TORONTO, June 11, 2019 /CNW/ - RNC Minerals
(TSX: RNX) ("RNC") is pleased to announce that it has closed
the acquisition ofthe Higginsville Gold Operation ("HGO")
from Westgold Resources Limited ("Westgold").
RNC has paid Westgold A$25 million in
cash and issued a total of 56.9 million shares in satisfaction of
the HGO purchase price (see RNC news releases dated March 26 and May 13,
2019). The cash portion of the HGO purchase price was funded
by a new senior secured C$35 million
debt facility entered into by RNC. This facility will also fund
working capital requirements of the combined business.
Mark Selby, President and
CEO of RNC, commented "Today's announcement is another major step
forward for RNC. The combination of the Higginsville Mill and our
Beta Hunt Mine will transform RNC's gold operations in
Western Australia into a
multi-mine operation anchored by the 1.3 Mtpa HGO Mill, the high
grade and bulk resource potential at Beta Hunt (which was once
again confirmed last week), and a large land position in the
Kalgoorlie gold region. RNC is now focused on the
rapid integration of Beta Hunt and HGO, which creates tremendous
value for RNC shareholders."
Mr. Selby continued "We had significant interest from a
number of financing sources and are very pleased to welcome a new
financing partner to help us build RNC through our next phase of
growth. This partner has an excellent track record of providing
capital to help build small and mid-cap companies across a range of
industries. The financing package provides significant flexibility
at a competitive cost which allows us to complete this acquisition
and minimize equity dilution."
The acquisition of the Higginsville operations and its
modern, low cost 1.3 Mtpa gold mill will provide a key piece of
RNC's strategy to unlock the significant potential of its Beta Hunt
gold mine. The Higginsville mill will significantly reduce milling
cost for Beta Hunt (RNC expects processing cost savings in excess
of C$15 per tonne, a 35% reduction).
HGO includes a 367,000 ounce historical reserve within a 1.2
million ounce historical measured & indicated gold resource,
along with a further 0.7 million ounce historical inferred
resource1, all
located on a 386 square kilometer land position in the Kalgoorlie
gold region. RNC successfully tolled Beta Hunt material through the
HGO mill in 2018, achieving 94% gold recovery.
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1
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The information is
extracted from the report entitled '2018 Annual Update of Mineral
Resources & Ore Reserves' dated on October 2, 2018 and is
available to view on Westgold Resources Limited's website
(www.westgold.com.au) and the ASX (www.asx.com.au). Mineral
Resources are quoted inclusive of Ore Reserves. RNC confirms that
the form and context in which the Competent Person's findings are
presented have not been materially modified from the original
market announcement.A qualified person has not done sufficient work
on behalf of RNC to classify the historical estimate noted here and
in Tables 1 and 2 as current mineral resources or mineral reserves
and RNC is not treating the historical estimates as current mineral
resources or mineral reserves.
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Credit Facility
The C$35 million credit
facility has an initial term of 12 months, extendible for a further
6 months for no additional fee provided RNC remains in compliance
with the terms of the facility. The facility does not require
repayment of principal until the expiry of the term, and bears
interest at a rate of 10% per annum paid monthly. A 1% cash
commitment fee was paid at closing, along with a 2% share fee that
was satisfied by the issuance of 1.46 million common shares of
RNC.
Cantor Fitzgerald Canada Corporation and Haywood
Securities Inc. acted as joint financial advisors to RNC in
connection with the credit facility.
About the Higginsville Gold Project
Higginsville is located 57km south of RNC's Beta Hunt
Operation and 107km south of the regional mining centre of
Kalgoorlie (Figure 1). The acquisition includes a 1.3Mt operating
processing facility, historical
JORC2 Mineral Resources of
1.9Mozs and Ore Reserves of 0.37Mozs, and 386 square kilometres of
tenure with gold mineralization potential (Figure 1). A
qualified person has not done sufficient work on behalf of RNC to
classify the historical estimate noted Tables 1 and 2 below as
current mineral resources or mineral reserves and RNC is not
treating the historical estimates as current mineral resources or
mineral reserves. The Higginsville tenements are located along
strike and close to the mining centres of Norseman and St Ives and
cover over 50 kms of the highly prospective Norseman-Wiluna
Greenstone belt.
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2
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As per the 2012 JORC
(Joint Ore Reserves Committee) Code.
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Qualified Person
The scientific and technical
information contained in this news release has been reviewed and
approved by Alger St-Jean, Vice-President, Exploration of RNC, a
Qualified Person under NI 43-101.
About RNC Minerals
RNC has a 100% interest in the producing Beta Hunt gold
mine located in Western Australia
where a significant high grade gold discovery - "Father's Day Vein"
- was made. RNC is currently completing a 40,000 metre drill
program, the results of which will be incorporated into an updated
NI 43-101 compliant Mineral Resource Estimate and mine plan
targeted for Q2 2019. Beta Hunt gold resource potential is
underpinned by multiple gold shears with gold intersections across
a 4 km strike length which remain open in multiple directions
adjacent to an existing 5 km ramp network. RNC has a 100% interest
in the Higginsville Gold Operation in Western Australia, which is comprised of a low
cost 1.3 Mtpa gold mill and a substantial portfolio of gold
tenements. RNC also has a 28% interest in a nickel joint venture
that owns the Dumont Nickel-Cobalt Project located in the Abitibi
region of Quebec which contains
the second largest nickel reserve and ninth largest cobalt reserve
in the world. RNC owns a 27% interest in Orford Mining Corporation,
a mineral explorer focused on highly prospective and underexplored
areas of Northern Quebec. RNC has
a strong management team and Board with over 100 years of mining
experience. RNC's common shares trade on the TSX under the symbol
RNX. RNC shares also trade on the OTCQX market under the symbol
RNKLF.
Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking
Statements
This news release contains
"forward-looking information" including without limitation
statements relating to production guidance and the potential of the
Beta Hunt Mine, Higginsville Gold Operation and
Dumont Nickel – Cobalt
Project.
Forward-looking statements involve
known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may
cause the actual results, performance or achievements of RNC to be
materially different from any future results, performance or
achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking
statements. Factors that could affect the outcome include, among
others: future prices and the supply of metals; the results of
drilling; inability to raise the money necessary to incur the
expenditures required to retain and advance the properties;
environmental liabilities (known and unknown); general business,
economic, competitive, political and social
uncertainties; results of exploration
programs; accidents, labour disputes and other
risks of the mining industry; political
instability, terrorism, insurrection or war; or delays in obtaining
governmental approvals, projected cash
operating costs, failure to obtain
regulatory or shareholder approvals. For a more detailed discussion
of such risks and other factors that could
cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or
implied by such forward-looking statements, refer to RNC's filings
with Canadian securities regulators, including
the most recent Annual Information Form,
available on SEDAR at
www.sedar.com.
Although RNC has attempted
to identify important factors that could cause actual actions,
events or results to differ materially from those described in
forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause
actions, events or results to
differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended.
Forward-looking statements contained herein are made as of the date
of this news release and RNC disclaims any obligation to update any
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information,
future events or results or otherwise, except as required by
applicable securities laws.
SOURCE RNC Minerals