REG - Altona Rare Earths - Zambia Copper Licence Acquisition

Altona Rare EarthsAnnouncement

28/03/2024 07:15

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RNS Number : 6693I  Altona Rare Earths PLC  28 March 2024

28 March 2024

 

 

ALTONA RARE EARTHS PLC

("Altona" or "the Company")

 

 

ZAMBIA COPPER LICENSE ACQUISITION

 

Altona (LSE: REE), a resource exploration and development company focused on
critical raw materials in Africa, is pleased to announce that it has entered
into an agreement with Sustineri Group Ltd ("Sustineri") and with the
beneficial owners of Phelps Dodge Mining (Zambia) Limited (the "Target") to
acquire the entire issued share capital of Phelps Dodge Mining (Zambia)
Limited, the registered holder of Large Scale Exploration Licence 21403-HQ-LEL
("the Licence") , located in the Mufumbe District of Northwestern Province of
Zambia ("Tenement").

 

Consideration

 

The consideration for the transfer of the exclusivity over the Tenement from
Sustineri to Altona is £40,000 to be satisfied by the immediate issue of
800,000 new ordinary Altona shares ("Shares") at a price of 5p.

 

The consideration for the transfer of the Target from its present owners to
Altona will be as follows:

 

·    US$ 40,000 on completion, being the later of the date of the
acquisition of the Target and the date of renewal of the Licence, payable in
Shares at the 30 day volume-weighted average price, from which will be
deducted any costs incurred by Altona to renew the Tenement and to transfer
the Target; and

·    US$ 150,000 12 months after completion, payable in Shares at the 30
day volume-weighted average price.

 

The Tenement

 

The Tenement is located in the Mufumbe District of Northwestern Province,
Zambia. It has a surface area of approximately 616 km(2) and is valid for
copper, cobalt, nickel, lead, zinc, gold and diamonds. The Tenement is located
4 km west of the Kamweji copper occurrence, and 60 km southwest of the
Mufumbwe copper mine (22 million tonnes at 1.6% Cu), along strike.

 

Zambia is a safe and mature mining jurisdiction known for its unique geology,
dominated by the Central Africa Copper Belt, where copper, cobalt and silver
have been mined for over a century, and where world class copper deposits
continue to be discovered on a regular basis.

 

The Tenement was previously held by copper giant Freeport McMoRan until this
company's strategic decision to exit Zambia in April 2020. The Tenement has
seen prior grassroot exploration including 4,000 line kilometre of ground
magnetometer survey and a partial leach soil geochemistry survey over a 4
kilometre square grid. This work highlighted the presence of a large copper
gold silver anomaly in the Northeastern part of the Tenement, overlapping a
possible demagnetised zone.

 

Immediate exploration work will include reprocessing of the magnetometer
survey data and an ionic leach soil sampling survey at a reduced sample
spacing, ahead of defining drilling targets by the end of the year.

 

Portfolio expansion and diversification

 

This proposed acquisition represents the first step in the implementation of
the Company's updated corporate strategy announced on 19 February 2024.

 

As the Monte Muambe Prefeasibility Study is progressing with the on-going
advanced metallurgical studies, Altona recognises that the time is right for
the Company to expand and diversify its portfolio of projects in Africa. The
Company continues to actively assess additional potential new opportunities
with a focus on projects having a low-entry cost with a clear pathway to early
results and to majority ownership.

 

Cedric Simonet, CEO of Altona, commented: "Securing an asset with enough
potential to have historically attracted the attention of a major player in
the copper mining industry is a significant achievement for Altona. We are
delighted to make our entry into Zambia with this acquisition; a country where
world-class copper and cobalt discoveries regularly make the news.

 

"As mineralogy and metallurgy work at Monte Muambe continues, the Kabompo
South copper project acquisition demonstrates Altona's commitment to deliver
on its updated corporate strategy through a careful selection of a limited
number of high-quality projects."

 

Application is being made for the 800,000 Shares to be admitted to trading on
the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange which is expected to be on or
around 3 April 2024. The Shares will rank pari passu with the existing
ordinary shares of the Company. Following this issue of 800,000 shares, the
Company's enlarged share capital and total voting rights in the Company will
comprise 86,767,107. The Company has no shares held in Treasury. This figure
of 86,767,107 ordinary shares may be used by shareholders in the Company as
the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are
required to notify their interest in, or a change in their interest in, the
share capital of the Company under the FCA's Disclosure Guidance and
Transparency Rules.

 

This announcement contains information which, prior to its disclosure, was
inside information as stipulated under Regulation 11 of the Market Abuse
(Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019/310 (as amended).

 

To subscribe for RNS alerts, please visit:
https://www.altonare.com/investors/regulatory-news-alerts/
(https://www.altonare.com/investors/regulatory-news-alerts/)

 

-ends-

 

Altona Rare Earths Plc

Cedric Simonet,
CEO
+44 (0) 7778 866 108

Louise Adrian,
CFO
+44 (0) 7721 492 922

Christian Taylor Wilkinson, Business
Development
+44 (0) 7795 168 157

 

Novum Securities Ltd (Corporate
Finance)
+44 (0) 20 7399 9400

David
Coffman

Daniel Harris

 

Allenby Capital Ltd (Joint
Broker)
+44 (0)20 3328 5656

Kelly Gardiner / Guy McDougall (Sales)

Nick Athanas (Corporate Finance)

 

Optiva Securities (Joint
Broker)
+44 (0) 20 3411 1882

Daniel
Ingram

 

About Altona Rare Earths Plc

 

Altona is a resource exploration and development company focused on Critical
Raw Materials in Africa. The Company is listed on the Main Market of the
London Stock Exchange with the ticker "REE".

 

Rare Earths are a group of 17 chemical elements, many of which are critical to
the World's ongoing transition from carbon-based to renewable energies, and to
the defence and communication sectors.

 

The Company is currently developing Monte Muambe, its flagship Magnet Rare
Earths Project, located in Northwest Mozambique. The Project was acquired in
June 2021, and the Company has so far drilled over 7,800m, and defined a
maiden JORC Mineral Resource Estimate of 13.6 million tons at 2.42% TREO. A
Competent Person Report including the Scoping Study for Monte Muambe was
published on 18 October 2023. The Project is now at Prefeasibility Study
stage, with a focus on metallurgical testing and process.

 

Altona is presently assessing new critical raw material projects acquisition
opportunities, including both Rare Earths and non Rare Earths projects.

 

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