TIDMBMN
RNS Number : 3515H
Bushveld Minerals Limited
24 March 2020
Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure
Certain information contained in this announcement would have
been deemed inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of
Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 until the release of this
announcement.
24 March 2020
Bushveld Minerals Limited
("Bushveld", the "Company" or the "Group")
Covid-19 Update and Operation Halt
Bushveld Minerals Limited (AIM:BMN), the AIM-quoted, integrated
primary vanadium producer which owns high-grade vanadium assets in
South Africa, hereby provides an update on operations following the
more stringent directives issued by South Africa's Government on 23
March 2020 to deal with the global Covid-19 outbreak.
The measures include a 21-day National lockdown for all
residents, to minimise movement of non-essential businesses and
activities. A requirement is to put mining operations on care and
maintenance with effect from midnight 26 March through to 16 April
2020.
As a result of the Government's announcement we are making
preparations to safely and efficiently put our Vametco operations
and Vanchem facility on care and maintenance in such a manner as to
be able to safely and timely ramp up our operations and safeguard
the long term sustainability of our business at the end of the
period.
Full Year 2020 guidance for both Vametco and Vanchem, announced
to the market in the Full Year 2019 and Q4 2019 Operational Update
on 30 January 2019, will be under review. We are assessing the
financial impact and will update the market in due course.
To date our supply chains have continued to operate as normal
with deliveries of product continued around the world, while the
Company's ability to source consumables and equipment has not been
affected to any material degree.
The welfare of our employees and communities is a top priority
at Bushveld Minerals, and over the past few weeks we established a
Task Team to assist develop a comprehensive cross-functional
response to the pandemic. A number of awareness, prevention, risk
mitigation and strategies have been developed and are being
implemented.
We have been following and will continue to follow the advice
from South Africa's Government, a nd we will continue to engage
with the Government, to obtain further detail on permitted
activities during this period.
With regards to the vanadium market outlook, the virus has had a
negative effect on the global growth outlook. Having said that,
China has shown signs of recovery since the government lifted the
lockdown put in place to halt the spread of the virus.
Fortune Mojapelo, Chief Executive Officer of Bushveld Minerals
Limited, commented:
"Having witnessed health systems of more developed first world
countries get overwhelmed by the pandemic with tragic consequences,
South Africa's decisive and bold intervention announced by the
government this early in the epidemic's cycle is an existential
necessity. It is costly. Yet the costs of inaction are
unimaginable.
I am encouraged by the comprehensive set of measures, including
fiscal ones, that will help cushion both employers and
employees.
I am pleased that our Covid-19 Task Team has shown tremendous
leadership in ensuring that the Company is best prepared to weather
this storm through a comprehensive awareness, prevention, and
intervention programme, which includes critical business continuity
measures to ensure that once the lock down passes we are able to
ramp up our production quickly. An important priority of the
Company is to ensure that the company's cash reserves and available
facilities available to it are sufficient to not only see the
company through the lockdown period but ensure a speedy ramp up
once the lock down period ends.
We continue to evaluate our response to maximise the safety of
our workers; ensure minimal disruption to our operations and where
such disruption is unavoidable, as in this case, to ensure the
company is in a financially sound enough condition to weather the
storm. This will pass and I am confident when it has passed
Bushveld Minerals will still be standing and continuing on its
strategic path."
ENDS
Enquiries: info@bushveldminerals.com
+27 (0) 11 268
Bushveld Minerals Limited 6555
Fortune Mojapelo, Chief Executive
Officer
Chika Edeh, Head of Investor
Relations
SP Angel Corporate Finance Nominated Adviser +44 (0) 20 3470
LLP & Broker 0470
Richard Morrison / Stephen
Wong
Abigail Wayne / Richard Parlons
+44 (0) 20 7236
BMO Capital Markets Limited Joint Broker 1010
Tom Rider / Michael Rechsteiner
/
Neil Elliot
+44 (0) 20 7418
Peel Hunt Limited Joint Broker 8900
Ross Allister
Tavistock Financial PR
Charles Vivian / Gareth Tredway
/ +44 (0) 207 920
Edward Lee 3150
Brunswick Financial PR (South
Africa)
+27 (0) 11 502
Miyelani Shikwambana 7300
ABOUT BUSHVELD MINERALS LIMITED
Bushveld Minerals is a low-cost, integrated, primary vanadium
producer, with ownership of high-grade vanadium assets.
The Company's flagship vanadium platform includes a 74 per cent
controlling interest in Bushveld Vametco Alloys (Pty) Ltd, a
primary vanadium mining and processing company; 100 per cent of
Bushveld Vanchem, a primary vanadium processing facility with a
beneficiation plant; the Mokopane Vanadium Project and the Brits
Vanadium Project.
Bushveld's vision is to become a significant, low-cost,
integrated primary vanadium producer through owning high grade
assets. Whilst the demand for vanadium remains largely anchored in
the steel industry, Bushveld Minerals believes there is strong
potential for an imminent and significant global vanadium demand
surge from the fast-growing energy storage market, particularly
through the use and adoption of Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries.
Bushveld Energy, the Company's energy storage solutions provider,
plays a leading role in the development and promotion of the role
of vanadium in this market.
While the Company's focus is on vanadium operations and the
development and promotion of VRFBs, it has additional investments
in coal, power and tin.
The Company's approach to project development recognises that,
whilst attractive project economics are imperative, they may be
insufficient to secure capital to bring them to account. A clear
path to production within a visible timeframe, low capital
expenditure requirements and scalability are important factors in
ensuring a positive return on investment. This philosophy is core
to the Company's strategy in developing projects.
Detailed information on the Company and progress to date can be
accessed on the website www.bushveldminerals.com .
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the
London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct
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of this information may apply. For further information, please
contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.
END
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