Picture of Capital Metals logo

CMET Capital Metals News Story

0.000.00%
gb flag iconLast trade - 00:00
Basic MaterialsHighly SpeculativeMicro CapSucker Stock

REG - Capital Metals PLC - Project Update

For best results when printing this announcement, please click on link below:
http://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20220713:nRSM2465Sa&default-theme=true

RNS Number : 2465S  Capital Metals PLC  13 July 2022

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION AS STIPULATED UNDER THE UK
VERSION OF THE MARKET ABUSE REGULATION NO 596/2014 WHICH IS PART OF ENGLISH
LAW BY VIRTUE OF THE EUROPEAN (WITHDRAWAL) ACT 2018, AS AMENDED.  ON
PUBLICATION OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT VIA A REGULATORY INFORMATION SERVICE, THIS
INFORMATION IS CONSIDERED TO BE IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN.

 

13 July 2022

 

Capital Metals plc

("Capital Metals" or the "Company")

Project Update

Capital Metals (AIM: CMET) is pleased to provide an update on the Eastern
Minerals heavy mineral sands project in Sri Lanka (the "Project"), one of the
highest-grade mineral sands projects globally, which is closely approaching
the final investment decision for development.

The Board and local management team are monitoring the economic and political
developments in Sri Lanka. The Board expects that recent political changes
should enable change to occur more rapidly with increased international
cooperation and an overriding requirement to encourage foreign investment and
job creation in the country. The local management team's focus has been on
advancing discussions with the Geological Survey and Mines Bureau ("GSMB") to
advance the Industrial Mining Licence ("IML") and, as there are currently
limited field activities, the day-to-day operations have been largely
unaffected. We are pleased with progress on several key areas which are
necessary to commence mine development, as outlined below.

Industrial Mining Licence

The Company is in continual contact with the GSMB for the purposes of
obtaining the IML and the Board has been encouraged by recent ongoing levels
of interaction. The Board believes all relevant stakeholders are focused on
achieving this objective in an expedient manner despite the current economic
and political situation.

Metallurgical Process Test Work

IHC Mining is continuing its Metallurgical Process Test Work Study, which will
enable the confirmation and refining of process flowsheets defined in the IHC
Development Study and provide updated product specifications to assist with
ongoing discussions with off-takers.

THM Composition

In cooperation with the Company's technical team, the Laboratory of the GSMB
is currently analysing the mineral assemblage of the Total Heavy Minerals
("THM") from the 2021 drilling programme which will provide the specific
details on percentage and grade of ilmenite, zircon, rutile, and garnet. It
will also provide further data on mineral assemblage to complement the
Metallurgical Process Test Work Study results. The completion of this analysis
has been impacted by the energy and fuel shortages in Sri Lanka.

Oluvil Port

Discussions with the Sri Lanka Ports Authority ("SLPA") for the use by the
Company of Oluvil Port for processing infrastructure and export facilities are
ongoing and negotiations are continuing.

Michael Frayne, Chief Executive Officer, commented:

"The current situation continues to be very challenging for all Sri Lankans
and we are therefore even more focussed on maintaining our support for our
local staff and the Project communities during this time.

Clearly the award of the IML will be pivotal in unlocking the value of the
Project. Whilst we cannot control the timing of its issuance, we remain in
regular and constructive dialogue with the relevant authorities and are
responding to frequent information requests, which we believe is a positive
indication of progress. In a similar vein, the support we are now seeing from
the SLPA for usage of the Oluvil Port is reassuring given the significant
benefit it will provide to the local community and the Project. We believe the
Sri Lankan government and departments recognise the critical necessity to
accelerate the development of foreign direct investment and export income
generating projects like ours.

We continue to have positive discussions with prospective offtakers who are
interested in our products, with the objective that such parties will form a
significant part of the future capex funding package.

Our Project remains one of the highest-grade mineral sands projects globally.
Demand for our products is strong and we share a common interest with Sri
Lanka in bringing the Eastern Minerals Project into production."

 

For further information, please visit www.capitalmetals.com or contact:

 Capital Metals plc                           Via Vigo Consulting

 Michael Frayne (CEO)

 James Mahony (CFO)
 Vigo Consulting (Investor Relations)         +44 (0)20 7390 0234

 Ben Simons / Oliver Clark                    capitalmetals@vigoconsulting.com
 SPARK Advisory Partners (Nominated Adviser)  +44 (0)20 3368 3554

 Neil Baldwin / James Keeshan
 WH Ireland Limited (Joint Broker)            +44 (0)20 7220 1666

 Harry Ansell / Katy Mitchell
 Tavira Securities Limited (Joint Broker)     +44 (0)20 7100 5100

 Jonathan Evans / Oliver Stansfield

 

About Capital Metals

Capital Metals is developing the Eastern Minerals Project in Sri Lanka,
approximately 220km east of Colombo. The Project is one of the highest-grade
mineral sands projects globally, with a current JORC Resource of 17.2Mt with
an average grade of 17.6% Total Heavy Minerals, and potential for significant
resource extension. In May 2022, a third-party Preliminary Economic Assessment
("PEA") provided an NPV for the Project of US$155-235M based on existing
resources, with further identified optimisation potential. The PEA outlined an
attractive low funding requirement of US$37.3M, with expansions funded through
cashflows from the Project, which is forecast to deliver US$645M of revenue
and net operating cashflows of US$391M.

 

Our goal is to become a high margin producer of mineral sands for the
international market, with a commitment to applying best-in-class mining
practices and bringing significant positive benefits to Sri Lanka and the
local community.  We expect over 300 direct new jobs to be created and over
US$100m in direct government royalties and taxes to be paid.

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  MSCBKBBDFBKDDOD

Recent news on Capital Metals

See all news