REG - Asiamet Res Ltd - Corporate Update

Asiamet ResourcesAnnouncement

30/10/2023 07:15

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RNS Number : 6875R  Asiamet Resources Limited  30 October 2023

30 October 2023

 

Corporate Update

 

Asiamet Resources Limited ("Asiamet" or the "Company") announces a further
update in relation to the Company's wholly owned, feasibility stage, BKM
copper project located in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia.

Debt Finance Process

·    The final version of the Independent Technical Expert (ITE) report
from SRK Consulting has been issued and delivered to the prospective Lead
Bank. The bank will now commence its commercial and financial analysis leading
to the request for initial credit committee approval to act as lead arranger
for the BKM project debt finance.

·    Pathway meetings for completion of prospective Lead Bank credit
committee approvals have been held and remain ongoing. All parties are focused
on delivering this initial approval before end of this calendar year.

·    Based on progress to date, the Company intends to engage with
selected Indonesian banks as part of our broader funding progress. The Company
will leverage off board members' long-established relationships with leading
local banks to execute the funding plan.

Offtake and Prepayment Financing

·    Discussions for prepayment (offtake) finance for the project continue
with a detailed review of the indicative term sheet completed and feedback to
be provided to the international metals trading group.

·    Several prospective prepayment (offtake) finance providers remain
actively engaged with another two groups  recently commencing diligence.

EPC Engagement

·    Following significant engagement with Chinese and Indonesian
engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) and EPC management (EPCM)
groups, the Company intends to soon engage  highly reputable engineering
teams from both jurisdictions to deliver the next phase of project engineering
works. The Company looks forward to updating the market further once these
appointments have been made.

Other Items

·    The Company is progressing a detailed assessment of sources of
suitable Biomass material from Palm Oil Plantations, Palm Oil Mills and Timber
Processing Facilities for the proposed Biomass Power Plant to supply power to
the BKM site. The assessment will feed into optimisation of the location of
the power station.

·    Pyrite (iron sulphide mineral) contained within the BKM copper
resource has the potential to be an important source of sulphur for production
of sulphuric acid needed for the ever-increasing production of nickel in
Indonesia using acid leach processing (HPAL). A pyrite/copper concentrate
resource has the potential to be a valuable future source of feedstock for
acid plants tied to HPAL processing of nickel laterites. Cost-effective
transportation is key to unlocking the value of this resource and a work
programme has been initiated to study transportation costs for concentrate
from BKM to known locations of HPAL nickel processing in the country.

·    A preliminary technical review relating to pyrite contained within
BKM deposit has been undertaken and a workplan developed to improve confidence
in the resource. This work will be actioned upon receipt of a positive
transportation cost study. This work feeds into the longer- term strategy for
developing BKM's greater copper resources and eventually metal concentrates
from BKZ and other polymetallic deposits at KSK. Further details will be
reported as work is completed.

 

Darryn McClelland, Chief Executive Officer, commented:

"Our primary message in this latest update centres on the completion and
delivery of the ITE technical due diligence report, a crucial step in the debt
finance process. As debt financings of this nature are generally supported by
a syndicate of banks, we will shortly commence engaging with senior Indonesian
banks most likely to join the BKM project debt finance consortium. We look
forward to moving through this next stage of the project financing process.

In addition to the copper offtake term sheet, we have received further
interest from additional groups expressing a desire to secure BKM's future
copper cathode units and are advancing due diligence processes with these
parties. Engagement is positive and we will update further as these
discussions evolve.

An area of key focus is the engagement of engineering resources for the next
phase of the BKM project execution. Positive engagement with groups during the
BKM Feasibility Study update and in activities since its release have provided
confidence in selecting key groups to take the project forward. I look forward
to soon being able to share details of these engagements.

Our project and corporate fronts are a hive of activity, and we are committed
to providing regular updates on progress. The corporate development team is
also very actively assessing and evaluating in-bound interest for a range of
scenarios relating to project and corporate level investment.

October has been another very busy month for the Company with the successful
delivery of the ITE report to the potential lead bank, a key milestone for
securing debt finance and a clear demonstration of the excellent progress
being made by the Asiamet team. We have made some big strides and are excited
to be closing in on several major de-risking milestones for the Company and
its stakeholders."

 

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Darryn McClelland, Chief Executive Officer

-Ends-

 

For further information, please contact:

 

Darryn McClelland
Chief Executive Officer, Asiamet Resources Limited

Email: darryn.mcclelland@asiametresources.com
(mailto:darryn.mcclelland@asiametresources.com)

 

Tony Manini
Executive Chairman, Asiamet Resources Limited

Email: tony.manini@asiametresources.com
(mailto:tony.manini@asiametresources.com)

 

Investor Enquiries

Sasha Sethi

Telephone: +44 (0) 7891 677 441

Email: Sasha@flowcomms.com (mailto:Sasha@flowcomms.com) /
info@asiametresources.com

Nominated & Financial Adviser
Strand Hanson Limited

James Spinney / James Dance / Rob Patrick

Telephone: +44 20 7409 3494

Email: asiamet@strandhanson.co.uk (mailto:asiamet@strandhanson.co.uk)

 

Broker

Optiva Securities Limited
Christian Dennis

Telephone: +44 20 3137 1903

Email: Christian.Dennis@optivasecurities.com
(mailto:Christian.Dennis@optivasecurities.com)

 

Follow us on twitter @AsiametTweets

 

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENT

This news release contains forward-looking statements that are based on the
Company's current expectations and estimates. Forward-looking statements are
frequently characterised by words such as "plan", "expect", "project",
"intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "suggest", "indicate" and other
similar words or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will"
occur. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to
differ materially from estimated or anticipated events or results implied or
expressed in such forward-looking statements.   Such factors include, among
others: the actual results of current exploration activities; conclusions of
economic evaluations; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be
refined; possible variations in ore grade or recovery rates; accidents, labour
disputes and other risks of the mining industry; delays in obtaining
governmental approvals or financing; and fluctuations in metal prices.  There
may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as
anticipated, estimated or intended.  Any forward-looking statement speaks
only as of the date on which it is made and, except as may be required by
applicable securities laws, the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to
update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information,
future events or results or otherwise. Forward-looking statements are not
guarantees of future performance and accordingly undue reliance should not be
put on such statements due to the inherent uncertainty therein.

 

 

 

 

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