Note Financing Completed and

RNS Number : 7693M

Solomon Gold PLC

04 February 2009

 

4 February 2009

Announcement to London Stock Exchange

Solomon Gold plc

£221,915 NOTE FINANCING COMPLETED AND CONVERTED TO SHARES

Further to the Company's announcements of 17 December 2008 and 3 February 2009, Solomon Gold plc advises that Samuel Holdings Pty Ltd a company associated with The Chief Executive of Solomon Gold plc, Mr Nicholas Mather has procured agreements to subscribe to convertible notes as follows:

Nicholas and Judith Mather <Superannuation Fund A/C> - £154,785.71

Samuel Holdings Pty Ltd <Samuel Discretionary A/C> - £67,129.29

As provided by the note agreement the notes have been converted into Solomon Gold plc ordinary shares at 3.04 pence per share being 80% of the 30-day volume weighted average price of 3.80 pence. The number of shares issued under the note deeds are:

Nicholas and Judith Mather <Superannuation Fund A/C> - 5,091,635

Samuel Holdings Pty Ltd <Samuel Discretionary A/C> - 2,208,201

Director Interests

The table below sets out each director's interests on Ordinary Shares of the Company before and after the share placement.

Participating Director	Current shareholding	% total	Placement	Shareholding following placement	% total
Cameron Wenck	498,712	0.9%		498,712	0.8%
Nicholas Mather	5,802,347	10.4%	7,299,836	13,102,183	20.7%
Brian Moller	472,818	0.8%		472,818	0.7%
Robert Weinberg	249,223	0.4%		249,223	0.4%
Total Company	55,991,668		7,299,836	63,291,504

Significant Shareholders

As a result of the Placement, the Company is aware of the following changes in significant shareholdings:

Significant shareholder	Current shareholding	% total		Shareholding following placement	% total
Samuel Holdings Pty Ltd <Samuel Discretionary A/C>	5,256,140	9.4%		7,464,341	11.8%
Nicholas & Judith Mather <Superannuation Fund A/C>	Nil	0.0%		5,091,635	8.0%

  About Solomon Gold

Solomon Gold holds an extensive tenement position on the main island of Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, for minerals exploration, focusing on copper and gold rich porphyry systems and high grade epithermal gold mineralisation. The Company was admitted to AIM on 10 February 2006 after a £5m capital raising. Solomon Gold has identified extensive areas of mineralisation indicative of significant porphyry copper gold and epithermal gold systems. Solomon Gold believes the project area, located on the southwest Pacific Rim, to host potential for the discovery of a world-class copper gold porphyry system similar to other large ore bodies in the region such as Ok Tedi, Grasberg and Bougainville which host resources in excess of 40m oz of gold equivalent as gold and copper. The Company is staffed by an active team of expatriate and Solomon Island geologists and field hands, supported by integrated logistics support services.

In late 2007 the Company announced an intersection of 32m @ 9.45 g/t gold from 108m in drill hole SK011 at Sutakiki in the centre of the broadly mineralised intrusive system.

Since December 2007 Solomon Gold raised a further £3.5m to continue working on the Guadalcanal projects.

It is the current intention of Solomon Gold to define a world class porphyry copper gold deposit with an overprinted high grade epithermal gold deposit and ultimately see it brought into production. Solomon Gold has access to the required exploration, development and financing skills to achieve this goal.

The high grade gold mineralisation encountered in the recent drilling at Sutakiki is characteristic of high grade gold deposits related to mineralised transform structures in Papua New Guinea and the Indonesian archipelago.

On 26 November 2008 the Company signed a terms sheet outlining the principal terms of a proposed agreement with Newmont Ventures Limited (Newmont) a wholly owned subsidiary of Newmont Mining Corporation, (NYSE: NEM) in respect of Solomon Gold's copper gold exploration projects on the island of Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands (Koloula PL 02/05, Central PL03/05, Mbetilonga PL04/05, Sutakiki PL05/05, and Kuma PL08/05). The terms sheet is subject to completion of a binding agreement and satisfactory due diligence by Newmont by 26 January 2009. Details of the terms sheet for proposed agreement are set out in the 26 November 2008 announcement by Solomon Gold plc. Solomon Gold is confident that the completion of the definitive agreement with Newmont will take place in the near future.

The principle terms provide that Newmont may earn up to a 70% interest by expending US $12 million within 5 years in a two stage earn-in. Solomon Gold will act as manager for the first year of the program and Newmont may elect to manage the program thereafter. Newmont currently proposes to second at least one of its geoscientists experienced in porphyry projects discovery and assessment in the South Pacific, to the project.

The Solomon Gold board considers Newmont's interest in Guadalcanal Island as a significant demonstration of support for the prospectivity of Solomon Gold's projects on Guadalcanal Island. Newmont is one of the world's leading gold project development and operating companies, with considerable experience in the south west Pacific and Indonesia. 

Solomon Gold continues to hold a 100% interest in the gold project on Fauro Island near Bougainville and nickel exploration tenements on Ngella Island in the Florida's Group north of Honiara and on eastern Guadalcanal.

By order of the Board

Kevin Nagle

Company Secretary

Contacts:

Mr Kevin Nagle

Company Secretary

Tel: [phone] or [e-mail] 

Mr Stephen Weir

RFC Corporate Finance

Nominated Advisor

Tel [phone] or [e-mail]

 

END

 

 

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