TIDMEEE
RNS Number : 2641Z
Empire Metals Limited
20 May 2021
To view the announcement with the illustrative images please use
the following link:
http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/2641Z_1-2021-5-20.pdf
Empire Metals Limited / AIM: EEE / Sector: Natural Resources
20 May 2021
Empire Metals Limited ('Empire' or the 'Company')
Option and Earn-In to Acquire Highly Prospective Gold Project in
Western Australia
Empire Metals Limited, the AIM-quoted resource exploration and
development company, is pleased to announce that in line with its
strategy to acquire value-accretive projects and build a sizeable
mineralised footprint in the Western Australian gold sector, it has
entered into an Option Agreement (the 'Option') to acquire a
controlling 75% interest in four exploration licences which
comprise the Central Menzies Gold project ('Central Menzies' or the
'Project').
Highlights:
-- Central Menzies is located in one of the region's major
productive gold fields, is serviced by the Goldfields Highway and
has access to power and water as well as being within trucking
distance of a number of gold processing plants.
-- The Project lies within a classic granite-greenstone belt,
with mineralisation associated with the regional Menzies Shear
Zone. Gold-bearing quartz veins occur along the contact between
basalts and sediments. A series of structurally controlled
high-grade gold deposits have been historically mined and display
extensive exploration potential for high-grade extensions.
-- The locality is underexplored and is directly south along
strike of the 15km-long First Hit - Yunndaga line of workings which
had a total metal inventory of 1.1Moz of gold.
-- ASX-listed Kingswest Resources' Menzies Gold Project, which
virtually surrounds the Project area, has current total mineral
resources of 320,000oz @ 2.1g/t Au.
-- Recent surface prospecting in the Project uncovered a suite
of gold nuggets totalling approximately 20 ounces in a pushed-up
area approximately 40 to 60 centimetres below surface at a
laterite/ calcrete interface.
-- The Central Menzies project is owned by renowned Kalgoorlie
prospector, Mel Dalla-Costa, who has been responsible for a number
of significant discoveries in the WA gold fields over the past 50
years.
-- The total cost to acquire the 9-month option is AUD$250,000
in cash, AUD$100,000 to be settled via the issue of 1,921,068 new
ordinary shares in Empire at a price of 2.85p per share.
-- Empire has agreed to spend AUD$500,000 on exploration at
Central Menzies within the 9-month option period and can exercise
the Option at a cost of AUD$1.75 million in cash and AUD$1.25
million to be settled via the issue of new ordinary shares at a 10%
discount to the 30-day VWAP at the time of exercise.
Shaun Bunn, Managing Director designate, said: "We believe that
the gold mining industry in Western Australia offers tremendous
opportunity and we are delighted to be able to extend our
mineralised footprint in the region with this highly prospective
asset, located 90km north-west from our Eclipse Gold Project.
"Central Menzies is early-stage but has a great address and
offers the potential for near-surface high-grade gold
mineralisation, as evidenced from the significant historical gold
production along the same mineralised trend, and the results of
exploration within the licence. The Project has been held for
several years by Mel Dalla-Costa and we are confident that we can
now add significant value with relatively simple and inexpensive
exploration to define the locations, extents and grades of the
mineralised structures to give a tangible sense of the resource
potential of this prospect. We are in a strong financial position
to move forward with initial exploration work and we look forward
to providing more information in due course."
The Central Menzies Gold Project
The Central Menzies Gold Project is located in the Menzies
Shire, approximately 115km north of the city of Kalgoorlie-Boulder
and 10km south of the township of Menzies. The prospect is
accessible from Kalgoorlie-Boulder via the sealed Goldfields
Highway and then by a 2km unsealed road. The city of
Kalgoorlie-Boulder provides facilities to supply and maintain
exploration activities in the project area.
Figure 1: The location of the Central Menzies Gold Project
relative to major infrastructure, the Eclipse Gold Project, and the
city of Kalgoorlie-Boulder
Tenements
The Central Menzies Gold Project comprises four tenement blocks,
all 100% owned by a well-known and successful local prospector. All
the tenements are in good standing. The licence area is largely
surrounded by tenements held by Kingwest Resources Ltd (refer
Figure 2) and occurs along a lineament of historical mine workings.
A number of old shafts and trenches also occur within the tenements
(e.g. Figure 3).
Figure 2: Central Menzies Gold Project in Relation to Kingwest
Tenements
[Source: Kingwest Resources Ltd website]
Figure 3: Barunga Shaft in the North-East of the Tenement
Area
Regional Geology
The Project is wholly located within a north-north-west trending
greenstone belt, with basalts as the dominant hosts together with
interbedded shales and magnetite-rich banded iron formations
("BIF"), with mineralisation hosted within the Menzies Shear Zone,
or associated fault splays. Gold-bearing quartz veins occur along
the contact between basalts and sediments. A series of structurally
controlled high-grade gold deposits have been historically mined
and display extensive exploration potential for high-grade
extensions.
Figure 4. The local geology for the project. The tenement
outlines are shown. Also illustrated are the GSWA records of gold
workings/ deposits, interpreted structures, and mapped shafts
Recent Exploration
Surface prospecting has occurred intermittently on all four
licences, with areas being cleared along strike of historical pits
and along strike of the Yunndaga Shear Zone. Rotary air blast
('RAB') drilling was undertaken in the mid-1990s, but more recently
reverse circulation ('RC') drilling has been completed in the
tenements. However, to date no geophysics has been undertaken.
A suite of nuggets was discovered totalling up to 20 ounces in a
pushed-up area approximately 40 to 60 centimetres below surface at
a laterite/calcrete interface (M. Dalla-Costa, pers. comm., Figure
5).
Figure 5: Acid-bath washed nuggets from western portion of the
tenements
Generally, the tenements area is underexplored and is directly
along strike of the First Hit - Yunndaga line of workings, located
less than 2km to the north-north-west which has total metal
inventory of 1.11Moz of gold. This comprises 640koz at 22.5 g/t Au
sourced from underground mining; 145koz at 2.6 g/t Au from open pit
mining during the 1980s and 1990s; and the current Kingwest
Resources mineral resources at a 0.5 g/t Au cut off of 320koz at
2.1 g/t Au.
Historically over 700m of reverse circulation drilling has been
completed at the property, with some high-grade intercepts, but
this has not yet been verified by the Company. This will be a focus
during the initial work programme.
Next Steps
Empire is now preparing a detailed development plan to advance
the Project and will provide further details in due course.
Transaction Terms
Eclipse Exploration Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Empire
Metals has entered into a 9-month Option Agreement to acquire a 75%
interest in the Central Menzies Project from Philips Exploration
Pty Ltd. The Company has paid AUD$250,000 (approximately
GBP136,000) in cash, AUD$100,000 (GBP54,750) to be settled via the
issue of 1,921,068 new ordinary shares of no-par value at a price
of 2.85p. In addition, a finder's fee has been paid to an unrelated
party of AUD$100,000 (GBP54,750) to be settled via the issue of
1,921,068 new ordinary shares of no-par value at a price of 2.85p.
Empire has also agreed to spend AUD$500,000 within a 9-month period
on exploration, administration and maintenance.
Empire can exercise the Option at any time up to the 9-month
option expiration date by payment of AUD$1,750,000 in cash and
AUD$1,250,000 to be settled via the issue of new ordinary shares of
no-par value at a price calculated by reference to a 10% discount
to the 30-day VWAP.
In addition, a finder's fee will be payable of AUD$500,000 to be
settled via the issue of new ordinary shares of no-par value at a
price to be calculated by reference to the 30-day VWAP prior to
exercise.
The Company will have an option to acquire the remaining 25% of
the Project at a price determined by an independent valuer.
Application for Admission
The new shares issued pursuant to the Option Agreement and
finder's fee will rank pari passu in all respects with the existing
ordinary shares of no-par value in the capital of the Company.
Application will be made to the London Stock Exchange for the new
shares to be admitted to trading on AIM ('Admission'). It is
expected that Admission will become effective on or around 26 May
2021.
Total Voting Rights
As a result of the issue of the new shares as described above,
the issued share capital of the Company now consists of 332,716,517
ordinary shares of no-par value. The figure of 332,716,517 ordinary
shares may be used by shareholders of the Company as the
denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if
they are required to notify their investment in, or a change in
their interest in, the share capital of the Company under the
Financial Conduct Authority's Disclosure Guidance and Transparency
Rules.
Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure
Certain information contained in this announcement would have
been deemed inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of
Regulation (EU) No 596/2014, as incorporated into UK law by the
European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, until the release of this
announcement.
**S**
For further information please visit www.empiremetals.co.uk or
contact:
Shaun Bunn Empire Metals Ltd Company Tel: 020 7907
9327
Mike Struthers Empire Metals Ltd Company Tel: 020 7907
9327
Ewan Leggat S. P. Angel Corporate Nomad & Broker Tel: 020 3470
Finance LLP 0470
Adam Cowl S. P. Angel Corporate Nomad & Broker Tel: 020 3470
Finance LLP 0470
Damon Heath Shard Capital Partners Joint Broker Tel: 020 7186
LLP 9950
Susie Geliher St Brides Partners Ltd PR Tel: 020 7236
1177
Cosima Akerman St Brides Partners Ltd PR Tel: 020 7236
1177
About Empire Metals Limited
Empire Metals' primary focus is on the Eclipse Gold Project in
Western Australia which produced 954 tonnes @ 24.6 g/t Au for
754.25 oz Au from the Eclipse shaft which operated up to 1910.
Empire owns 75% of Eclipse with a right to acquire a further
25%.
The Company also has a 50% joint venture in Georgia which covers
an area of over 860 sq km and has a 30-year mining licence. The
joint venture covers a variety of targets and projects ranging from
greenfield exploration / target definition phase through
intermediate target-testing phases to more advanced projects
including Kvemo Bolnisi East which is due to advance to Feasibility
Study.
Empire also holds a portfolio of three precious metals projects
located an historically high-grade gold production region
comprising the Rotgulden, Schonberg and Walchen prospects in
central-southern Austria.
The Board continues to evaluate opportunities through which to
realise the value of its wider portfolio and reviews further assets
which meet the Company's investment criteria.
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END
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