Placing, Board Changes and Strategy Update

RNS Number : 3176T

Great Western Mining Corp. plc

13 November 2019

 

GREAT WESTERN MINING CORPORATION PLC

("Great Western", "GWM" or the "Company")

Placing, Board Changes and Strategy Update

SHARE PLACING

Great Western Mining Corporation PLC (AIM - GWMO; Euronext Growth - 8GW) announces that it has today raised £300,000 before expenses through the issue of 375,000,000 new Ordinary Shares (the "Placing") at a price of .08 pence each. Each Placing share will carry a warrant to subscribe for one further share at a price of 0.16p/share for three years.  In addition the Company has issued 69,381,650 Ordinary Shares in settlement of outstanding salaries and fees due to be paid by the Company and these shares will be locked for 90 days from the date of issue.  In total 444,381,650 new Ordinary Shares have been issued.  

The proceeds of the Placing will be used to progress the potential for gold and silver extraction on the Company's mining leases in Nevada, USA, for seeking out new ventures for the Company and for general working capital purposes. 

DIRECTOR PARTICIPATION

Brian Hall, and Max Williams, both directors of the Company, will participate in the above share issues as follows.

Director	Ordinary Shares to be issued	Resultant holding of Ordinary Shares	Resultant percentage holding (of enlarged issued share capital)
Brian Hall	40,116,850	45,033,316	4.01%
Max Williams	31,250,000	31,250,000	2.79%

The participation by Brian Hall and Max Williams constitute related party transactions for the purposes of AIM Rule 13 and Euronext Growth Rule 13. The independent directors, having consulted with the Company's nominated adviser and Euronext Growth Adviser, Davy, consider the terms of the related party transactions are fair and reasonable in so far as the Company's shareholders are concerned.

SETTLEMENT AND DEALING

Application will be made to the AIM Market of the London Stock Exchange ("AIM") and Euronext Growth for a total of 444,381,650 Ordinary Shares, which rank pari passu with the Company's existing issued Ordinary Shares, to be admitted to trading. Dealings on AIM and Euronext Growth are expected to commence on or around 19 November 2019 ("Admission").

COPPER PROJECT

GWM's main thrust to date has been to establish an economic copper resource.  Through drilling 42 high altitude boreholes, together totaling 6,900 metres, on its M2 prospect, it has now established an inferred and independently-reported copper resource of 4.3 million tonnes of 0.45% Cu.  The Company is targeting a  deeply-buried zone within the host diorite rock, anticipated to be the source of the widespread copper and gold mineralisation found at and near surface at M2. The Company is reviewing financing and partnership options to fast-track progress and will keep shareholders updated.

GOLD PROJECT

In 2018, 66 new claims were added to the Eastern flank of the Black Mountain Group to incorporate the historic Silver Moon and Silver Bell mines into Great Western Mining's land holdings. The Company has identified the potential for gold and silver extraction on its leases in Mineral, County, Nevada, where it believes modern technology can be used to rework abandoned gold mines, of which there are several on its properties.  Shareholders were advised of this potential in the 2019 half-yearly Report and Interim Statement issued on 30 September 2019 and in operational updates released on 29 May and 26 June 2019.

Gold (>0.1 g/t Au) was encountered in the samples taken, including a grade of 95.6 g/t Au and 773 g/t Ag, as well as further samples of 19.1 g/t Au and 15.2 g/t Au.  Mineralisation appears to be present across an area of at least 2 km², making M3 a large and highly prospective target.

Placing funds will be used primarily to accelerate the appraisal of selected mine sites and to establish the extent of potential precious metal reserves.  This will include trying to establish possible connectivity between neighbouring historically-abandoned workings where the Board believes that the precious metals potential can be exploited at a lower cost and in a much shorter time than over the copper prospects.  In addition, the funds will be used to help identify and pursue compatible mining industry ventures with a view to expanding the company's field of operations.

APPOINTMENT OF CORPORATE BROKER

Great Western is pleased to advise that ETX Capital has been appointed as a joint corporate broker to the Company.

DIRECTORATE & MANAGEMENT CHANGES

1.    David Fraser is standing down as Chief Executive Officer with immediate effect to pursue opportunities in another sector and is retiring from the Board.

2.    Brian Hall, currently Chairman, becomes Executive Chairman and will steer the Company through the next stage of its development.  He will waive any claims to salary or fees for the remainder of 2019.

3.    As indicated in the Interim Statement of 30 September, Finance Director Melvyn Quiller is retiring from the Board with immediate effect.

4.    Max Williams has been co-opted to the Board as Finance Director and will offer himself for election at the next Annual General Meeting of the Company.  

5.    Exploration Manager William ('Bill') Cooper becomes Chief Operating Officer.

Great Western has identified and will engage experienced new business consultants to assist in expanding the Company's activities beyond its existing portfolio of assets.

David Fraser has managed Great Western with competence and dedication since his appointment in 2013, overseeing the establishment of an inferred copper resource of approximately 4 million tonnes. Melvyn Quiller has been involved with the Company for over a decade and is retiring in the normal course of business.  The Board would like to thank them both for their service to the Company. 

Chairman Brian Hall commented:  We strongly believe in the potential for gold and silver on Great Western's leases in Mineral County, Nevada and the placing of new shares will enable us to move to the next stage of determining the potential for precious metals recovery.  This follows extensive field work undertaken over the course of this year by our exploration team, led by Bill Cooper who has spent many years in Western Australia with exposure to comparable projects.

"Great Western has a strong and enviable land position in Mineral County covering all minerals and flanked by neighbouring mining companies which are either producing gold or exploring for gold.  With the placing funds in hand further work will commence immediately on the gold and silver prospects and we expect to (1) carry out sampling and make our first progress report at or soon after the year end, (2) to have completed trenching by early spring 2020 and (3) to have completed a drill programme by late spring.  As well as working on our own projects in Nevada we will be actively seeking new ventures and industry alliances to broaden the base of our mineral interests.  We will keep shareholders regularly updated on progress."

NOTE TO EDITORS:

Board and Senior Management following Reorganisation

Brian Hall, Executive Chairman, joined the Board in 2012.  He has over 40 years' experience in natural resources and is a Chartered Accountant. In 1991 through a merger he formed Aminex PLC, an international oil and gas company, where he served at different times as Chairman or CEO until retiring in 2018.  He launched Aminex into a successful venture in Russia in 1994, distributing the exit profits to shareholders in 2001. He has worked in both oil and mining and has operated across both developed and emerging market countries, guiding Aminex through several significant ventures, most recently in east Africa. He began his oil industry career with Hamilton Brothers Oil Company of Denver, Colorado where he was a member of the small team which brought Argyll on-stream, the UK North Sea's first producing oilfield. In the 1980s he was UK Manager for Lochiel Exploration of Canada and responsible for its interests outside North America. At different times he has served on the boards of Fortune Oil PLC, Connary Minerals PLC, Highland Participants PLC, Albion International Resources Inc. and Canyon Oil and Gas Ltd.

William ("Bill") Cooper, Chief Operating Officer, joined the Company in 2018 as full-time Exploration Manager, replacing external consultants on whom the Company had previously relied.  Bill Cooper is an experienced mining geologist whose career includes on-site field work in Western Australia. At Barrick Gold he was the open pit mine geologist at the Fimiston Open Pit.  At Focus Minerals he was Project Geologist, responsible for drill-planning and supervision, 3D geological interpretation, drill logging, open pit production reporting and geological supervision, in-pit grade control supervision and grade control modelling. He subsequently returned to the U.K. and worked with a leading UK firm of consultants and reporting engineers.  Bill Cooper has an MSc from the Camborne School of Mines, is a Fellow of the Geological Society in the U.K. and a member of the Australian Institute of Geology.  Under the AIM rules he is a Qualified Person for reporting purposes.  He has a wide experience of commodity and deposit types, with particular expertise in copper and gold.

Max Williams, Finance Director, is a Chartered Accountant who has worked in the natural resources sector since 1994.  Until recently he was CFO/Finance Director of Aminex PLC, an international oil and gas company listed on the Main Board of the London Stock Exchange, where he was responsible for the financial management at various times of operations spanning four continents together with numerous financing and other corporate transactions.

Max Williams's current and previous directorships and directorships held over the last 5 years are tabulated below:

Current:

Cascade Group Holdings Ltd.

Previous:

Aminex PLC

Aminex Petroleum Services Ltd.

Amossco Holdings Limited

Amossco Limited

Halyard Offshore Limited

Amossco ODS Limited

Ndovu Resources Limited

Tanzoil NL

Osceola Hydrocarbons PLC

Osceola Oil and Gas Limited

There are no other matters which are required to be announced pursuant to paragraph (g) of Schedule 2 to the AIM Rules and Euronext Growth Rules.

Robert O'Connell, Director of US Operations, is a graduate of Texas Christian University and subsequently worked for 15 years in oil and gas and mining operations in the USA, with extensive experience in drilling operations. He has led Gabriel's surface exploration effort in Nevada for over seven years and, among other things, is responsible for managing the Company's leases, permits and approvals in Mineral County where he has established strong and important local relationships. He holds dual Irish and US citizenship.

For further information:

Great Western:  Brian Hall, Chairman                     [phone] (via Walbrook PR)

Davy (NOMAD, Euronext Growth Adviser & Joint Broker)

John Frain                                                                           [phone]

Walbrook PR:  Nick Rome                                            [phone]

 

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