REG - East Star Resources - Grant from BHP & Appointment of Director

East Star ResourcesAnnouncement

22/01/2024 15:00

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RNS Number : 5015A  East Star Resources PLC  22 January 2024

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION FOR THE PURPOSES OF ARTICLE 7 OF
REGULATION 2014/596/EU WHICH IS PART OF DOMESTIC UK LAW PURSUANT TO THE MARKET
ABUSE (AMENDMENT) (EU EXIT) REGULATIONS (SI 2019/310) ("UK MAR"). UPON THE
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CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF THE RELEVANT LAWS OF SUCH JURISDICTION.

 

22 January 2024

East Star Resources Plc

("East Star" or the "Company")

US$0.5M Grant from BHP for Copper Porphyry Exploration, Kazakhstan

&

Appointment of Director

 

East Star Resources Plc (LSE:EST), which is defining mineral resources in
Kazakhstan for the energy revolution, is delighted to announce it has been
selected to receive a grant of up to US$0.5 million from BHP under the 2024
BHP Xplor programme to initiate a copper porphyry exploration strategy in
Kazakhstan.

 

Highlights:

 ·             Non-dilutive grant funding to advance East Star's copper porphyry exploration
               strategy
 ·             Exploration programme managed by East Star, supported by BHP Xplor with full
               access to BHP's expertise and global partnerships
 ·             Chris van Wijk, a geologist who developed the porphyry exploration strategy
               with East Star, to join Board as Non-Executive Director

Alex Walker, East Star CEO, commented:

"We are extremely proud that BHP has chosen to work with East Star with the
provision of $500,000 of non-dilutive grant funding to look for major new
copper porphyry deposits in the region. Porphyry deposits are the primary
deposit style for copper production in the world and Kazakhstan is host to
several exceptional but significantly under explored regions that contain a
number of world-class copper porphyry mines. This is an exciting new strand to
our copper strategy as we progress both porphyry and VMS exploration."

 

Alongside this, we are delighted to welcome Chris van Wijk as a Non-Executive
Director. Chris has exceptional exploration pedigree, having conducted joint
venture management and project evaluation for major mining companies and
having been involved in several exploration success stories. Chris enabled
East Star to develop this opportunity and his technical expertise will be a
valuable addition to our Board and exploration portfolio."

Head of the BHP Xplor Program, Charlee Johnson, commented:

"The diversity and quality of the submissions amongst the applicants is
amazing and inspiring. We are excited to partner with East Star and help bring
their ideas and passion for their exploration projects to life. We aim to
accelerate this process and create disruptive results with new concepts, data
and testing opportunities."

Copper Porphyry Exploration Strategy

 

East Star has developed a strategy of regional target generation for copper
porphyry deposits, principally focussed on the Balkash-Ili magmatic arc, host
to the Kounrad deposit (~650Mt @ 0.59% Cu) and Aktogai-Aidarly (~2.5Bt @ 0.39%
Cu). By applying modern mineral systems concepts with advanced desktop
analytical techniques and on the ground geological confirmation, East Star
intends to secure several exploration licences within the area of interest for
further field work. The BHP Xplor grant will be directed towards licence
costs, field programmes, desktop evaluation work, and staff and administrative
costs in the execution of the work plan. The programme will be managed by East
Star with guidance from the BHP Xplor and wider expert team.

 

About BHP Xplor

BHP Xplor is a cohort-based world-first accelerator programme, dedicated to
unearthing new critical mineral deposits by uniting BHP experts, thought
leaders and innovative mineral explorers to offer participants with the
opportunity to accelerate their exploration concepts and the potential to
establish a long-term partnership with BHP. The programme offers participants
funding, mentorship and coaching, and connection into BHP's network of
suppliers and service providers.

BHP Xplor merges concepts from both venture-capital and early-stage
accelerators, to establish a fit-for-purpose exploration portfolio of
innovative, early-stage mineral exploration companies and helps drive their
exploration campaigns. The programme provides candidates with a one-off,
non-dilutive grant of up to US$500,000, together with in-kind services,
mentorship, networking opportunities with industry and investors and
connections. The grant is a once off opportunity and there are no obligations
or commitments on East Star beyond the conclusion of the Xplor programme;
however, East Star has committed to grant BHP certain pre-emption rights with
respect to investments in East Star or its projects within the programme.

The Xplor programme is designed to create disruptive results in mineral
exploration by identifying new concepts, leveraging new data and testing
opportunities at a much faster pace than discoveries to date.

 

Appointment of Chris van Wijk as Non-Executive Director

 

East Star is pleased to announce the appointment of Chris van Wijk as a
Non-Executive Director of the Company effective immediately. Chris is an
experienced geologist who specialises in project evaluation and project
generation and developed the porphyry exploration strategy with East Star.
Chris brings a wealth of relevant experience, including base metal and gold
exploration in Africa, Europe, the Americas, and Australia as well as joint
venture management and project evaluation for major mining companies including
BHP, IAMGOLD, First Quantum Minerals and Fortescue Metals Group. Chris has
managed various successful exploration projects, including the Scoping Study
at Mont Nimba in Guinea for BHP Billiton and the resource drilling at First
Quantum's Sentinel Project in Zambia. Chris has a Master of Science in Ore
Deposit Geology from the University of Western Australia and is a member of
the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy.

East Star Resources Plc

Alex Walker, Chief Executive Officer

Tel: +44 (0)20 7390 0234 (via Vigo Consulting)

 

SI Capital (Corporate Broker)

Nick Emerson

Tel: +44 (0)1483 413 500

 

Peterhouse Capital Limited (Corporate Broker)

Peter Greensmith

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7469 0930

 

Vigo Consulting (Investor Relations)

Ben Simons / Peter Jacob

Tel: +44 (0)20 7390 0234

 

About East Star Resources Plc

 

East Star Resources is focused on the discovery and development of strategic
minerals required for the energy revolution. With eight licences covering
1,190.3 km² in three mineral rich districts of Kazakhstan, East Star is
undertaking an intensive exploration programme, applying modern geophysics to
discover minerals in levels that were not previously explored. East Star's
most advanced project is a copper deposit on the world-class Rudny Altai VMS
Belt where the Company is working towards the delivery of a JORC compliant
open pit copper resource close to infrastructure, within trucking distance of
third-party mills with excess capacity. East Star's management are based
permanently on the ground, supported by local expertise, a joint venture with
the state mining company on certain projects, and grant funding from BHP
through the BHP Xplor programme for copper porphyry exploration.

 

Visit our website:

www.eaststarplc.com (http://www.eaststarplc.com)

 

Follow us on social media:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/east-star-resources/
(https://www.linkedin.com/company/east-star-resources/)

 

X (formerly Twitter): https://twitter.com/EastStar_PLC
(https://twitter.com/EastStar_PLC)

 

Subscribe to our email alert service to be notified whenever East Star
releases news:

 

www.eaststarplc.com/newsalerts (http://www.eaststarplc.com/newsalerts)

 

The person who arranged for the release of this announcement was Alex Walker,
CEO of the Company.

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