Placing

RNS Number : 1344G

URU Metals Limited

02 May 2014

 



2  May, 2014

URU Metals Limited

("URU" or "the Company")

Completion of placing of 54,333,334 new ordinary shares at a price of 1.5 pence per share to raise approximately £815,000

The Directors' of URU (AIM:URU), the  base metals and uranium explorer and development Company, are pleased to announce that it has raised approximately £815,000 from institutional and private investors to progress its 100 per cent owned Zebediela Nickel project in South Africa and for general working capital purposes.

The placing of 54,333,334 New Ordinary Shares of US$0.01 each ("New Ordinary Shares") was undertaken at a price of 1.5 pence per share (the "Placing Price") to raise approximately £815,000 of gross proceeds (the "Placing").

Transaction Highlights

·     The Company announces completion of a placing of 54,333,334 New Ordinary Shares at a price of 1.5 pence per New Ordinary Share to raise approximately £815,000 of gross proceeds

·     Net proceeds from the Placing will be used by the Company to progress its disseminated nickel project in South Africa which has the potential to become one of the world's top 10 nickel producers and for general working capital purposes

·     The New Ordinary Shares to be issued in connection with the Placing are equivalent to approximately 36% of the Company's existing issued ordinary share capital

Commenting on the fund raising, David Subotic, Chairman of URU Metals said:  

"We believe that the Zebediela nickel project in South Africa is unique, both in size and geology. Once developed and at the current nickel prices, Zebediela has the potential to become one of the world's top nickel projects. We are delighted to announce the successful fundraising, it proves that there is still appetite in the market for small companies with quality assets.  We look forward to updating the market on our progress."

Details of the Placing

 URU Metals has raised approximately £815,000 gross through the Placing, conducted by Beaufort Securities, with institutional and private investors at the Placing Price on a non pre-emptive basis.

 The New Ordinary Shares are credited as fully paid and rank pari passu with the existing issued Ordinary Shares. Application has been made for the New Ordinary Shares to be admitted to trading on AIM, which is expected to become effective on 9 May, 2014 ("Admission").

Following Admission, the Company's enlarged issued share capital will comprise of 203,673,952 Ordinary Shares. The Company holds zero shares in treasury. Therefore the total number of Ordinary Shares with voting rights is 203,673,952, which figure may be used by shareholders in the Company as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change in their interest in, the share capital of the Company under the FCA's Disclosure and Transparency Rules.

A number of the Company's existing shareholders have participated in the placing, including NWT Uranium. As NWT Uranium is a substantial holder in the Company, this constitutes a related party transaction pursuant to Rule 13. Jay Vieira, Non-Executive Director of URU, having consulted with the Company's nominated adviser, WH Ireland Limited, considers that the terms of the Placing, and the participation of NWT Uranium, to be fair and reasonable insofar as  the Company's shareholders are concerned. Hargreave Hale, an existing significant shareholder, has also invested in the Placing.

·     Separately from the placing, the Company announces that the Directors and a consultant to the Company, John Zorbas, are to be issued with the following shares: 3 million shares for David Subotic

·     2 million shares for Jay Vieira

·     3 million shares for John Zorbas, a consultant to the Company

The Shares are to be issued in recognition for work done to complete the Zebediela acquisition, and dealing with other matters in the Group following the resignation of the former CEO of URU in December 2013, which required a significant amount of work, over and above that usually required of Non-Executive Directors, for which no further salary was paid.

For more information contact:

URU Metals Limited David Subotic, Chairman	+ 1 416 892 2870
WH Ireland Limited (Nominated Adviser and  Broker) Adrian Hadden James Bavister	+ 44 (0) 207 220 1666
Beaufort Securities Limited (Joint Broker) Guy Wheatley	+ 44 (0) 207 382 8300
Ribeiro Communications Ana Ribeiro	[phone]

Or log on to our website www.urumetals.com 

Notes to Editors

Background information on the Zebediela Nickel Projects

The Zebediela Nickel Project is located in the Limpopo Province of South Africa close to the platinum mining town of Mokopane, very close to existing rail, highway, and electrical power infrastructure.

The Zebediela Nickel Project is a large disseminated sulphide resource with mining engineering aspects similar to porphyry copper deposits in terms of size and grade.  The NI 43-101-compliant PEA led by the MSA Group outlined indicated resources of 485.4 million tonnes averaging 0.245% nickel, and additional inferred resources of 1,115.1 million tonnes of 0.248% nickel.  The Zebediela Project also contains significant iron minerals in the form of magnetite that is also being investigated as a potential by-product.

The PEA considered the mining and milling of only 500 million tonnes of mineralized material in an open pit mine approximately 1700 m long by 880 m wide by 250 m deep.  The proposed mining rate is 20 million tonnes per annum using a contractor mining fleet.  The strip ratio was calculated to be 0.36:1.

Extensive work was conducted on the Zebediela deposit metallurgy indicating that 50% of the total contained nickel could be recovered into a high quality saleable nickel concentrate averaging 16% Ni.  Start-up capital expenditures including contingencies and working capital are estimated to be $650 million and sustaining capital is estimated at $58 million over the life of the mine.  Operating expenditures are estimated to be $3.35 per pound of recoverable nickel.

The PEA projects a pre-tax and pre-royalty net present value of $1,018 million, an internal rate of return of 25.7% and a 3.8 year payback period at an 8% discount rate using a nickel price of $8.50/lb and a ZAR/USD ratio of 8.1.  Annual cash flow is project to be $203 million.

URU is aware of the potential value of a magnetite as an iron concentrate by-product at Zebediela since the inception of the project.  Metallurgical work investigating by-product magnetite was included in the scope of the PEA investigations, but due to analytical delays, any potential economic impact from iron by-product was not included in the report.

About URU Metals

URU Metals is an AIM listed base metals explorer and development Company. The Company has a diverse portfolio of assets which includes, the Zebediela Project in South Africa, with combined inferred and indicated resources of over 1.5 billion tonnes of nickel.  The Nӓrke Oil/ Uranium Project in Sweden which is 100 per cent owned by URU Metals following the purchase of the entire issued share capital of Svenska Skifferoljeaktiebolaget ("SSOAB") from the vendor Global Hydrocarbons Limited ("GHL"), for a maximum total consideration of $1.078 million in June 2013. A drilling plan to verify historical data is planned in 2014.  As well as the Nueltin Gold-Uranium Project in Canada. URU Metals has an exclusive option agreement with Cameco Corporation ("Cameco"), one of the world's largest uranium companies, to earn a majority interest in Nueltin Lake Gold-Uranium Project ('the Project"), in the Kivalliq Region of the Territory of Nunavut, Canada.due to start Q2 2014.

 

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