XLD Xceldiam

RNS Number:2005U
Xceldiam Limited
16 November 2005


Xceldiam Limited
("Xceldiam" or the "Company")

Placing and Admission to AIM.


*        Xceldiam has raised approximately #9.4 million, before expenses, via a
placing (the "Placing") of 20,924,831 new ordinary shares of US$0.0006 
("Ordinary Shares"), together with one warrant (the "Warrants") for every two
Ordinary Shares, at 45p per share.

*        Xceldiam's market capitalisation at Admission will be approximately
#24.7 million

*        The net proceeds of the Placing will be used to provide additional
capital for the continued exploration and development of Projecto Luangue in
Angola.

*        Commencement of trading on AIM of the Company's Ordinary Shares and
Warrants.



The Directors of Xceldiam, the Angolan focused diamond exploration and mining
company, today announce the commencement of trading on AIM of the entire issued
ordinary share capital of the Company and of the Warrants. WH Ireland is acting
as the Company's Nominated Adviser and Broker.



The Company's current activities are concentrated on primary source projects;
specifically an exploration programme for diamondiferous kimberlites in the
Luangue Concession. This concession, which is approximately 3,000 km2 and is
located within the diamond bearing kimberlite belt known as Lucapa Graben, is
the Company's most advanced exploration interest. In addition, a separate but
concurrent exploration programme, on the same concession, to identify alluvial
diamond deposits is underway. The valuable Catoca mine is situated some 70 km
north east of the Luangue Concession and the highly prospective Alto Cuilo
Concession, operated by Petra Diamonds Limited and BHP Billiton plc lies
immediately south of the Luangue Concession.



The Directors believe that Admission will raise the profile of the Company, both
generally and within the diamond mining sector, to provide a means by which the
Company can fund the necessary diamond exploration activities to support its
objective and to create a market in the Ordinary Shares and Warrants.



Commenting today, Tim George, Chief Executive Officer & Chairman of Xceldiam,
said "We are delighted with the response that we have received from the placing
and admission of Xceldiam's shares and warrants. It has been a further
endorsement of the Company's strategy to focus on our attractive Angolan assets.
The funds raised will enable us to pursue this strategy and further advance the
exciting exploration prospects in the Luangue Concession.



With the experienced management team that we have put together and strong
diamond market conditions Xceldiam is well positioned to realise this
opportunity and deliver significant shareholder value."



                                                                16 November 2005

For further information, please contact:


Xceldiam                                                  Tel: +44 7910 855 640
Tim George, Xceldiam
College Hill                                              Tel: 0207 457 2020
Ben Brewerton / Nick Elwes,




About Xceldiam



*          Xceldiam's current activities are concentrated on primary source
projects; specifically an exploration programme for diamondiferous kimberlites
in the Luangue Concession, North East Angola.  This concession is located within
the diamond bearing kimberlite belt known as the Lucapa Graben.  In addition, a
separate but concurrent exploration programme, on the same concession, to
identify the alluvial diamond deposits is underway.



*          Previous exploration in the area by Condiama in the early 1970s
identified eight kimberlites, at least four of which are diamondiferous, which
were under evaluation at the time Angola's civil war commenced and curtailed
further activities.



*          In May 2005, Xceldiam completed a low level 22,000 line kilometre
airborne magnetic, radiometric and topographic survey over the Luangue
Concession which identified over 70 kimberlitic type anomalies, adding to the
eight kimberlites originally identified in the early 1970s.



*          A drilling programme due to commence in the fourth quarter of 2005,
will enable quality information to be generated in 2006/7.  This will allow
Xceldiam to undertake viability studies in 2007/8 on a handful of carefully
selected kimberlite and/or alluvial targets for mining operations.



*          Xceldiam has a management team with practical diamond mining industry
experience, the depth of which will allow growth potential in a variety of
projects over the long term.  The team also has extensive logistical,
development and operating experience in Angola.



*          The Group aims to entrench and progress the opportunities available
to it in the Luangue Concession creating significant value for all shareholders,
whilst contributing to the communities within which it operates.





The Diamond Industry *



*          The rough diamond market has been in shortage for over two years,
with average prices having increased by around 25% since 2002.  Industry
observers predict a further tightening of supply even assuming very modest world
economic growth.



*          Production at major mines like Ekati and Argyle is likely to fall
sharply over the next eight years, while output at the large Diavik mine is
scheduled to peak in 2006 and then start declining.  This difference between
predicted supply and demand can only lead to further significant rises in rough
diamond prices.  Similar predictions have also been made by De Beers.





*Source: WH Ireland


Directors and Management



Timothy George (40 years), Chief Executive Officer & Chairman



Following graduation with honours in Mineral Engineering from Leeds University
in 1986, Tim worked for Anglo American Corporation ("AAC") and De Beers in
production management in various mines including gold, coal and diamond
processing plants until 1995.  During this period Tim was also involved in the
implementation of several new expansion and retrofit projects.  From 1995 Tim
transferred to the AAC and De Beers Chairman's Office where he was responsible
for the special projects under the Group's corporate social responsibility
programme until 1997.



Tim then transferred to a business development role in the LTA  Group of
Construction and Engineering companies, a subsidiary of AAC at that time, and
worked on numerous initiatives including concession projects, mining and
infrastructure projects and commercial and financial arrangements.  From 1999 to
2001, Tim was responsible for starting up two new operations in Nigeria, in the
oil and gas fabrication and building sectors.  During this time LTA was bought
by Aveng and merged with Grinaker and Tim then moved to Luanda, establishing
Grinaker-LTA Angola, a general contracting company, which under his management
over a three year period gained significant market share in a highly competitive
locally dominated environment.



Robert Kaplan (31 years), Chief Financial Officer



Robert Kaplan is a Chartered Accountant who graduated from the University of the
Witwatersrand in 1997.  After graduation he joined KPMG where he specialised in
the financial services in Johannesburg and briefly in Sydney from 1998 to 2001
before joining Deutsche Bank, London in their Global Markets division on a one
year hedging project.  On his return to South African in 2002, he joined Anglo
Platinum's Group Treasury.  From 2002 to 2005, as a Treasury Manager, Robert was
involved in the funding and implementation of Anglo Platinum's multi-billion
rand expansion and capital expenditure programme across several mines,
management of the group's credit risk exposure and daily operations of the
Treasury.



Mike Nunn (44 years), Non-Executive Director



Mike Nunn has been involved in the mining industry since 1993 where he has
extensive hands-on experience in exploration, mine development, mining
operations and management, beneficiation, grading and marketing of high value
gemstones.  He was a founding member of the Diamond Merchant's Association of
South Africa and is the International Coloured Stone Association's Ambassador to
South Africa.  As the CEO of TanzaniteOne Limited, Mike pioneered the formation
and development of the tanzanite industry.  He is also a non-executive director
of Afgem.






Mark Summers (36 years), Non-Executive Director



Mark Summers is a Chartered Accountant and a Chartered Management Accountant.
After completing his articles at Coopers and Lybrand, Mark joined Anglo
American's Corporate and International Finance Department and from 1999 to 2002
was an associate director in the Mining Corporate Finance division at HSBC,
where his corporate clients included Afgem, De Beers, Kroondal Platinum and the
Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa. Mark is the Chief Financial
Officer of Afgem, a position he has held since 2002 and is also Chief Financial
Officer of TanzaniteOne Limited, a tanzanite mining company listed on AIM.



Tobin Prior (45 years), Non-Executive Director



Tobin is a graduate of the University of Cape Town. He joined South African
Breweries after graduation where he remained for more than a decade; reaching
the position of Brand Marketing Director. Tobin moved to Sun International South
Africa where he was the Division Director for Resorts with responsibility for
all the Southern African resort properties including Sun City. He was also Group
Marketing Director for Sun International South Africa.



Tobin then joined Kerzner International and from 1998 headed up their Bahamas
operations with responsibility for the Atlantis Resort, the Ocean Club and other
Kerzner International facilities in the Bahamas. In 2000 Tobin was appointed CEO
of the International Division of Kerzner International responsible for the
companies resort portfolio in the Indian Ocean Islands and the Middle East and
the European Marketing offices. He was appointed as CEO of the UK gaming
division of Kerzner International in May 2003.






                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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