Admission to Trading on AIM

RNS Number : 7104X

Hummingbird Resources PLC

10 December 2010

 



Hummingbird Resources plc

("Hummingbird Resources" or "the Company")

Admission to Trading on AIM

Placing of £30.1 million (US$47.2 million) on IPO

 Highlights

·      Admission to AIM with a market capitalisation of approximately £89.1 million 

·      Placing of new and existing ordinary shares at 167p per share, raising £25.5 million (US$40.0 million) for the Company and raising £4.6 million (US$7.2 million) for certain selling shareholders, following high demand for the shares

·      Proceeds to be used to fund the next phase of exploration in Liberia, to discover further significant gold resources and for working capital

·      NI 43-101 resource of 812koz gold defined at the Company's flagship Dugbe F project, Liberia (summary of resources for AIM disclosure)

·      Strong management team, including Chairman Ian Cockerill, former CEO of Gold Fields

Hummingbird Resources plc (AIM: HUM), a gold focussed exploration company with assets in Liberia, West Africa, today announces the successful completion of a placing (the "Placing") raising £25.5 million (US$40 million) for the Company, before expenses, and £4.6 million (US$7.2 million) for certain selling shareholders. Admission of the entire issued share capital of the Company to trading on AIM is expected to commence at 8.00am today ("Admission"). Liberum Capital Limited acted as Nomad and joint broker on the Placing and Mirabaud Securities LLP acted as joint broker.

Pursuant to the Placing, the Company has issued 15,256,000 million new shares at 167p each (the "Placing Price") to a broad base of institutional and other investors. Based on the Placing Price, the market capitalisation of Hummingbird Resources immediately following Admission will be approximately £89.1 million.

Overview of Hummingbird Resources

Hummingbird Resources plc is a mineral exploration company incorporated in England and Wales and headquartered in London. Since its establishment in November 2005, the Group has been active in Liberia, West Africa, and is currently the holder of the largest area of mineral exploration ground in the highly prospective geological region of eastern Liberia. The Group's licences are prospective for gold, iron ore and other minerals.

The Group currently holds 14 exploration licences for all minerals except iron ore, covering over 7,000 square kilometres in total, which constitutes a significant proportion of eastern Liberia containing the Birimian sequence. In addition, the Group holds one iron ore exploration licence covering 155 square kilometres which is located in northern Liberia close to BHP Billiton's Mount Kitoma iron ore exploration project, as well as Arcelor-Mittal's Yekepa project containing the Mount Nimba iron ore mine.

The Company's most advanced gold exploration has taken place in the Dugbe, Zia and Jababli licence areas, with Dugbe Block F currently in the stage of resource drilling, with a recently confirmed gold resource of 20.90 million tonnes at 1.208 g/t to give 812,000 oz using a cutoff grade of 0.5 g/t. The exploration has been based on sound geological premises and has been executed in an efficient and practical manner according to best industry practices. This has led to success in the discovery of the Dugbe deposit and independent recognition of what promises to be a new gold province.

Use of Proceeds and Reasons for Placing and Admission

Since 2005 the Company has expanded its interests both by the acquisition of existing licences and the grant of additional new licences by the Liberian government. The Group has raised funds to further develop its licence areas through continued systematic exploration, with the objective of discovering further significant gold resources at its project locations and to improve its understanding of its targets in the region as a whole.

The Company intends to use the net proceeds of the Placing, expected to be £23.3 million (US$36.5 million) (after deducting fees and expenses) for:

·      Exploration (including mapping, stream sampling, soil sampling, trenching, drilling, geologists, logistical support and licence fees);

·      Capital expenditure in Liberia to support the exploration activities (including plant, equipment, vehicles, camps and access roads); and

·      Corporate and administration costs (including payroll, compliance, legal, investor relations, rent, travel and insurance)

Strategy

The Company's long-term intention is to create a significant gold exploration and production group. To progress this strategy, the Group intends from Admission and in the short to medium term to:

·      Progress the Dugbe F project (including the contiguous licence areas) with the intention of:

o  developing the extent and categorisation of the resource at the project where it is currently open to the north, south and down dip to such a degree as to warrant a pre-feasibility study; and

o  conducting various ancillary studies that may be required to take the project forward towards a pre-feasibility study, such as initial metallurgical studies, environmental studies, social impact studies and preliminary engineering studies.

·      Continue exploration in the greater Dugbe Shear Zone area and to systematically assess the potential of this region;

·      Conduct trenching and scout drilling operations where appropriate;

·      Advance the remaining early stage projects in a systematic manner; and

·      Progress with the exploration programme on the Mount Ginka iron ore licence.

In addition to focusing on development of its existing licences the Group may utilise its presence in and knowledge of Liberia as a platform to seek further growth opportunities via joint venture arrangements and/or acquisitions of other gold, iron ore or other mineral projects which could add value to the Group.

Daniel Betts, CEO of Hummingbird Resources, commented:

"The highly prospective region of Eastern Liberia represents one of the most exciting mineral exploration areas in West Africa and our position as holder of the largest area of mineral exploration ground in the region provides an excellent opportunity for substantial resource growth. Hummingbird draws on the experience of over 250 years of family involvement in precious metals. Work to date has already defined a total NI 43-101 compliant resource of 812,000 Oz gold at the Dugbe licence.

"The funds raised in connection with today's admission to AIM will help the Company further develop through the continued and systematic exploration of its licence areas. We aim to improve our understanding of the targets we have already identified and to discover further significant gold resources in the region."

Enquiries:

Hummingbird Resources plc

Daniel Betts, Chief Executive Officer

Tom Hill, Chief Financial Officer and Company Secretary
[phone]

Liberum Capital Limited
Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker
Tom Fyson / Richard Bootle
[phone]

Mirabaud Securities LLP
Joint Broker
Peter Krens
[phone]

Threadneedle Communications Limited
Graham Herring/Beth Harris       
[phone]

Further information

Summary table of the Group's resources

Summary of Resources by CIM Category for AIM Disclosure* Gross Attributable Resource
Category	Tonnes (millions)	Grade (g/t Au)	Contained Gold (Ozs)	Net Attributable	Operator
Indicated	15.93	1.078	552,000	100%	Hummingbird Resources (Liberia) Inc
Inferred	4.97	1.624	260,000	100%	Hummingbird Resources (Liberia) Inc
Total ¹	20.90	1.208	812,00	100%	Hummingbird Resources (Liberia) Inc¹
¹Indicated and inferred  resources may be combined for the purposes of AIM.
*     Resources are reported at a 0.5 g/t Au block cut off.
Source:Leon McGarry B.Sc of ACA Howe extracted from the Competent Person's Report

Further information about the Company, including the Admission Document and all of the information required to be disclosed pursuant to AIM Rule 26 is available on the Company's website, www.hummingbirdresources.co.uk. The Company has made an application to the London Stock Exchange for the entire issued share capital of the Company, comprising 53,355,565 ordinary shares of 1p each, to be admitted to trading on AIM today.

David Pelham (BSc, MSc, MIMMM), Technical Director of the Company and a minerals geologist with thirty years exploration experience, is an authorised person for the purposes of the AIM Rules Note for Mining and Oil and Gas Companies and has reviewed this statement and authorised its release.

Glossary

"Au"	the chemical symbol on the periodic table for the precious metal, gold
"Birimian"	a group of rocks occurring in West Africa, forming volcano-sedimentary belts, which are between 2.2 billion and 2.0 billion years old
"Ounce" or "oz"	troy ounce; equal to 31.1035 grammes

 

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