REG - Sunrise Resources - Tolsa maintain option to acquire Sepiolite Project

Sunrise ResourcesAnnouncement

21/12/2022 07:00

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RNS Number : 3840K  Sunrise Resources Plc  21 December 2022

21 December 2022

 

 

SUNRISE RESOURCES PLC

("Sunrise" or the "Company")

 

Tolsa commits to Pioche Sepiolite Project in 2023

and to pay $50,000 to maintain option to acquire the Project

 

 

Sunrise Resources plc is pleased to advise that Tolsa USA Inc. ("Tolsa") has
notified the Company of positive results from its October trenching programme,
its strategy for further evaluation work and its decision to continue the
option period to acquire the Company's Pioche Sepiolite Project in Nevada, USA
(the "Pioche Project").

 

Key Points

 

·    Tolsa will make the required interim payment of $50,000 to the
Company to continue its option to purchase the project for 12 months.

 

·    Trenching programme was successful in demonstrating continuity of the
sepiolite beds mapped at surface.

 

·    Tolsa now planning a resource definition drilling programme, further
industrial testing and feasibility studies.

 

·    Tolsa can purchase the Pioche Project for $1.25 million by 28
December 2023 and an ongoing payment to Sunrise of a 3% royalty (see
announcement of 28 June 2022 for detail).

 

·    Tolsa is a US subsidiary of Tolsa S.A., the world's largest producer
of sepiolite.

 

·    Sepiolite, an industrial mineral, has unique characteristics, is
scarce, with very few commercial deposits in the world.

 

 

 

 

Commenting today, Executive Chairman Patrick Cheetham said:

 

"This is excellent news and an early Christmas present for shareholders.  We
are delighted with the progress being made by Tolsa since our agreement was
signed in the summer and to see the commitment to resource definition drilling
in the Spring when the snow melts.

 

As we know, Sepiolite is a rare mineral with few commercial deposits in the
world and Tolsa is the world's largest producer, so it is significant, I
believe, when Tolsa tells us this project has the highest priority within the
Tolsa Group.

 

We are excited to see this project being fast tracked, and we wish Tolsa all
the best with its evaluation in 2023."

 

___________________________________________________________________________

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Further information:

 

 Sunrise Resources plc                  Tel: +44 (0)1625 838 884

 Patrick Cheetham, Executive Chairman
                                        Tel: +44 (0)207 628 3396

 Beaumont Cornish Limited

 Nominated Adviser

 James Biddle/Roland Cornish
                                        Tel: +44 (0)207 469 0930

 Peterhouse Capital Limited

 Broker

 Lucy Williams/Duncan Vasey

Shares in the Company trade on AIM. EPIC: "SRES".

Website: www.sunriseresourcesplc.com

 

 

Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure

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 which  forms part of UK domestic law by virtue of the
European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ('MAR'). Upon the publication of this
announcement via Regulatory Information Service ('RIS'), this inside
information is now considered to be in the public domain.

 

 

Detailed information

 

About the Pioche Sepiolite Project

 

The Pioche Sepiolite Project (the "Project") is located close to the historic
mining town of Pioche in Lincoln County, Nevada. It lies within 4km of US
Highway 93, from which it can be accessed by a network of 4WD tracks, and 47km
from rail at the town of Caliente, Nevada.

 

The Project was originally identified whilst evaluating the area for deposits
of natural pozzolan and was acquired by claim staking by Sunrise's Nevada
subsidiary, SR Minerals Inc ("SRM").  High grade sepiolite was subsequently
identified in outcrop. The sepiolite deposits are believed to have formed from
volcanic ash deposited and weathered in an extensive ancient lake system that
once covered the area of the claims and was fed by volcanoes in the
surrounding areas.

 

To date Tolsa has carried out detailed mapping and sampling and a programme of
trenching and bulk sampling. It has now advised that it intends to carry out
resource definition drilling in the Spring and industrial testing of the bulk
samples and feasibility studies in the next 12 months.

 

About  the Company's agreement with Tolsa.

 

Full details of the agreement with Tolsa are given in the Company's news
release of 28 June 2022. Having extended its option period, Tolsa will now
have until 28 December 2023 to purchase the Pioche Project for the sum of
US$1.25 million payable in cash.

 

If a sale is closed, SRM will retain a 3% royalty on all minerals and mineral
materials produced and sold from the Pioche Project claims and any further
claims acquired by either party in a 2-mile radius of the external boundary of
the original claims (the "Mineral Products Royalty"). The Mineral Products
Royalty is calculated as gross revenue less sales bonus, commissions, rebates
and any other discounts provided to unrelated third parties. The Mineral
Products Royalty will be payable from the commencement of commercial
production for a period of 25 years and a nominal advance royalty of $50,000
per annum will be paid if production is not started within 5 years for any
reason.

 

Twenty percent of all payments, including royalties, will be payable by the
Company as a success fee to an unrelated third party, a sepiolite industry
specialist, who has brokered the agreement with Tolsa.

 

About Sepiolite

 

Sepiolite is a non-swelling, lightweight, porous clay with outstanding
sorption capacity. The largest market globally for sepiolite is for use in
lightweight non-clumping pet litters where it has superior properties compared
to other clays used in this application.

 

Sepiolite is also used extensively in agriculture as a slow-release absorbent
and adsorbent carrier for chemicals and pesticides and in animal feeds as a
binder and carrier for nutrients and growth promoter. It is also used as a
suspending agent in paints, medicines, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, and in
high temperature drilling muds.

 

Sepiolite is a very uncommon clay because of both its unusual characteristics
and scarce occurrence. There are very few commercial deposits in the world
and, with one exception, there are no significant sepiolite deposits known in
the USA, so a large potential market could exist for any new US producer of
sepiolite.

 

 

About Tolsa

 

Tolsa S.A., founded in Spain in 1957, is a privately owned specialist clay
mining and processing company that now operates in 95 countries including the
USA where it has bentonite mining operations in Wyoming and processing
facilities in Nevada.

 

It is the largest producer of sepiolite in the world, mainly from its mining
operations near Madrid in Spain and it is Europe's largest producer of
lightweight hygienic pet litter with 37% of the European market.

 

In 2021, Tolsa reported global turnover of  Euros 193 million, a clay
processing capacity of 1.2 million tons/year and annual production of over 1
million tons of clay products.

 

 

 

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