ANR Altona

30 October 2020

ALTONA ENERGY PLC

(“Altona” or “the Company”)

Trading Statement

to 30 September 2020

Altona (Aquis Growth Market: ANR.PL), a mining exploration company with a focus on Rare Earth Element (“REE”) mining projects in Africa, announces its trading statement for the three-months ended 30 September 2020, in accordance with its Aquis Stock Exchange obligations.

Trading in the Company’s shares was suspended on 12 February 2020 and will remain so until the Company concludes a successful round of funding, when it will apply to AQSE to restore trading in the shares.  

During the quarter the Company continued in its efforts to advance its new Rare Earth Metals strategy in Eastern Africa, with a number of milestones being achieved in the period under review.

Operational Review

On 13 July it was announced that two highly experienced mining professionals had joined the Company in a consultant capacity; Cedric Simonet, a French national living in Kenya, was appointed as Geologist and Gavin Beer, a New Zealand national living in Australia, was appointed as Metallurgist. Since their appointments, both consultants have proven their knowledge and experience in the Rare Earths mining sector in the many choices and decisions the board has needed to make.

The Company signed Heads of Agreement with Akatswiri Mineral Resources (“Akatswiri”) on 1 September, following a three-month period of negotiation. Akatswiri owns 100% of Akatswiri Rare Earths (“ARE”), which Altona has agreed to acquire an initial 51% interest in, once due diligence and a successful fund raise has been completed. Altona is able to increase its stake in ARE to 75% on completion of certain milestones. ARE is in the process of being granted the Exploration Licence (APL 0153) over the Chambe Rare Earth Project (“Chambe”) in South-East Malawi.

Chambe has had over $4 million spent in exploration to date by previous exploration companies and is an excellent example of a large, ionic adsorption clay-hosted Rare Earth Elements (“REE”) project, bearing appreciable quantities of Critical Rare Earth Oxides (“CREO”) and heavy and light REEs, particularly Ytterbium, Dysprosium, Yttrium, Neodymium and Praseodymium. Extensive exploration work has been carried out on the site since September 2010, confirming 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.

The Company signed Heads of Agreement on 21 September with Leadway Group Ltd, which was granted Exploration Licence (EL00115) on 27 October, known as the Nankoma Rare Earths Project, in South-Eastern Uganda. Altona has the right to acquire a 51% interest in Leadway Group (rising to 70%), upon completion of due diligence and a successful fund raise.

Nankoma Rare Earths Project is also expected to be an ionic adsorption clay-hosted project, due to the “nearology” with neighbouring tenements immediately to the north and west. These have shown to be rich in high levels of CREOs, at 310 ppm, which include the elements, Neodymium and Praseodymium, two of the REEs which Altona is focused on extracting, due to their demand in many technology and green industries.

On 24 September the Company launched a fund raise on the NR Private Market sophisticated crowdfunding platform, for private investors, to raise up to £500,000 at a discounted price of 6.5 pence, which also included warrants at 12 pence. This fund raise remains open until 11 November and investors wishing to find more details about Altona’s investments, should visit; www.NRPrivateMarket.com

Financial Review

While the Company’s immediate working capital requirements (mainly its PLC costs), have been significantly reduced over the past two years, the financial position of the Company is such that it cannot execute its business plan without immediate funding. If the fundraising on NR Private Market is not successful, the proposed strategy will not be able to go ahead and it is possible that the Company will go into administration.

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For further information, please visit www.altonaenergy.com or contact:

Company Information

Altona is a mining exploration company focused on the evaluation, development and extraction of Rare Earth Element (REE) metals in Eastern Africa. 

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.