Investee Company Operational Update

RNS Number : 0023K

Kennedy Ventures PLC

16 September 2016

 

16 September 2016

Kennedy Ventures plc

Investee Company Operational Update

Kennedy Ventures plc ("Kennedy Ventures" or "the Company"), the AIM quoted Investment Company, who through its investment in African Tantalum (Pty) Limited ("Aftan") has an interest in the Tantalite Valley Mine ("TVM") in Namibia, is pleased to announce that it has been informed by Aftan that the plant upgrade program at the Homestead Project ("Homestead") in the TVM is progressing as per management expectations with completion anticipated on schedule.

Mining operations have continued during the plant upgrade programme, with development proceeding as expected and a sufficient stockpile of 4,000 tonnes of ore is now available for the plant to operate continuously.

The reorganisation of the plant modules has been completed together with the improvement and upgrade of a number of those modules. The milling circuit design is complete and the equipment for the pre-concentrate ore has been designed, manufactured and purchased. Installation is ongoing, with the plant upgrade completion expected in Q2 2017.  The plant upgrades are expected to increase the plant capacity from 7,500 tonnes per month up to an estimated 15,000 tonnes per month.

Aftan continues to assess the potential of the lepidolite lithium deposit as well as the occurrence of lithium in the other pegmatite bodies and both geological and metallurgical studies are in an advanced position.

New General Manager:

Aftan has also appointed a new General Manager of operations. Mr Renier Swiegers, a Namibian citizen, is an experienced engineer and project manager who has a history of successfully delivering mining projects on time and in-budget. Mr Siegers commenced duties at the beginning of August and has made an immediate impact on the operations, in particular the plant upgrade.

Giles Clarke, Chairman of Kennedy Ventures said:

"The plant upgrade is a vital part of Aftan's strategy to enhance the mines efficiency, improve recoveries, increase production capacity and extract the significant value from the mine and surrounding ore bodies. It will also allow Aftan to potentially enter the lithium market. We are very pleased with the progress being made and we look forward to reporting on the completion of the upgrade and Aftan's return to cashflow positive operations.

The addition of Renier Swiegers to the operations team has been invaluable and he brings key skills at an important time as we continue to support Aftan's investment in the project.  We look forward to his continued contribution.

Aftan's ongoing investigations into the lithium potential at Tantalite Valley continue to be exciting and we look forward to updating shareholders as this work progresses and Aftan provides further updates."

The information contained within this announcement is considered to be inside information, for the purposes of Article 7 of EU Regulation 596/2014, prior to its release.

For further information on the Company, visit: www.kvplc.com:

Kennedy Ventures plc
Peter Hibberd (CEO), c/o Gordon Poole	Tel: [phone]
Grant Thornton UK LLP (Nominated Adviser) Colin Aaronson Richard Tonthat Daniel Bush	Tel: [phone]
Shore Capital (Broker) Mark Percy / Toby Gibbs (corporate finance) Jerry Keen (corporate broking)	Tel: [phone]
Camarco (PR) Gordon Poole Sean Blundell	Tel: [phone]

 

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