Corporate Update - Management Team Strengthened

RNS Number : 5302Z

IronRidge Resources Limited

03 September 2018

 

3 September 2018

Management Team Strengthened

Chief Operating Officer Appointed

Additional Geologists Join Team

Issue of Options and Performance Shares

IronRidge Resources Limited (AIM: IRR, 'IronRidge' or the 'Company') is pleased to announce the strengthening of its senior management team, as it secures key executives and senior managers for the next phase of the Company's project and corporate development.

HIGHLIGHTS:

Ø Chief Executive Officer - Vincent Mascolo commits to a further three years with an option for a further two years.

Ø Chief Operating Officer - Len Kolff appointed to the new role of COO under a three year contract.

Ø Côte d'Ivoire - Full time Exploration Manager appointed - Moctar Keita with 20 years' experience.

Ø Ghana - Full time Exploration Manager appointed - Iwan Williams with 25 years' experience.

Ø Australia - Principal Geologist appointed - Steve Cancio-Newton with 20 years' experience.

Commenting on the Company's latest progress, Neil Herbert, Chairman of IronRidge Resources, said:

"IronRidge continues to strengthen its management team as it makes its transition from explorer to developer.

"We are delighted to have secured the continued services of Vincent and Len, who have both been paramount in the development of the Company to date.  We believe they will continue to make a significant contribution to the Company's efforts to both strengthen and rapidly develop its project inventory.

"The Board is also pleased to have appointed a number of high-calibre individuals, Moctar, Iwan and Steven; who each have extensive experience in the mining and exploration sectors. These highly valuable additions to the team will prove vital to the success of each of our project initiatives.

"The Company looks forward to keeping shareholders and investors updated as it advances its project portfolio."

The Company's CEO, Vincent Mascolo and newly appointed COO, Len Kolff, are known to the market as both have been employed by the Company for a number of years. Further information on the Company's new appointments is outlined below.

Moctar Keita - Exploration Manager for Côte d'Ivoire

Moctar Keita is an exploration geologist with over 20 years' experience in the mining and exploration sectors.  He has a wide variety of practical experience and expertise in exploration geology prospecting for precious metals (gold and PGEs), base metals and iron.

Moctar has excellent knowledge and practical experience in geological surveying and mapping, in addition to comprehensive computer processing and data management skills.  During his career to date, Moctar has gained an in-depth knowledge of programme evaluation and quality improvement studies and techniques, and has skills and experience in logistics and planning for remote area operations.  He is experienced in running exploration programmes throughout North Africa, and has compiled comprehensive and informative reports for senior management and other agencies.  Moctar has also worked in both North and West Africa, mainly in Mauritania and Gabon, as well as in the Middle East and Central Africa.  He is fluent in English and French and he also has a good understanding of Arabic.  

Moctar will work closely with Vincent and Len to administer the Company's diverse and extensive lithium and gold portfolios in Cote d'Ivoire.  His immediate focus will be on the Company's rapidly advancing Kineta and Vavoua projects as they move towards initial drill planning and aeromagnetics respectively.

Iwan Williams - Exploration Manager for Ghana

The Company's Board and management team is delighted to have appointed Iwan Williams as IronRidge's Exploration Manager for Ghana (see the Company's announcement dated 2 August 2018).  Iwan has extensive Southern and West African experience across a broad suite of commodities including iron, manganese, gold, porphyry copper, nickel, chromite and PGM's.  Iwan has extensive studies experience, having participated in the delivery of multiple project studies including resource definition, mine design criteria, baseline environmental and social studies and metallurgical test-work programmes. He has extensive experience working in Africa, having spent 23 years of his 28-year geological career in Africa. Iwan graduated from the University of Liverpool. 

Iwan will work closely with existing Management to administer the Company's extensive project portfolio in Ghana.  Iwan's immediate focus will be on the Company's rapidly advancing Cape Coast lithium project as it moves towards initial drill planning.

Steve Cancio-Newton - Principal Geologist based in Brisbane

Steve Cancio-Newton has over 20 years' experience in managing greenfields, brownfields and near-mine exploration in gold and base metals.  Steve brings with him a wealth of experience across multiple commodities and deposit settings within both the major and junior sectors of the resources industry.  Steve also has extensive experience with lithium pegmatite and gold exploration and project studies, and he has worked throughout West Africa and Australia in both grassroots exploration and brownfields locations.

Steve will work closely with Vincent and Len to administer the Company's diverse and extensive lithium, gold, bauxite, titanium and iron ore project pipeline through Ghana, Chad, Ivory Coast, Gabon and Australia.

Issue of Share Options and Performance Rights

As part of the above appointments, contract extensions and other personnel initiatives, the Company will immediately allot the following unlisted options and performance rights to various non-Board employees:

Unlisted Options

Number of Options        Strike Price         Term to Expiry

6,750,000                             40 pence              2 years from issue

5,000,000                             60 pence              3 years from issue

6,000,000                             90 pence              3 years from issue

Unlisted Performance Rights

Number of Performance Rights                                Maturity Price                   Term to Expiry

   225,000                                                              30 pence                              3 years from issue

   225,000                                                              40 pence                              3 years from issue

   225,000                                                              50 pence                              3 years from issue

   225,000                                                              60 pence                              3 years from issue

   225,000                                                              70 pence                              3 years from issue

   225,000                                                              80 pence                              3 years from issue

   225,000                                                              90 pence                              3 years from issue

   225,000                                                              GBP1.00                               3 years from issue

   500,000                                                              GBP1.25                               3 years from issue

   750,000                                                              GBP1.50                               3 years from issue

1,000,000                                                             GBP2.00                               3 years from issue

Achievement of the Maturity Price milestone triggers the vesting of the Performance Rights to fully paid ordinary shares. The Maturity Price is based on a 30 Trading Day VWAP metric for each tranche of Rights.

As a result of the renewed contractual arrangements for the CEO, Mr Vincent Mascolo, the Company intends to allot the following unlisted Options and Performance Rights as detailed below, subject to the approval of shareholders at the Company's upcoming 2018 AGM. Mr Mascolo's renewed contract is on similar terms to that of his expiring arrangements. The proposed issue of Options and Performance Rights to Vincent Mascolo replaces a long-term incentive award agreed between Mr Mascolo and the Company on its admission to trading on AIM on 12 February 2015.

Unlisted Options

Number of Options        Strike Price         Term to Expiry

4,000,000                             40 pence              2 years from issue

5,000,000                             60 pence              3 years from issue

6,000,000                             90 pence              3 years from issue

Unlisted Performance Rights

Number of Performance Rights                                Maturity Price                   Term to Expiry

   450,000                                                              30 pence                              3 years from issue

   450,000                                                              40 pence                              3 years from issue

   450,000                                                              50 pence                              3 years from issue

   450,000                                                              60 pence                              3 years from issue

   450,000                                                              70 pence                              3 years from issue

   450,000                                                              80 pence                              3 years from issue

   450,000                                                              90 pence                              3 years from issue

   450,000                                                              GBP1.00                               3 years from issue

1,000,000                                                             GBP1.25                               3 years from issue

1,500,000                                                             GBP1.50                               3 years from issue

2,000,000                                                             GBP2.00                               3 years from issue

The Maturity Price milestone triggers the vesting of the Performance Rights to fully paid ordinary shares and is based on a 30 Trading Day VWAP metric for each tranche of Rights.

For any further information please contact:

IronRidge Resources Limited
Vincent Mascolo (Chief Executive Officer)	Tel: [phone]
Karl Schlobohm (Company Secretary)
SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP	Tel: [phone]
Nominated Adviser and Broker
Jeff Keating Charlie Bouverat Yellow Jersey PR Limited Charles Goodwin Harriet Jackson Katie Bairsto	Tel: [phone]

Competent Person Statement:

Information in this report relating to the exploration results is based on data reviewed by Mr Lennard Kolff (MEcon. Geo., BSc. Hons ARSM), Chief Geologist of the Company. Mr Kolff is a Member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists who has in excess of 20 years' experience in mineral exploration and is a Qualified Person under the AIM Rules. Mr Kolff consents to the inclusion of the information in the form and context in which it appears.

Notes to Editors:

IronRidge Resources is an AIM-listed mineral exploration company with frontier assets in both Australia and West Africa, with two province scale projects in Gabon, and promising and advanced titanium and bauxite projects in Queensland, Australia. IronRidge's corporate strategy is to create and sustain shareholder value through the discovery of world-class and globally demanded commodities.

Australia

Monogorilby is prospective for province scale titanium and bauxite, with an initial maiden resource of 54.9MT of premium DSO bauxite. Monogorilby is located in central Queensland, within a short trucking distance of the rail system leading north to the Port of Bundaberg. It is also located within close proximity of the active Queensland Rail network heading south towards the Port of Brisbane.

May Queen is located in Central Queensland within IRR's wholly owned Monogorilby license package and is highly prospective for gold. Historic drilling completed during the 1980s intersected multiple high-grade gold intervals, including 2m @ 73.4 g/t Au (including 1m at 145g/t), 4m @ 38.8g/t Au (at end of hole) and 3m @ 18.9g/t Au, over an approximate 100m strike hosting numerous parallel vein systems, open to the north-west and south-east.

Wholly owned Quaggy contains highly anomalous platinum, palladium, nickel, cobalt and copper exploration targets and is located in Central Queensland, within a short trucking distance of the dormant rail system to the Port of Bundaberg. It is also located within close proximity of the active Queensland Rail network heading south towards the Port of Brisbane.

Gabon

Tchibanga is located in south-western Gabon, in the Nyanga Province, within 10-60km of the Atlantic coastline.  This project comprises two exploration licenses, Tchibanga and Tchibanga Nord, which cover a combined area of 3,396km² and include over 90km of prospective lithologies and the historic Mont Pele iron occurrence.

Belinga Sud is Located in the north east of Gabon in the Ogooue-Ivindo Province, approximately 400km east of the capital city of Libreville. IRR's licence lies between the main Belinga Iron Ore Deposit, believed to be one of the world's largest untapped reserves of iron ore with an estimated 1bt of iron ore at a grade >60% Fe, and the route of the Trans Gabonese railway, which currently carries manganese ore and timber from Franceville to the Port of Owendo in Libreville.

Chad

The Company entered into an agreement with Tekton Minerals Pte Ltd of Singapore concerning its portfolio covering 900km² of highly prospective gold and other mineral projects in Chad, Central Africa. IronRidge acquired 100% of Tekton including its projects and team to advance the Dorothe, Echbara, Am Ouchar, Nabagay and Kalaka licenses, which host multiple, large scale gold projects. Initial trenching results at Dorothe, including 14.12g/t Au over 4m, 34.1g/t over 2m and 63.2g/t over 1m, have defined significant gold mineralised quartz veining over a confirmed 1km strike at an average of 2m and up to 5m true width, across multiple stacked vein zones over a 250m wide zone, with new hard-rock artisanal workings potentially extending strike to >3km.

Ghana

The Company entered into earn-in arrangements with Obotan Minerals Limited, Merlink Resources Limited, Barari Developments Limited and Joy Transporters Limited of Ghana, West Africa, securing highly prospective hard rock lithium pegmatite tenure. The portfolio covers some 645km² which includes the Ewoyaa Project with high grade drilling intersections including 121m @ 1.35% Li2O and 135m @ 1.21% Li2O as well as the first access rights to acquire the historical Egyasimanku Hill spodumene rich lithium deposit, estimated to be in the order of 1.48Mt at 1.67% Li₂O (non JORC) and surrounding tenements. Tenure package is also highly prospective for tin, tantalum, niobium, caesium and gold, which occur as accessory minerals within the pegmatites and host formations.

Côte d'Ivoire

The Company entered into conditional joint venture arrangements in Côte d'Ivoire, West Africa; securing access rights to highly prospective gold mineralised structures and pegmatite occurrences covering a combined 3,235km² and 1,177km² area respectively. The projects are well located within access of an extensive bitumen road network and along strike from multi-million ounce gold projects and mines.

Corporate

IronRidge made its AIM debut in February 2015, successfully securing strategic alliances with three international companies: Assore Limited of South Africa, Sumitomo Corporation of Japan and DGR Global Limited of Australia. Assore is a high- grade iron, chrome and manganese mining specialist. Sumitomo Corporation is a global resources, mining marketing and trading conglomerate. DGR Global is a project generation and exploration.

 

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