4 September
2020
ALTONA ENERGY
PLC
(“Altona” or “the Company”)
BUSINESS
UPDATE
Altona (AQSE: ANR.PL), a mining exploration company with a focus
on Rare Earth Element (“REE”) mining projects in Africa, announces that it is moving forward on
all fronts with regards to its new business strategy.
In Malawi, the Company signed,
on 1 September, Heads of Agreement with Akatswiri Mineral Resources
Pvt Ltd, to acquire up to 75% of the Chambe Rare Earth project in
Southern Malawi. The Heads
of Agreement are not legally binding but form the basis of
progressing towards a legally binding agreement if certain
conditions are fulfilling by both parties. These conditions include
a successful fund raise by Altona and the completion of due
diligence by Altona on Akatswiri Mineral Resources Pvt Ltd.
Following the recent general election in Malawi and a change in law regarding the
naming of mineral licences, which has caused a back-log of permit
approvals, the Company is waiting on the granting of Exploration
Licence, APL 0153, which it hopes will happen in the coming weeks,
when the Malawian Mining Department holds its next formal
meeting.
The Company’s partner in Malawi, Akatswiri Mineral Resources, has been
working closely with the government and local communities since
March and, we understand, has now filed all the reports necessary
to demonstrate the joint venture’s ability to develop the project
in a timely and sensitive manner, once the permit has been issued.
These reports include, Environmental Social Management Plan,
Exploration Plan and Budget, as well as conducting ongoing
stakeholder consultation meetings with the Community and District
Council of Mulanje.
The formalisation of Hilton Banda’s appointment to the board of
Altona is ongoing and it is expected that Mr Banda will become a
director of the Company in conjunction with the granting of the
Exploration Licence for Chambe. Mr Banda is Chief Executive Officer
of Akatswiri Mineral Resources and a highly experienced qualified
geologist.
The Company is now in advanced discussions with two other REE
projects in different stable African jurisdictions, and the board
is confident that it will sign Heads of Agreement with at least one
of these companies within the next 30 days. These projects are both
Carbonatite bearing REE deposits which have had extensive
exploration work including diamond drilling carried out over the
past 20 years by previous owners which warrants further
exploration.
Finally, the proposed capital raise, as announced on 17 July,
will be launched via the NR Private Market investor platform
(www.NRPrivateMarket.com), once the Exploration Licence has been
granted in Malawi, or the Company
signs Heads of Agreement with one of the other companies it is
negotiating with.
The Company will apply to AQSE to restore trading in the shares
following a successful fund raise.
-ends-
For further information, please visit www.altonaenergy.com or
contact:
Altona Energy
plc
Christian Taylor-Wilkinson, Interim CEO
Philip Sutherland, Non-Executive Director |
+44 (0) 7795 168 157
+61 (0)402 440 339 |
Alfred Henry
Corporate Finance Ltd (Aquis Corporate Adviser)
Jon Isaacs / Nick Michaels |
+44 (0) 20 3772 0021 |
|
|
Leander (Financial
PR)
|
+44 (0) 7795 168
157 |
Company Information
Altona is a mining exploration company focused on the
evaluation, development and extraction of Rare Earth Element (REE)
metals.
The Company was admitted to trading on AIM on 10 March 2005 and was subsequently admitted to
Aquis Stock Exchange (previously NEX) on 1 February 2019. A
copy of its Admission documents dated 4
March 2005 can be accessed on its website,
www.altonaenergy.com. This website is where items can be
inspected under Rule 75 of the Aquis Rules for Issuers, from
1 February 2019.
Information on the Chambe Rare Earth
Project
Chambe is a large, ionic adsorption clay-hosted Rare Earth
Elements (“REE”) project bearing appreciable quantities of critical
heavy and light REEs, particularly Ytterbium, Dysprosium, Yttrium,
Neodymium and Praseodymium. Extensive exploration work has been
carried out on the site since September
2010, suggesting the presence of mineralised Rare Earth
Oxide clays, similar to many of the larger REE mines in
China. The benefits of
extracting REE from ionic clay deposits include lower operating and
capital costs, as well as shorter times for development.
Information on Minexia and NR Private
Market
Minexia is a fin-tech business which has been in development for
c.4years and launched its investment platform, NR Private Market in
Q1 2019, which allows private investors ('Sophisticated' or 'High
Net Worth') to access a pipeline of high quality, pre-screened,
advanced exploration and or early stage development mining
projects. The platform has successfully closed six deals (total
value c. £10M) to date and has secured a dozen platform partners
and 6,000+ active platform users.