Completion of Koolyanobbing Royalty Acquisition

RNS Number : 7923O

Trident Resources Plc

03 June 2020

 

3 June 2020

Trident Resources Plc

("Trident" or the "Company")

Completion of Koolyanobbing Iron Ore Royalty Acquisition

Further to its announcements of 25 March 2020 and 1 May 2020, Trident is pleased to advise that following the Company's admission to trading on the AIM Market of the London Stock Exchange, the Koolyanobbing Iron Ore Royalty Acquisition (as defined below) has now completed.

On 25 March 2020, the Company announced that it had entered into a conditional purchase agreement ("SPA") with FE Limited to acquire a 1.5% FOB revenue royalty covering part of the producing Koolyanobbing Iron Ore Operation in Western Australia (the "Koolyanobbing Operation") for a staged cash consideration of A$7.0 million (the "Koolyanobbing Iron Ore Royalty Acquisition"). As announced on 27 May 2020, the first quarterly payment which is attributable to Trident, was A$539,310. As such, the Tranche 1 consideration payable upon completion was A$3,460,690 (being the A$4.0 million purchase price, less the first quarter royalty payment). This has now been paid and the second tranche of A$3.0 million is payable 12 months and one day after the closing of the transaction.

The royalty is payable on production from the ML77/1259 tenement which constitutes part of the Deception Pit, one of the segments in the broader Koolyanobbing Operation. The Deception Pit is connected to Mineral Resources' Windarling operation by a 20km haul road, which is then connected to Koolyanobbing. Material from Koolyanobbing is transported by rail south to Esperance Port where it is loaded for export. The Deception pit has a JORC 2012 Reserve of 9.3Mt at 59.9% Fe and a total Resource of 19.5Mt at 59.9% Fe as at 30 June 2019. Trident estimates up to 75% of the Deception Pit may contain mineralisation over which payments would be made under the Koolyanobbing Iron Ore Royalty Acquisition.

Adam Davidson, Chief Executive Office of Trident commented:

"We are delighted to announce the completion of Trident's first transaction as a new growth-focused diversified royalty and streaming company. The acquisition provides Trident with an immediately cash generative iron ore royalty at a time where iron ore price continues to outperform other commodities and provides a strong initial platform from which to execute on our strategy."

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Contact details:

Trident Resources Plc Adam Davidson	www.tridentresources.co.uk [phone]
Grant Thornton (Nominated Adviser) Colin Aaronson / Richard Tonthat / Seamus Fricker	www.grantthornton.co.uk [phone]
Tamesis Partners LLP (Financial Adviser and Broker) Richard Greenfield	www.tamesispartners.com [phone]
Yellow Jersey (Public Relations) Charles Goodwin	www.yellowjerseypr.com [phone]

About Trident

Trident is a growth-focused diversified mining royalty and streaming company, aiming to provide investors with exposure to a mix of base and precious metals, bulk materials (excluding thermal coal) and battery metals.

Key highlights of Trident's strategy include:

· Constructing a royalty and streaming portfolio to broadly mirror the commodity exposure of the global mining sector (excluding thermal coal) with a bias towards production or near-production assets, differentiating Trident from the majority of peers which are exclusively, or heavily weighted, to precious metals;

· Acquiring royalties and streams in resources-friendly jurisdictions worldwide, while most competitors have portfolios focused on North and South America;

· Targeting attractive small-to-mid size transactions which are often ignored in a sector dominated by large players;

· Active deal-sourcing which, in addition to writing new royalties and streams, will focus on the acquisition of assets held by natural sellers such as: closed-end funds, prospect generators, junior and mid-tier miners holding royalties as non-core assets, and counterparties seeking to monetise packages of royalties and streams which are otherwise undervalued by the market;  

· Maintaining a low-overhead model which is capable of supporting a larger scale business without a commensurate increase in operating costs; and

· Leveraging the experience of management, the board of directors, and Trident's adviser team, all of whom have deep industry connections and strong transactional experience across multiple commodities and jurisdictions.

The acquisition and aggregation of individual royalties and streams is expected to deliver strong returns for shareholders as assets are acquired on terms reflective of single asset risk compared with the lower risk profile of a diversified, larger scale portfolio. Further value is expected to be delivered by the introduction of conservative levels of leverage through debt. Once scale has been achieved, strong cash generation is expected to support an attractive dividend policy, providing investors with a desirable mix of inflation protection, growth and income.

Forward-looking Statements

This news release contains forward ‐ looking information. The statements are based on reasonable assumptions and expectations of management and Trident provides no assurance that actual events will meet management's expectations. In certain cases, forward ‐ looking information may be identified by such terms as "anticipates", "believes", "could", "estimates", "expects", "may", "shall", "will", or "would". Although Trident believes the expectations expressed in such forward ‐ looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected. Mining exploration and development is an inherently risky business. In addition, factors that could cause actual events to differ materially from the forward-looking information stated herein include any factors which affect decisions to pursue mineral exploration on the relevant property and the ultimate exercise of option rights, which may include changes in market conditions, changes in metal prices, general economic and political conditions, environmental risks, and community and non-governmental actions. Such factors will also affect whether Trident will ultimately receive the benefits anticipated pursuant to relevant agreements. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of the forward ‐ looking statements. These and other factors should be considered carefully and readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information.

 

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