REG - Alba Mineral Resrcs. - GROC Update

Alba Mineral ResourcesAnnouncement

08/02/2023 07:00

For best results when printing this announcement, please click on link below:
http://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20230208:nRSH2310Pa&default-theme=true

RNS Number : 2310P  Alba Mineral Resources PLC  08 February 2023

Alba Mineral Resources Plc / EPIC: ALBA / Market: AIM / Sector: Mining

 

8 February 2023

Alba Mineral Resources Plc

("Alba" or the "Company") 

 

GROC Update

European Raw Materials Alliance Declares Official Support

for Amitsoq Graphite Project

 Alba Mineral Resources Plc (AIM: ALBA) is pleased to note the announcement
today by its portfolio company, GreenRoc Mining Plc ("GreenRoc") (AIM: GROC),
that the European Raw Materials Alliance has declared its official support for
the Amitsoq Graphite Project in southern Greenland. Alba holds a 50.6%
majority interest in GreenRoc.

The GreenRoc announcement is set out below without material changes.

 

GreenRoc Mining plc

("GreenRoc" or the "Company")

 

Amitsoq Graphite Update

European Raw Materials Alliance Declares Official Support for Amitsoq

 

GreenRoc Mining plc (AIM: GROC), a company focused on the development of
critical mineral projects in Greenland, is delighted to announce that,
following a detailed evaluation process, the European Raw Materials Alliance
("ERMA"), managed by the EIT RawMaterials, a world- leading raw materials
consortium, has declared its official support for the Company's Amitsoq
Graphite Project in southern Greenland ("Amitsoq" or the "Project").

 

Key Points

 

·      It is the primary role of ERMA to secure raw materials and raw
material supply chains for Europe to support industrial ecosystems within the
European Union.

·      ERMA and EIT RawMaterials have issued a formal letter of support
for the Amitsoq Graphite Project, stating it to be a resource of "global
importance".

·      ERMA and EIT RawMaterials have established a dedicated investment
channel for raw materials projects and have indicated their support for
GreenRoc Mining to secure the financing needed for the development of Amitsoq.

·      GreenRoc is focussed on fast-tracking the Project to production
to meet burgeoning graphite demand from electric vehicle manufacturers.

·      The letter of support follows a detailed evaluation process by
ERMA and industry technical experts.

·      The letter of support follows an almost three times increase in
the Project's Mineral Resource Estimate to 23.05 million tonnes (Mt) at an
average grade of 20.41% Graphitic Carbon ("C(g)"), giving a total graphite
content of 4.71 Mt, cementing its position as one of the very highest-grade
graphite deposits globally.

 

GreenRoc's CEO, Stefan Bernstein, commented:

 

"We believe that this declaration of support from ERMA, part of EIT
RawMaterials, is important for the development of Amitsoq. Not only does it
provide validation from the raw materials consortium of the fundamental
qualities of the Project, but it opens the door to new investment and
partnership opportunities across all stages of Amitsoq's future development as
we progress towards commercial production and meeting the pent-up demand for
graphite from European EV battery manufacturers.

 

"As part of the ERMA application process, we made detailed submissions on all
key aspects of Amitsoq, from market conditions and drivers to technical mining
and processing aspects. It is greatly encouraging, therefore, that following
the completion of such a detailed evaluation process, ERMA has decided to
confirm its support for our Project and to state that, in its opinion, Amitsoq
is a deposit of "global importance".

 

"We look forward to close collaboration with the team from ERMA as we seek to
accelerate the development of Amitsoq towards commercial production for the
benefit of our shareholders."

 

In its letter of support for the Project, which has been signed by Mr Bernd
Schäfer, Managing Director of EIT RawMaterials, and Dr Massimo Gasparon,
Director of ERMA, ERMA declares that:

 

"GreenRoc's graphite resource is of global importance and, together with the
Company's strategy, will enable the European Union to achieve a certain level
of independence for the electrical vehicle supply chain. ERMA has approved the
Amitsoq Graphite project and will engage to support its development and
financing to produce these critical raw materials for the benefit of the
European Union goals."

 

Details

 

ERMA was established to bring together all relevant stakeholders across the
European raw materials supply chain, including industrial groups, states and
regions, investors and trade unions.  ERMA is managed by EIT RawMaterials,
which was founded in 2020 by the European Institute of Innovation and
Technology ("EIT"), a body of the European Union, with the objective of
ensuring reliable, secure and sustainable access to critical and strategic raw
materials for Europe.

 

ERMA and EIT RawMaterials have established a dedicated investment channel for
raw material projects with a view to assisting those projects which are
approved following a detailed review process to secure suitable financing
packages. Pursuant to this process, GreenRoc submitted an investment proposal
for the Project, which was then subjected to a detailed evaluation by ERMA.
This included GreenRoc's CEO making a presentation to the ERMA Board and three
technical experts appointed by ERMA.

 

Following this detailed evaluation process, ERMA and EIT RawMaterials have
today issued a letter of support for the Project.  The letter of support can
be viewed by clicking on the following link or pasting it into your website
browser: http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/2310P_1-2023-2-7.pdf
(http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/2310P_1-2023-2-7.pdf)

 

ERMA offers a range of services to approved projects such as Amitsoq,
including the introduction of potential investment partners and financial
support for technical development. ERMA's activities are currently centred
upon two clusters represented by specific value chains.  Amitsoq  falls
under the "Materials for Energy Storage and Conversion" cluster.

 

About ERMA

The European Raw Materials Alliance (ERMA) aims to make Europe economically
more resilient by diversifying its supply chains, creating jobs, attracting
investments to the raw materials value chain, fostering innovation, training
young talents and contributing to the best enabling framework for raw
materials and the Circular Economy worldwide.

 

Further information on ERMA can be found on the alliance's website:
https://erma.eu/investment/

 

About Amitsoq

Amitsoq is located in the Nanortalik region of southern Greenland and has been
confirmed as one of the highest-grade flake graphite projects in the world.
GreenRoc is focused on fast-tracking the development of Amitsoq into a
producing mine in the shortest possible timeframe to meet critical demand from
Electric Vehicle ('EV') manufacturers in Europe and North America for new,
high grade and conflict-free sources of graphite.

 

Key points to note:

 

·      GreenRoc's primary focus at Amitsoq is on developing the Amitsoq
Island Deposit, which has a total inferred, indicated and measured JORC
Resource of 23.05 million tonnes (Mt) at an average grade of 20.41% Graphitic
Carbon ("C(g)"), giving a total graphite content of 4.71 Mt.

 

·      Deposits with compliant resources above 20% contained graphite
grade are scarce, with the average global grade of graphite resources being
just 8.45% (according to S&P Global).

 

·      Independent micronisation and spheronisation test work has proven
that Amitsoq graphite can be easily upgraded to high-grade anode-quality
graphite, otherwise known as high purity spherical graphite or HPSG, a key raw
material in the manufacturing of EVs.

 

·      In GreenRoc's test work programmes, Amitsoq spheronised graphite
has achieved higher than 99.95% purity with relatively little energy input and
processing and using the milder alkaline purification method compared to the
industry standard hydrofluoric acid, boding well for future production costs
and sustainability commitments.

 

·      Significant further upside exists at Amitsoq as the Amitsoq
Island Deposit is open in at least two directions with potential for
considerable further expansion via the similarly high-grade Kalaaq Mainland
Deposit as well as a series of other high-grade targets on GreenRoc's licence
package.

 

·      The deposit was in small-scale production about 100 years ago,
and there remains considerable underground mine development in place from that
time, which will be of considerable benefit to GreenRoc in the mine
construction phase.

 

 

**ENDS**

For further information, please visit www.albamineralresources.com
(http://www.albamineralresources.com/)  or contact:  

Alba Mineral Resources Plc  

George Frangeskides, Executive Chairman
+44 20 3950 0725 

 SPARK Advisory Partners Limited (Nomad)   

Andrew Emmott 
                  +44 20 3368 3555 

 OvalX (Broker)  

Thomas Smith
                       +44 20 7392 1494 

 St Brides Partners (Financial PR)  

Isabel de Salis / Catherine
Leftley
alba@stbridespartners.co.uk 

 

Alba's Projects and Investments

 Mining Projects Operated by Alba   Location   Ownership
 Clogau (gold)                      Wales      100%
 Dolgellau Gold Exploration (gold)  Wales      100%
 Gwynfynydd (gold)                  Wales      100%
 Investments Held by Alba           Location   Ownership
 GreenRoc Mining Plc (mining)       Greenland  50.6%
 Horse Hill (oil)                   England    11.765%

 

 

 

 

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact
rns@lseg.com (mailto:rns@lseg.com)
 or visit
www.rns.com (http://www.rns.com/)
.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our
Privacy Policy (https://www.lseg.com/privacy-and-cookie-policy)
.   END  UPDUBAAROUUURUR