Sale of Asheba Licence in Ghana

RNS Number : 5727R

Hummingbird Resources PLC

30 June 2015

 

Hummingbird Resources plc / Ticker: HUM / Index: AIM / Sector: Mining

30 June 2015

Hummingbird Resources plc ("Hummingbird" or "the Company")

Sale of Asheba Licence in Ghana

Hummingbird Resources plc is pleased to announce that it has agreed to sell its wholly owned subsidiary Ensign Resources Limited to Taoudeni Resources Limited ("Taoudeni"), a private West African exploration business. This is in line with its strategy to focus on developing its 6 million ounce gold inventory at its core projects in West Africa, including the Yanfolila Gold Project ("Yanfolila") in Mali which it is now advancing into construction. 

Highlights:

·    Acquired the Asheba Project from Gold Fields as part of the acquisition of the Yanfolila Gold Project

·    Based on historical estimates from Gold Fields, Asheba has an estimated gold inventory of 176,000oz gold @ 1.8g/t

·    Hummingbird receives 10% equity interest in Taoudeni Resources and a US$1/oz discovery bonus

Dan Betts, CEO of Hummingbird Resources commented, "This transaction allows us to participate in the upside of both Asheba and Taoudeni as its team unlock the gold project's potential value with no capital commitment required by Hummingbird.  With earthworks underway at our flagship Yanfolila gold project we remain focused on delivering our first gold pour and near term cashflow." 

Niall Tomlinson, Executive Director of Taoudeni Resources added, "Asheba is a complimentary asset to our interests elsewhere in West Africa.  In addition to the defined gold mineralisation from exploration undertaken by Gold Fields, we believe there is significant potential for the delineation of additional gold mineralisation.  The large historic database that includes over 20,000m of reverse circulation and diamond core data provides us with an opportunity to efficiently deliver a maiden JORC compliant mineral  resource estimate and we are looking forward to advancing the project through an initial campaign of data validation including re-sampling of the core that is present at the project."

Ensign Resources Limited owns Antubia Resources Limited, a Ghanaian company that holds 100% of the Asheba Licence in Ghana ("Asheba") with a gold inventory of 176,000oz gold at 1.8g/t estimated by Gold Fields.   Hummingbird will receive 10% of the total share capital of Taoudeni and a discovery bonus of US$1/oz in 500,000 oz increments on discovery at Asheba.  Hummingbird retain the right to buy back a 10% interest in the project for US$7m upon publication of a Feasibility Study by the buyer. This asset, was acquired by the Hummingbird as part of the package acquired from Gold Fields in 2014, of which the main asset was the Yanfolila Gold Project. 

Taoudeni Resources Limited - Further Information

Taoudeni is focused on exploration in West Africa on the world class Birimian Belts in Ghana (gold) and the highly prospective Taoudeni Basin in Mauritania (copper). Taoudeni has a lean, cost effective corporate structure, an experienced management team encompassing strong technical and capital markets experience and is building a strong portfolio with near term value triggers.  Taoudeni focuses on projects with a high degree of geological prospectivity that can be explored in a cost effective manner to rapidly build value for shareholders and partners with potential for realisation.

The stated gold estimates in this document are internal company estimates.  They do not conform to a recognised standard such as JORC and as such cannot be relied upon for economic assessment purposes.

**ENDS**

For further information please visit www.hummingbirdresources.co.uk or contact: 

Daniel Betts Thomas Hill Robert Monro	Hummingbird Resources plc	Tel: [phone]
Stewart Dickson  Jeremy Stephenson	Cantor Fitzgerald Europe Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker	Tel: [phone]
Jon Belliss	Beaufort Securities Limited Joint Broker	Tel: [phone]
Lottie Brocklehurst Felicity Winkles Hugo de Salis	St Brides Partners Ltd Financial PR/IR	Tel: [phone]

Notes to Editors:

Hummingbird Resources (AIM: HUM) is building a leading gold production, development and exploration company. The Company has two core gold projects, the near-term production Yanfolila Project in Mali and the Dugbe 1 Project in Liberia. Its current focus is on bringing Yanfolila, which has a 1.8Moz gold inventory, to production in H1 2016.  The high grade gold project has the potential to turn a profit in a varying gold price environment and will allow for quick returns with low operating costs.

The 4.2Moz Dugbe 1 Project in Liberia provides Hummingbird with excellent development upside.  An optimisation of the DFS is on-going whilst Yanfolila is brought to production in the near-term.  Additionally, the Company has 5,000km² highly prospective exploration ground in Mali and Liberia and is constantly evaluating new quality assets.

For more information, please visit www.hummingbirdresources.co.uk

 

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