Acquisition of Historical Gravelotte Emerald Mine
27/02/2023 07:00
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RNS Number : 0480R URA Holdings PLC 27 February 2023
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
PUBLICATION OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT, THIS INSIDE INFORMATION (AS DEFINED IN UK
MAR) IS NOW CONSIDERED TO BE IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN.
27 February 2023
URA Holdings plc
("URA" or the "Company")
Completion of Acquisition of Historical Gravelotte Emerald Mine, South Africa,
Issue of Equity and Total Voting Rights
URA Holdings plc (LSE: URAH) is pleased to announce that it completed the
acquisition of G.E.M Venus Holdings (Proprietary) Limited ("Gem Venus"), the
ultimate owner of the majority interest in the Gravelotte emerald mine
("Gravelotte") located in the Limpopo province of South Africa from Magnum
Mining and Exploration Limited ("Magnum").
Highlights
· Following the completion of the acquisition URA will now issue Magnum
4,000,000 ordinary shares, credited as fully paid (the "Consideration
Shares"), equal to the consideration due upon completion of £100,000 and
calculated using an average mid-market closing price of 2.5p. over the
measuring period.
· Gravelotte was historically the largest emerald mine in the world and
was operational from 1929 to 2002 with total recorded historical emerald
production from Gravelotte of nearly 113 million carats:
· During 2022 URA established an independent maiden JORC (2012) Mineral
Resource Estimate of 29 million carats of contained emerald in just two out of
the openpittable deposits on the Gravelotte property
· 12 Additional JORC (2012) Exploration Targets totalling between 168
million carats and 344 million carats were also established
· The JORC Resource highlights the significant remaining resource and
potential of the mine and paves the way to committing to the restart of
operations by URA.
· Mine, processing plant and infrastructure upgrades currently in
progress with the goal of restarting production in 2023, refurbishing existing
on-site facilities
Ed Nealon, Chairman of URA commented: "We are delighted to have completed the
acquisition of the world renowned Gravelotte Emerald mine. The vast majority
of the purchase price is to be paid from future emerald production and
sales. During 2022 we made significant progress towards the restart of
mining operations. URA established the first ever code compliant independent
resource for the Gravelotte project by commissioning an initial JORC Resource
which identified 29m carats of contained emeralds. This resource represents a
life-of-mine of over 10years at historical peak production rates. We further
believe that this already large resource can and in due course will be
increased further as indicated by the large JORC exploration target of between
168 million carats and 344 million carats. We are now preparing for the
restart of mining and processing operations and believe that this can be
achieved by a modest capital investment."
Details of the Transaction now completed
Following the satisfaction or waiver of all conditions precedent, URA has now
acquired 100% of the issued shares in GEM Venus (a company incorporated in the
Republic of South Africa) and its subsidiary companies (the "Acquisition"),
from Magnum, an Australian public company listed on the Australian Stock
Exchange. Through the Acquisition, URA has acquired a licence giving the
rights to exploit the historical Gravelotte mine (also known as the "Cobra
Emerald Mine") in South Africa.
The key terms of the Acquisition are -.
· 4,000,000 Consideration Shares, credited as fully paid, equal to the
consideration due upon completion of £100,000 and calculated using an average
mid-market closing price of 2.5p. over the measuring period.
· Additional consideration of AUD200,000.00 (approx. £123,000) in cash
for each 5,000,000 carats of emeralds produced by Gravelotte up to a maximum
aggregate amount of AUD2,000,000 (approx. £1,230,000) as a production
royalty.
· Gem Venus owns 74% of the issued share capital of ADIT Mining
(Proprietary) Limited ("ADIT") and Venus Emerald (Proprietary) Limited
("Venus") which hold all the mineral rights in respect of emerald mining and
extraction at Gravelotte. The remaining 26% of the issued share capital of
Adit and Venus are held by a Black Economic Empowerment ("BEE") compliant
structure predominantly consisting of local employees and the local community.
These mineral rights are held through a long-term mining lease agreement
providing all surface access and rights required for ongoing exploration and
development of Gravelotte, including the use of management housing, offices,
staff accommodation, workshop and other existing mine infrastructure on site.
Project Summary
The Gravelotte Mine is located close to the town of Gravelotte in the Limpopo
province of South Africa. The Gravelotte Mine is located in an area with
well-developed infrastructure and other world-class mining operations
including the Consolidated Murchison Mine, the oldest known antimony deposit
in the world, and the Phalaborwa Copper Mine and Refinery.
Emeralds were discovered in the Gravelotte area in 1927 and since then several
companies have mined and explored the area for emeralds. Historical records
indicate that during the 1960's the Gravelotte Project was the largest emerald
mine in the world, employing over 400 sorters.
From 1929 to 2002 the total recorded emerald production from Gravelotte and
the surrounding area was nearly 113 million carats of which Gravelotte
substantially the largest contributor. The Cobra open pit located on the
Gravelotte Mine property is historically the biggest single emerald producing
open pit in the region and is reported to have produced 21 million carats in
the mid-1960's.
Following extensive work done by URA on the project since signing of the
acquisition agreement in March 2022, a maiden independent JORC (2012) Resource
of 29 million carats of contained emerald was established by ACA Howe. Of this
total, the Cobra pit holds 1.2 million tons at 6.4 grams per ton for 19.4
million carats of contained emerald and the nearby Discovery deposit holds 0.7
million tons at 5.7 grams per ton for 9.6 million carats of contained emerald.
12 Additional JORC (2012) Exploration Targets totalling between 168 million
carats and 344 million carats were also established by ACA Howe (please see
JORC Resource announcement dated 21 November 2022 for more detail). It is to
be emphasised that these resources are exploitable using open pit techniques.
The maiden JORC Resource at this historically major mine area shows the mine
to be of continuing major international significance.
Much of the historical mining infrastructure remains in place and is currently
being upgraded for reuse. While the Company will need to acquire a modest
amount of new mining and processing equipment (using optical sorters to
replace the labour-intensive hand sorting of the past), we expect to be able
to bring Gravelotte quickly back into production.
URA's overall immediate objective is to complete preparatory work and bring
Gravelotte back into commercial production. We will keep shareholders informed
of progress as we move towards production.
Applications have been made to the Financial Conduct Authority (the "FCA") for
the Consideration Shares to be admitted to listing on the standard segment of
the Official List maintained by the FCA and to trading on the main market for
listed securities of London Stock Exchange plc. It is expected that admission
of the Consideration Shares will occur on or around 8.00 a.m. on 2 March 2023.
Total Voting Rights
Following the issue of the Consideration Shares, the Company's issued share
capital will consist of 145,845,590 ordinary shares, with voting rights. This
figure may be used by shareholders in the Company as the denominator for the
calculation by which they will determine if they are required to notify their
interest in, or a change to their interest in, the share capital of the
Company under the FCA's Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules. The
Company does not hold any Ordinary Shares in treasury.
The person who arranged for the release of this announcement was Bernard
Olivier, CEO of the Company.
- Ends -
For further information please contact:
URA Holdings plc +44 (0)746 368 6497
Bernard Olivier (CEO)
Peter Redmond (Director)
Jeremy Sturgess-Smith (COO)
info@uraholdingsplc.co.uk
Peterhouse Capital Limited +44 (0)20 7469 0930
Lucy Williams
Duncan Vasey
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