REG - Premier African Min. - Funding of Zulu Project and Update

Premier African MineralsAnnouncement

15/02/2024 07:00

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RNS Number : 1978D  Premier African Minerals Limited  15 February 2024

Premier African Minerals Limited / Ticker: PREM / Index: AIM / Sector: Mining

For immediate release

 

15 February 2024

Premier African Minerals Limited

 

Funding of Zulu Project and Update

 

The Board of Premier African Minerals Limited ("Premier" or the "Company") is
pleased to announce a subscription today to raise £2,475,000 on before
expenses at an issue price of 0.275 pence per new ordinary share for the Zulu
Lithium and Tantalum Project ("Zulu").

 Highlights:

 Ø   Premier now funded until first production at Zulu.
 Ø   Ball Mill Power on and test run in situ.
 Ø   Commencement of Commercial Production in late February with first shipments
     expected in March 2024.
 Ø   Thickener Plant completion date 19 February 2024.
 Ø   Ongoing negotiations with Zimbabwe based lenders for working capital
     facilities at Zulu once in production are progressing.

George Roach, CEO, commented, "This placement assures Zulu of plant startup,
subject only to suppliers meeting their obligations and undertakings. This has
and remains Premier single most important objective at this stage. That is
targeted for next week and remains on target at this time. Early indications
are that subsequent working capital finance will be available from commercial
lenders at Zulu when production is underway as Zulu must begin to fund its
operations without the assistance of Premier once commercial production has
commenced.

 

Funds now raised will be used specifically for direct operating expenses at
Zulu that includes.

 

·    Final payments related to the thickener purchase and installation,

·    Final payments related to the ball mill and associated hydrosizers,
transport and installation thereof,

·    Plant operating spares and reagents,

·    Mining costs, and

·    Day to day operating expenses including diesel."

 

Funding

 

As announced on 18 January 2024, Premier elected to make a significant
expansion in the mining operations to facilitate delivery of ore with less
country waste to ensure against any residual issues with the sorters (which
continue to be optimised) when plant production recommences at Zulu.

 

And while the mill has now been delivered and installed at Zulu, there was a
delay with the delivery which further constrained Premier's cash resources.

 

Premier continues to engage with Zimbabwean based lenders for working capital
facilities at Zulu - these potential lenders need to see production from Zulu
and while Premier strongly believes that Zulu will be able to source a working
capital facility, this is now largely dependent on Zulu being in production.

 

Based on the above, Premier believe that securing funding through the above
Subscription is the best immediate solution to securing further project
funding in order to see Zulu commence production in late February 2024. Once
production has commenced, Premier believe that it should see one or more of
the alternatives to equity-based funding materialise. On this basis, Premier's
current expectation is that it is now fully funded to first production at
Zulu.

 

Subscription

Premier has today issued by way of a direct subscription ("Subscription"),
conditional on admission, 900,000,000 new ordinary shares of nil par value
("Subscription Shares") at a Subscription price of 0.275 pence per
Subscription Share. The Subscription Shares will, when issued, rank pari passu
in all respects with the existing ordinary shares.

 

CMC Markets UK Plc trading as CMC CapX, acted as the Company's placing agent
in respect of the placing.

 

Application will be made for the Subscription Shares to be admitted to trading
on AIM and admission is expected to take place on or around 21 February 2024.

 

The Subscription has been arranged within the Company's existing share
authorities. Premier intends to use the proceeds of the Subscription
principally to assist with the ongoing mining operations at Zulu with first
production in late February 2024 and general working capital.

 

Total Voting Rights

Following the issue of the Subscription Shares, the Company's issued share
capital consists of 27,816,581,705 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 Financial Conduct Authority's Disclosure and Transparency
Rules.

 

Market Abuse Regulations

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to
constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations
(EU) No. 596/2014 as it forms part of UK Domestic Law by virtue of the
European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ("UK MAR").

 

The person who arranged the release of this announcement on behalf of the
Company was George Roach.

A copy of this announcement is available at the Company's website,
www.premierafricanminerals.com (http://www.premierafricanminerals.com) .

CMC CapX

Brokers and investors wishing to gain access to future CMC Markets
transactions, should register their interest at
https://www.cmcmarkets.com/en-gb/capx (https://www.cmcmarkets.com/en-gb/capx)
.

 

Enquiries:

 George Roach                      Premier African Minerals Limited    Tel: +27 (0) 100 201 281
 Michael Cornish / Roland Cornish  Beaumont Cornish Limited            Tel: +44 (0) 20 7628 3396

                                   (Nominated Adviser)
 Douglas Crippen                   CMC Markets UK Plc                  Tel: +44 (0) 20 3003 8632
 Toby Gibbs/Rachel Goldstein       Shore Capital Stockbrokers Limited  Tel: +44 (0) 20 7408 4090

 

Beaumont Cornish Limited ("Beaumont Cornish"), which is authorised and
regulated in the United Kingdom by the Financial Conduct Authority, is acting
as nominated adviser to the Company in connection with the Subscription and
will not regard any other person as its client and will not be responsible to
anyone else for providing the protections afforded to the clients of Beaumont
Cornish or for providing advice in relation to such proposals. Beaumont
Cornish has not authorised the contents of, or any part of, this announcement
and no liability whatsoever is accepted by Beaumont Cornish for the accuracy
of any information or opinions contained in this announcement or for the
omission of any information. Beaumont Cornish as nominated adviser to the
Company owes certain responsibilities to the London Stock Exchange which are
not owed to the Company, the Directors, shareholders or any other person.

Forward Looking Statements

Certain statements in this announcement are or may be deemed to be forward
looking statements. Forward looking statements are identified by their use of
terms and phrases such as ''believe'' ''could'' "should" ''envisage''
''estimate'' ''intend'' ''may'' ''plan'' ''will'' or the negative of those
variations or comparable expressions including references to assumptions.
These forward-looking statements are not based on historical facts but rather
on the Directors' current expectations and assumptions regarding the Company's
future growth results of operations performance future capital and other
expenditures (including the amount. Nature and sources of funding thereof)
competitive advantages business prospects and opportunities. Such forward
looking statements reflect the Directors' current beliefs and assumptions and
are based on information currently available to the Directors. A number of
factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the results
discussed in the forward-looking statements including risks associated with
vulnerability to general economic and business conditions competition
environmental and other regulatory changes actions by governmental authorities
the availability of capital markets reliance on key personnel uninsured and
underinsured losses and other factors many of which are beyond the control of
the Company. Although any forward-looking statements contained in this
announcement are based upon what the Directors believe to be reasonable
assumptions. The Company cannot assure investors that actual results will be
consistent with such forward looking statements.

Notes to Editors:

Premier African Minerals Limited (AIM: PREM) is a multi-commodity mining and
natural resource development company focused on Southern Africa with its RHA
Tungsten and Zulu Lithium projects in Zimbabwe.

 

The Company has a diverse portfolio of projects, which include tungsten, rare
earth elements, lithium and tantalum in Zimbabwe and lithium and gold in
Mozambique, encompassing brownfield projects with near-term production
potential to grass-roots exploration. The Company has accepted a share offer
by Vortex Limited ("Vortex") for the exchange of Premier's entire 4.8%
interest in Circum Minerals Limited ("Circum"), the owners of the Danakil
Potash Project in Ethiopia, for a 13.1% interest in the enlarged share capital
of Vortex. Vortex has an interest of 36.7% in Circum.

 

Ends

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