most material being:
- written consent by the Minister of Mineral Resources in terms, inter alia,
of Section 102 of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act 28 of 2002
to amend the Everest Mine Converted Mining Right to include Booysendal South and
to amend the Booysendal Converted Mining Right to exclude it;
- regulatory approvals including the approval of the South African
Competition Commission; and
- a binding tax ruling from the South African Revenue Service, acceptable to
the parties, confirming the tax consequences of the transaction.
The parties to the Agreement will co-operate with the objective of fulfilling
the conditions precedent as soon as practically possible and anticipate that it
will take between 12 to 18 months to fulfil all of them and to close the
transaction. Should all conditions precedent not be fulfilled within 24 months
of the date of signature of the Agreement, the Agreement shall terminate unless
extended by agreement between the parties.
Commenting on the acquisition, Stuart Murray, CEO of Aquarius, said:
"This acquisition is important for Aquarius, as it enables us to significantly
extend the mine life and potentially expand the production of one of our
important assets. Everest is our mine that empowerment built utilising the
proceeds of our 2003 Black Economic Empowerment transaction with the Savannah
Consortium and it is gratifying to see this particular asset potentially
transformed by this deal.
This acquisition enables Aquarius to exploit these PGM resources using existing
infrastructure, much in the way we transformed both Kroondal and Marikana
through the pool and share deals with our partners there. I anticipate a very
capital efficient expansion will ensue at Everest and the transaction will be
highly accretive to the mine`s value.
The transaction is a commercially sensible outcome for all parties in that it
represents a sensible redefining of farm boundaries to optimise both companies`
current and future operations and we look forward to a continuing good
relationship with our neighbours. This deal further underpins the implementation
of our strategy to grow our resource, reserve and future production base by
opportunistic acquisition and, together with the recent Afarak transaction
announced last month, potentially increases Aquarius` resource base by nearly
50%."
The information in this announcement that relates to Exploration Results,
Mineral Resources or Ore Reserves serves as common reference to both parties and
is based on information originally compiled by Damian Smith whilst in the employ
of Northam Platinum Limited, and has been reviewed by Ina Cilliers of Aquarius.
Damian Smith of Prospect Geoservices cc and Ina Cilliers are Members of The
Geological Society of South Africa and are registered with the South African
Council for Natural Scientific Professions, both of which are `Recognised
Overseas Professional Organisations` (`ROPO`) included in a list promulgated by
the ASX from time to time. Damian Smith and Ina Cilliers have sufficient
experience which is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit
under consideration and to the activity which they are undertaking to qualify as
Competent Persons as defined in the 2004 Edition of the `Australasian Code for
Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves`. Damian
Smith consents to the inclusion in this announcement of the matters based on his
information in the form and context in which it appears.
For further information please contact:
In the United Kingdom
Gavin Mackay
+44 7909 547 042
In Australia: In South Africa:
Willi Boehm Stuart Murray
+61 8 9367 5211 +27 (0) 11 656 1140
4 May 2011
Sponsor
RAND MERCHANT BANK (A division of FirstRand Bank Limited)
Date: 04/05/2011 08:01:02 Produced by the JSE SENS Department.
The SENS service is an information dissemination service administered by the
JSE Limited (`JSE`). The JSE does not, whether expressly, tacitly or
implicitly, represent, warrant or in any way guarantee the truth, accuracy or
completeness of the information published on SENS. The JSE, their officers,
employees and agents accept no liability for (or in respect of) any direct,
indirect, incidental or consequential loss or damage of any kind or nature,
howsoever arising, from the use of SENS or the use of, or reliance on,
information disseminated through SENS.
