REG - Beowulf Mining PLC - Preliminary Roadmap for the GAMP development

Beowulf MiningAnnouncement

26/09/2023 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:20230926:nRSZ5859Na&default-theme=true

RNS Number : 5859N  Beowulf Mining PLC  26 September 2023

 

The information contained within this announcement is deemed to constitute
inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulation ("MAR")
(EU) No. 596/2014, as incorporated into UK law by the European Union
(Withdrawal) Act 2018. Upon the publication of this announcement, this inside
information is now considered to be in the public domain.

 

 

26 September 2023

Beowulf Mining Plc

 

("Beowulf" or the "Company")

 

Preliminary Roadmap for the development of the Graphite Anode Materials Plant
in the GigaVaasa area

 

Beowulf (AIM: BEM; Spotlight: BEO), and its wholly owned Finnish subsidiary
Grafintec Oy ("Grafintec"), are pleased to provide an update on the
development plans for the Graphite Anode Materials Plant ("GAMP") in the
GigaVaasa area.

 

 

Highlights

 

·    Following the positive preliminary economics with a post-tax NPV(8)
of US$242 million and a post-tax IRR of 39%, the Company is advancing parallel
environmental and technical workstreams for the development of the GAMP.

·    The Environmental Impact Assessment ("EIA") is underway and is
expected to be completed in Q1 2024.

·    Following completion and submission of the EIA, the Company will
initiate work on the Environmental Permit process.

·    Following the conclusion of the Pre-Feasibility Study ("PFS")
technical work, bench-scale test work is scheduled to begin in October. This
will be followed by pilot-scale test work that will be critical for optimising
the process design and producing material that can be tested by future battery
manufacturers.

·    It is currently anticipated that the Definitive Feasibility Study
("DFS") will begin in mid-2024.

·    The development of the GAMP is further supported by the recently
approved European Union Critical Raw Materials Act ("CRM Act"). The CRM Act,
which includes graphite as a Critical Raw Material, sets the target of at
least 10% of the EU's annual consumption to be obtained from EU extraction and
at least 40% of the EU's annual consumption to be obtained from processing
within the EU.

 

 

Rasmus Blomqvist, Managing Director of Grafintec, commented:

 

"I am very pleased to be able to set out the development plan for the GAMP
project. The next critical phases are the completion of the EIA and further
test work, initially at bench-scale but subsequently at pilot-scale. These
phases will be followed by the Environmental Permitting process and the launch
of the DFS later in 2024."

 

 

Ed Bowie, Chief Executive Officer of Beowulf, commented:

 

"With the backdrop of the EU's CRM Act, the timing could not be better to be
developing our graphite business in Finland. We have some very clear deadlines
and deliverables that the team and I will be working hard to meet.

 

"We look forward updating the market on our progress over the coming months."

 

 

Preliminary Roadmap

 

The development plan for the GAMP is focused on two primary workstreams,
Environmental and Technical. These workstreams require synchronisation, with
outcomes from each needing to be incorporated in the other.

 

The Environmental workstream comprises the following:

·    Grafintec has appointed Finnish Engineering Consultancy AFRY Finland
Oy ("AFRY") to undertake the EIA, which is aimed to be completed in Q1 2024.

·    Following its submission, the local authority, the Centre for
Economic Development, Transport and the Environment ("ELY"), will review the
EIA before making a statement of their findings. The review process by ELY is
anticipated to take approximately three months.

·    Following completion and submission of the EIA, work will commence
towards the Environmental Permit. The Environmental Permit application, which
will take approximately six months to compile, is then submitted to the
Regional State Administrative Agency ("AVI").

·    The processing of the Environmental Permit is expected to take
approximately one year, with the final decision anticipated towards the end of
2025.

 

The Technical workstream comprises the following:

·    With the PFS technical work complete and the preliminary economics
released, the project is advancing with bench-scale test work commencing in
October, which is to be followed by pilot-scale test work.

·    On the conclusion of the first phase of pilot-scale test work in the
first half of 2024, the Definitive Feasibility Study ("DFS") will be launched.

·    The DFS is expected to take six to nine months to complete and,
during this period, pilot-scale test work will continue, generating sufficient
product for battery manufacturers to complete pre-qualification testing.

 

With the successful conclusion of the Environmental and Technical workstreams
listed above, the GAMP project will enter Front-End Engineering Design
("FEED"), financing and ultimately construction phases with first production
targeted for 2027.

 

 

CRM Act

 

The European Parliament voted on 7 September 2023, in favour of the Critical
Raw Materials Act ("CRM Act"). The CRM Act aims to ensure that the EU has
access to a secure and sustainable supply of critical raw materials, enabling
Europe to meet its 2030 climate and digital objectives.

 

The CRM Act sets benchmarks along the strategic raw-materials value-chain
(including natural graphite) and for the diversification of the EU supplies
which is currently heavily controlled by only few countries, including, for
example, China in the graphite anode materials supply chain.

 

The CRM Act set targets to be met by 2030 for:

·    at least 10% of the EU's annual consumption to be derived from EU
extraction;

·    at least 40% of the EU's annual consumption to be derived from EU
processing;

·    at least 15% of the EU's annual consumption to be derived from EU
recycling; and

·    no more than 65% of the EU's annual consumption from a single third
country

 

The CRM Act aims to reduce the administrative burden and streamlining
permitting procedures for critical raw materials projects while ensuring a
high social and environmental protection standard. The selected strategic
projects will benefit from support for access to finance and shorter
permitting procedures. See
https://single-market-economy.ec.europa.eu/sectors/raw-materials/areas-specific-interest/critical-raw-materials/critical-raw-materials-act_en
for further information.

 

With the current lack of commercial scale graphite anode materials production
within the EU, Grafintec's GAMP development in the GigaVaasa area is believed
to fulfil the requirements for classification as a strategic project.
Grafintec is assessing the procedure for the GAMP to be selected as a
strategic project. Classification as a strategic project would enable
the GAMP to take advantage of access to support for financing and streamlined
permitting procedures which will enable the company to meet its goals to be in
production by 2027.

 

 

Enquiries:

 Beowulf Mining plc
 Ed Bowie, CEO                              ed.bowie@beowulfmining.com
 SP Angel

 (Nominated Adviser & Broker)
 Ewan Leggat / Stuart Gledhill / Adam Cowl  Tel: +44 (0) 20 3470 0470
 BlytheRay
 Tim Blythe / Megan Ray                     Tel: +44 (0) 20 7138 3204

 

About Beowulf Mining plc

 

Beowulf Mining is a mining company with main activities in exploration and
development in Sweden, Finland and Kosovo. Beowulf's portfolio is diversified
by commodity, geography and stage of development of the
projects and consists primarily of iron ore, graphite, gold and base metals.
Beowulf Mining is headquartered in London, England.

 

 

Cautionary Statement

 

Statements and assumptions made in this document with respect to the Company's
current plans, estimates, strategies and beliefs, and other statements that
are not historical facts, are forward-looking statements about the future
performance of Beowulf. Forward-looking statements include, but are not
limited to, those using words such as "may", "might", "seeks", "expects",
"anticipates", "estimates", "believes", "projects", "plans", strategy",
"forecast" and similar expressions. These statements reflect management's
expectations and assumptions in light of currently available information. They
are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited
to , (i) changes in the economic, regulatory and political environments in the
countries where Beowulf operates; (ii) changes relating to the geological
information available in respect of the various projects undertaken; (iii)
Beowulf's continued ability to secure enough financing to carry on its
operations as a going concern; (iv) the success of its potential joint
ventures and alliances, if any; (v) metal prices, particularly as regards iron
ore. In the light of the many risks and uncertainties surrounding any mineral
project at an early stage of its development, the actual results could differ
materially from those presented and forecast in this document. Beowulf assumes
no unconditional obligation to immediately update any such statements and/or
forecast.

 

 

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  MSCSESFMIEDSELU