| Tue 17 Oct 2006, 15:54 | | Lonrho Africa - Uranium licences granted for Brink |
|
LAF
LOLAF
Lonrho Africa - Uranium licences granted for Brinkley Mining Plc
Lonrho Africa Plc
(Incorporated and registered in England and Wales)
(Registration number 2805337)
(Share code: LAF; ISIN number: GB0002568813)
("Lonrho Africa" or "the Company")
URANIUM LICENCES GRANTED FOR BRINKLEY MINING PLC
Lonrho is pleased to announce that Brinkley Mining Plc ("Brinkley"), in which
Lonrho has a 9.8% interest, has been granted a number of key prospecting rights
for uranium in the Karoo region of South Africa by the Republic of South
Africa"s Department of Minerals and Energy ("DME").
Lonrho"s Joint Executive Chairman and Chief Executive, David Lenigas, commented:
"This is a key milestone for Brinkley, as very few prospecting rights over
uranium fields in South Africa have been granted by the DME to date. This will
enable Brinkley to proceed with the task of drilling and defining the ultimate
potential of these high quality uranium prospects."
THE FULL TEXT OF BRINKLEY"S ANNOUNCEMENT IS AS FOLLOWS:
Brinkley Mining Plc
("Brinkley Mining", "Brinkley" or "the Company")
INITIAL SOUTH AFRICAN URANIUM RIGHTS GRANTED
The Company is pleased to announce that the Republic of South Africa"s
Department of Minerals and Energy ("DME") has granted a prospecting right for
two portions of the Waterval Prospect (comprising Portion 9 of Branderwyns Ghat
214 and the Remainder of Portion 3 of Branderwyns Ghat 214), and the Remainder
of Portion 1 of Langleegte 304 of the Rietkuil Prospects to Brinkley Mining"s
subsidiary, Western Uranium (Proprietary) Limited ("Western Uranium").
The DME has requested that any outstanding matters regarding the application are
finalized and that any further relevant documents are submitted to the DME by no
later than 13 November 2006. The DME will sign the right on or before 30
November 2006. Brinkley believes that currently there are no outstanding matters
and that the signing of the right will proceed on schedule.
In the Competent Persons Report prepared by SRK Consulting as set out in the
Company"s admission document dated 31 May 2006, SRK Consulting reported that the
Waterval Farm (in respect of which Western Uranium has now been awarded the
prospecting rights over two of the three portions, equivalent to 2,515 hectares
of the total 3,601 hectares applied for) has non-compliant historical mineral
resources of between 39,000 and 50,590 tonnes of uranium and molybdenum
mineralisation with an insitu grade of 1,690 and 1,820 parts per million ("ppm")
of Uranium Oxide. SRK Consulting estimated Brinkley"s exploration potential on
the whole of the Waterval Farm to be between 10 million and 21 million lbs of
Uranium Oxide.
In relation to the Rietkuil Farm (in respect of which Western Uranium has now
been awarded the prospecting rights over one of the three portions, equivalent
to 218 hectares of the total 7,341 hectares applied for), SRK Consulting
reported that the prospect has non - compliant historical mineral resources of
1,152,115 of uranium and molybdenum mineralisation with an insitu grade of 1,788
ppm of Uranium Oxide. SRK Consulting estimated Brinkley"s exploration potential
on whole of the Rietkuil Farm to be between 12 million and 25 million lbs of
Uranium Oxide.
In its reporting of resources over the Waterval Farm and Rietkuil Farm
prospects, SRK Consulting did not assign historical resources and estimations of
exploration potential to specific portions of the farm, and as such at this
stage there is not a specific resource assigned to each portion of the
prospects.
Western Uranium applied for prospecting rights in aggregate over five farms in
the Karoo made up of 22 portions which are considered to host significant
uranium resources. Western Uranium owns the freehold on the Waterval Farm which
encompasses two of the granted portions. The Waterval Farm was historically
drilled by Essex Minerals Company in the late 1970s. The third portion granted
is located on the prospective Rietkuil Farm which Western Uranium has sole
ownership rights to.
The Company has also today partnered with an additional Historically
Disadvantaged South African ("HDSA") partner, Summer Days Trading 3
(Proprietary) Limited ("Summer Days"). A new Shareholders Agreement has been
signed which complies with new Black Economic Empowerment policies proposed by
the DME. Summer Days is a HDSA women"s group based in Cape Town whose directors
include Ms Ncedi Mayekiso and the former mayor of Cape Town, Ms Noma-India
Mfeketo.
Under the terms of the new Shareholders Agreement, in the initial period until a
decision is made to develop a project (a "Development Decision"), Brinkley
Mining will own 49% of Western Uranium, Summer Days will own 26% and Blue
Nightingale 709 (Proprietary) Limited ("Blue Nightingale") will own 25%. As the
single largest shareholder in Western Uranium, Brinkley Mining retains Board
control and the right to appoint the Chief Executive Officer.
During the exploration phase prior to the Development Decision, Summer Days and
Blue Nightingale will benefit from a 26% free carried interest in Western
Uranium. Brinkley Mining will fund Summer Days" and Blue Nightingale"s
additional contributions by way of a loan. This loan will be non-recourse to
Summer Days and Blue Nightingale in the absence of a Development Decision but
will be repaid from 70% of cash flow due to Summer Days and Blue Nightingale
once production has commenced.
Once a Development Decision has been made Brinkley Mining has no ongoing
obligations to maintain a free carried interest or provide loan finance to
Summer Days or Blue Nightingale but will assist them to procure finance.
Western Uranium"s current budget to carry out the work necessary to reach a
Development Decision on the prospecting rights over five farms in the Karoo is
in the vicinity of GBP4 million.
In recognition of Summer Days contribution in the process of applying for and
receiving prospecting rights, Brinkley Mining has agreed to issue, subject inter
alia to approval by the South African Reserve Bank, 6.5 million new Brinkley
ordinary shares to Summer Days at par value. These shares will be subject to a
12 month lock-in arrangement from the date of issue. A further announcement will
be made in due course.
Gerard Holden, Non-Executive Chairman of Brinkley Mining commented:
"We are delighted to have been granted our first prospecting rights and look
forward to the processing of the remaining applications. These rights now
provide us with the opportunity to commence our exploration and evaluation
program on these strategic assets for South Africa."
QUALIFIED PERSON
Kiran Morzaria B.Eng (ACSM), (FGS), MBA, has reviewed the information contained
in this announcement. Kiran holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Industrial Geology)
from the Camborne School of Mines and an MBA (Finance) from CASS Business
School. He has compiled, read and approved the technical disclosure in this
regulatory announcement.
17 OCTOBER 2006
South African sponsor to Lonrho Africa Plc
Java Capital (Proprietary) Limited
Date: 17/10/2006 03:54:29 PM Produced by the JSE SENS Department
