REG - Empire Metals Ltd - Appointment of Renowned Mining Executive to Board

Empire MetalsAnnouncement

23/01/2025 07:00

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RNS Number : 3645U  Empire Metals Limited  23 January 2025

Empire Metals Limited / LON: EEE / Sector: Natural Resources

 

23 January 2025

Empire Metals Limited

("Empire" or "the Company")

 

Strengthens Board with Appointment of Renowned Mining Executive Phillip
Brumit,

Issue and Extension of Options

 

Empire Metals Limited (LON: EEE), the AIM-quoted resource exploration and
development company, is pleased to announce the appointment of Phillip Brumit
as Non-executive Director with effect from 1 February 2025.

 

Phil brings over 40 years of extensive experience in engineering, project
management, construction, project start-up, and mining operations across some
of the world's leading mining companies. His impressive career includes
leadership roles at Freeport-McMoRan, Lundin Mining, and Newmont Corporation,
demonstrating a proven track record of operational success on a global scale.
Recently, he served as Executive VP Projects & Operations at Josemaria
Resources, now part of a major joint venture between BHP and Lundin Mining.
Prior to that, he held positions as President and Managing Director of Minera
Candelaria (Lundin Mining) in Chile, President of Freeport-McMoRan's African
Division focused on the giant Tenke-Fungurume copper-cobalt mine, and General
Manager of Operations for PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara's Batu Hijau mine in
Indonesia, and various other key operational positions at Newmont Corporation.
His deep experience positions him to be a vital resource for the company.

 

Neil O'Brien, Chairman, said: "We are thrilled to have attracted Phil Brumit
to the Empire board. Phil has an accomplished career that includes operational
leadership roles for two of the largest US mining companies. His extensive
industry experience and proven ability to deliver results on globally
significant mining projects is invaluable. With the addition of Phil, the
Empire board will broaden its areas of expertise, covering exploration,
metallurgy, mine development and operations, finance, and capital markets. His
insights will be instrumental as management navigates key milestones,
including the development of a pilot plant and the completion of scoping and
feasibility studies for the Pitfield Project. This appointment reflects our
commitment to assembling a world class team that can achieve our strategic
goals, deliver shareholder value and benefit all stakeholders."

 

Phil Brumit said: "I am delighted to be joining Empire Metals at this exciting
time in the development of the Pitfield Project. In my career, I have worked
internationally for large US-based mining companies in the development and
mining of world class deposits that were essential to global metal supply but
also helped propel those companies into the future. I recognize Pitfield as
being a truly world class deposit that can become a globally significant mine
capable of producing large tonnages of high-purity titanium, a critical
mineral essential to the world's manufacturing industry and transition to
green renewable energy as identified by Australia, the United States and many
other countries around the world. Through the rapid development of the
Pitfield Project I believe Empire Metals is well positioned to participate in
the expanding titanium market that is expected to double in the next five
years."

 

AIM Disclosures

 

The following details in relation to the appointment of Mr Phillip Smith
Brumit, aged 64, are disclosed in accordance with Schedule 2(g) of the AIM
Rules:

 

 Current directorships  Previous directorships in the past 5 years
 Luca Mining Corp.      Filo Mining Corp.

 

Issue of Options

 

The Remuneration Committee has agreed to issue options over a total of
2,000,000 ordinary shares of no par value in the capital of the Company
('Share Options') to Mr Brumit on his joining the Company. The Share Options
will vest 12 months from issuance and will expire on 31 January 2030. The
exercise price of the options will be 10 pence.

 

The Share Options represent in aggregate 0.31% of the existing issued ordinary
share capital of the Company and have been issued to the Non-executive
Director of the Company in line with the Company's ongoing incentive plans.
Following the grant of the Share Options, in aggregate there will be
27,500,000 ordinary shares of no par value of the Company under option to
directors of the Company, representing 9.40% of the existing issued ordinary
share capital of the Company.

 

Extension of Options

The Company announces that it has agreed to extend the exercise period of
certain share options granted to Neil O'Brien (Non-executive Chairman), Peter
Damouni (Non-executive Director) and Gregory Kuenzel (Finance Director) under
the Company's Long Term Incentive Plans, which were originally issued on 1
January 2021. Details of these options are as follows:

 Director         Number of options  Exercise Price  Old Expiry Date  New Expiry Date
 Neil O'Brien     1,537,500          4 p             31 Jan 2025      31 Jan 2028
 Neil O'Brien     1,537,500          5.5 p           31 Jan 2025      31 Jan 2028
 Peter Damouni    1,537,500          4 p             31 Jan 2025      31 Jan 2028
 Peter Damouni    1,537,500          5.5 p           31 Jan 2025      31 Jan 2028
 Gregory Kuenzel  3,075,000          4 p             31 Jan 2025      31 Jan 2028
 Gregory Kuenzel  3,075,000          5.5 p           31 Jan 2025      31 Jan 2028

All other terms of the options remain unchanged.

The Board considers the extension to be in the best interests of the Company
and its shareholders.

 

Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of
the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) 596/2014 as it forms part of UK domestic law
by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ("MAR"), and is
disclosed in accordance with the Company's obligations under Article 17 of
MAR.

 

NOTIFICATION AND PUBLIC DISCLOSURE OF TRANSACTIONS BY PERSONS DISCHARGING
MANAGERIAL RESPONSIBILITIES AND PERSONS CLOSELY ASSOCIATED WITH THEM

 1.            Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities/person closely
               associated
 a)            Name:                                                         Phillip Brumit
 2.            Reason for the notification
 a)            Position/status:                                              Non-executive Director
 b)            Initial notification/Amendment:                               Initial notification
 3.            Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction
               platform, auctioneer or auction monitor
 a)            Name:                                                         Empire Metals Limited
 b)            LEI:                                                          2138002IOR7OCZZPB279
 4.            Details of the transaction(s): section to be repeated for (i) each type of
               instrument; (ii) each type of transaction; (iii) each date; and (iv) each
               place where transactions have been conducted
 a)            Description of the financial instrument, type of instrument:  Share options over ordinary shares of no par value

               Identification code:                                           VGG9688A1003
 b)            Nature of the transaction:                                    Grant of options over ordinary shares
 c)            Price(s) and volume(s):                                           Price(s)  Volume(s)
                                                                             1.  10 pence  2,000,000

 
 d)            Aggregated information:                                       Single transactions as in 4 c) above

    Price(s)  Volume(s)
               Aggregated volume:                                              10 pence  2,000,000

               Price:

 e)            Date of the transaction:                                      2025-02-01

                                                                             08:00 hrs UTC
 f)            Place of the transaction:                                     Outside a trading venue

 

d)

Aggregated information:

Aggregated volume:

Price:

 

Single transactions as in 4 c) above

     Price(s)  Volume(s)
     10 pence  2,000,000

e)

Date of the transaction:

2025-02-01

08:00 hrs UTC

f)

Place of the transaction:

Outside a trading venue

 

 

**ENDS**

 

For further information please visit www.empiremetals.co.uk
(http://www.empiremetals.co.uk) or contact:

 Empire Metals Ltd

 Shaun Bunn / Greg Kuenzel / Arabella Burwell                                            Tel: 020 4583 1440
 S. P. Angel Corporate Finance LLP (Nomad & Broker)                                      Tel: 020 3470 0470

 Ewan Leggat / Adam Cowl
 Shard Capital Partners LLP (Joint Broker)                                               Tel: 020 7186 9950

 Damon Heath
 St Brides Partners Ltd (Financial                                                       Tel: 020 7236 1177
 PR)

 Susie Geliher / Charlotte Page

 

About Empire Metals Limited

 

Empire Metals is an AIM-listed exploration and resource development company
(LON: EEE) with a primary focus on developing Pitfield, an emerging giant
titanium project in Western Australia.

 

The high-grade titanium discovery at Pitfield is of unprecedented scale, with
airborne surveys identifying a massive, coincident gravity and magnetics
anomaly extending over 40km by 8km by 5km deep. Drill results have indicated
excellent continuity in grades and consistency of the mineralised beds and
confirm that the sandstone beds hold the higher-grade titanium dioxide
(TiO₂) values within the interbedded succession of sandstones, siltstones
and conglomerates. The Company is focused on two key prospects (Cosgrove and
Thomas), which have been identified as having thick, high-grade, near-surface,
bedded TiO₂ mineralisation, each being over 7km in strike length.

 

A JORC Exploration Target* for Pitfield was declared in 2024, covering the
Thomas and Cosgrove mineral prospects, and was estimated to contain between
26.4 to 32.2 billion tonnes with a grade range of 4.5 to 5.5% TiO(2).
Included within the total Exploration Target* is a subset that covers the
weathered sandstone zone, which extends from surface to an average vertical
depth of 30m to 40m and is estimated to contain between 4.0 to 4.9 billion
tonnes with a grade range of 4.8 to 5.9% TiO(2).

 

The Exploration Target* covers an area less than 20% of the overall mineral
system at Pitfield which demonstrates the potential for significant further
upside.

 

Empire is now accelerating the economic development of Pitfield, with a vision
to produce a high-value titanium metal or pigment quality product at Pitfield,
to realise the full value potential of this exceptional deposit.

 

The Company also has two further exploration projects in Australia; the
Eclipse Project and the Walton Project in Western Australia, in addition to
three precious metals projects located in a historically high-grade gold
producing region of Austria.

*The potential quantity and grade of the Exploration Target is conceptual in
nature. There has been insufficient exploration to estimate a Mineral Resource
and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in the estimation of a
Mineral Resource.

 

 

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