9 April 2024
Oracle Power
PLC
("Oracle" or the
"Company")
Exclusive Option to Acquire
100% of a Copper and Silver Project in the
Northwest Region of Western
Australia
Oracle Power PLC (AIM:ORCP), an
international project developer, is pleased to announce that it has
secured an exclusive option to acquire 100% of the Blue Rock Valley
Copper and Silver Project (the "Project"), located in the Ashburton
Basin in the northwest region of Western Australia (the
"Transaction"). Figure 1 shows a sample of the copper
mineralisation that leads to the name of the project. The Project
is located 165km southeast of Onslow, a multi-user port and the
main port for the region's iron and LNG exports. The Project site
is accessed from the North West Coastal Highway on a
well-maintained unsealed road. Refer to Figure 2 below for
location.
Highlights:
o Assays from historical drilling and rock chip sampling suggest
the presence of high-grade copper and silver mineralisation, as
well as the potential for uranium.
o Significant historical rock chip samples collected in the
vicinity of the Project area by Jackson Minerals Limited
("Jackson") between 2007 and 2010 (WAMEX Report A079571)
comprise:
- BRR011: 49.9% Cu, 4.93g/t
Ag
|
- J45413: 10.7% Cu
|
- BRR012: 37.6% Cu, 6.69g/t
Ag
|
- J45438: 9.09% Cu, 20.5g/t
Ag
|
- BRR013: 16.05% Cu, 4.34g/t
Ag
|
- J45441: 7.89% Cu
|
- BRR014: 14.85% Cu, 2.82g/t
Ag
|
- J45436: 6.6% Cu
|
- BRR015: 11.75% Cu, 2.37g/t
Ag
|
- J45414: 4.98% Cu, 4.1g/t
Ag
|
o Historical Reverse Circulation drilling returned significant
results:
- Hole
BBRC005: 4m @ 1.02% Cu from 0m; and
- Hole
BBRC004: 8m @ 0.54% Cu from 6m (including 1m @ 1.39% Cu from
10m).
o Electromagnetic (EM) geophysics as versatile time domain
electromagnetic (VTEM) (airborne), and fixed loop transient
electromagnetic surveying (FLTEM) (surface), studies have defined
various drill targets.
o An
EM anomaly near to the location of the prior work undertaken is
undrilled and untested and sits in a syncline of sedimentary rocks
that are potentially ideal for base metals (copper, lead, zinc) and
silver to be deposited.
o Further targeting tools to be assessed to refine and develop
targets before drilling is undertaken.
o Gold
and uranium also being targeted as these deposit types occur within
the Ashburton Basin.
The
Project Tenement:
The Project tenement (the
"Tenement") covers 32 Blocks (approximately 102km2) (see
Figure 2 below) and is composed of one exploration licence,
E08/3604, wholly owned by Mining Equities Pty Ltd ("Mining
Equities"). The Tenement was granted on 2 October 2023 and expires
on 26 October 2028, but is renewable. The first term is therefore five years
with a possible initial extension of five years and further
extensions of two years thereafter, with 40% of the licence area to
be surrendered at the end of year six.
Key
Transaction Terms:
Oracle has entered into an option
and sale and purchase agreement with Mining Equities (the
"Agreement"), pursuant to which Mining Equities has granted Oracle
an exclusive option to acquire a 100% interest in the Tenement (the
"Option").
Under the terms of the Agreement, in
consideration for Mining Equities granting the Option to Oracle,
the Company shall pay a fee of £30,000 by way of the issue of
136,986,301 new ordinary shares of 0.001p each in the capital of
Oracle ("Ordinary Shares"), determined using the VWAP for the five
business day period immediately prior to signing of the Agreement
(the "Five-Day VWAP") (the "Option Consideration Shares"). The
Option has a term of 45 days commencing from the date of execution
of the Agreement (the "Option Term"). During the Option Term,
Mining Equities has agreed to use all reasonable endeavours to
provide Oracle with the data and relevant information on the
Tenement in order for Oracle to conduct its due diligence exercise.
If Oracle elects to exercise the Option to acquire a 100% interest
in the Tenement, the Company shall pay consideration of £200,000 to
Mining Equities, through the issue of a further 913,242,009 new
Ordinary Shares (the "Consideration Shares"), determined using the
Five-Day VWAP.
Should Oracle elect to exercise the
Option, the transfer of the Tenement from Mining Equities to Oracle
would be subject to and conditional on the Company obtaining the
prior written consent of the Minister of Mines and Petroleum in the
State of Western Australia.
Any issue of new Ordinary Shares to
Mining Equities under the terms of the Agreement shall be subject
to a three-month lock-in period from their date of
issue.
Mining Equities has not published
any statutory financial statements since it acquired the Tenement
but has incurred costs associated with the Tenement of A$53,830,
which have all been capitalised in its unaudited management
accounts.
Naheed Memon, CEO of Oracle,
commented"The Option over a base
metal and silver project in Western Australia, of this magnitude,
represents a great opportunity for Oracle. Due diligence will be
completed over the coming weeks, and an assessment of the best
exploration tools to move the Project forward will be undertaken by
our technical team. The Project area is also highly prospective for
gold, with the Eastern Hills Gold Project 11km to the north and the
famous Paulsen Gold Mine 42km to the north-north-east. A number of
uranium projects are also nearby, including Paladin's 25.9Mlb
uranium project and Cauldon's 30.9Mlb uranium deposit, indicating
potential sediment hosted uranium near hot granites in the
Ashburton Basin."
Admission and total voting rights
Application has been made to the
London Stock Exchange plc for the 136,986,301 Option Consideration
Shares to be admitted to trading on AIM ("Admission"). It is
expected that Admission will become effective at 8.00 a.m. on or
around 12 April 2024. The Option Consideration Shares will rank
pari passu with the
existing Ordinary Shares.
On Admission, the enlarged issued
ordinary share capital of the Company will be 4,872,401,688
Ordinary Shares, with no shares held in Treasury. Therefore, the
total voting rights in the Company following Admission will be
4,872,401,688 and this figure may be used by shareholders in the
Company as the denominator for the calculations by which they will
determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a
change in their interest in, the share capital of the Company under
the FCA's Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules.
For
further information on Oracle Power PLC, visit the
Company's website at www.oraclepower.co.uk
or contact:
Oracle Power PLC
Naheed Memon - CEO
+44 (0) 203 580 4314
Strand Hanson Limited (Nominated
Adviser & Joint Broker)
Rory Murphy, Matthew Chandler, Rob
Patrick
+44 (0) 20 7409 3494
Global Investment Strategy UK Limited
(Joint Broker)
Samantha
Esqulant
+44 (0) 20 7048 9432
St Brides Partners Limited
(Financial PR)
Susie Geliher, Isabel de Salis
+44 (0) 20 7236 1177
This announcement contains inside
information for the purposes of Article 7 of EU Regulation No.
596/2014, which forms part of United Kingdom domestic law by virtue
of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, as amended by virtue
of the Market Abuse (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations
2019.
Competent Person's
Statement
The information in this announcement
that relates to exploration results, mineral resources or ore
reserves is based on information compiled by Mr Edward Mead, who is
a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. Mr
Mead is a consultant to the Company. Mr Mead has sufficient
experience which is relevant to the style of mineralisation and
type of deposits under consideration and to the activity that he is
undertaking to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2012
edition of the `Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration
Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves' (the JORC Code). Mr
Mead consents to the inclusion of this information in the form and
context in which it appears in this announcement.
Figure
1:
Photo of Rich Copper Oxide Sample
from a Historical Trench within the Blue Rock Shafts (TechGen, 8
September 2021)
About Blue Rock Valley Copper and
Silver Project:
The Blue Rock Valley Copper and
Silver Project (E08/3604) is located in the Ashburton Basin, in the
northwest region of Western Australia. The site is located 165km
southeast of Onslow, the main port for the region's Iron and LNG
exports, which is a multi-user port. Access is from the Northwest
Coastal Highway on a well-maintained unsealed road. Refer to Figure
2 below for location.
Conceptually, the Company sees
similarities between the Project and the Maroochydore Sediment
hosted copper deposits and Nifty, both in Western Australia. Nifty
is a world class Copper deposit with Global resources exceeding
95Mt @ 1% Cu. The tectonic setting and lithological package are
similar also to the Mt Isa Formation which hosts the George Fisher
Zn-Pb-Ag deposit and the Mt Isa Copper deposit.
To further develop the Project,
subject to, inter alia,
exercise of the Option and approval of the Minister of Mines and
Petroleum in Western Australia, Oracle plans to:
·
Digitise all historical data
·
Assess the benefits of a geochemical sampling
programme
·
Assess the benefits of a ground gravity
geophysical programme
·
Undertake drilling based on the existing EM target
and any other anomalies identified
Project's Geology
The eastern portion of the Project
area overlies the Wyloo Group sediments of the Ashburton Basin
which are unconformably overlain by rocks of the Edmund Basin
(previously the Bangemall Basin), which cover the western portion
of the Tenement. The contact between the Ashburton and Edmund
basins is interpreted as being a thrust contact with movement to
the west and can be clearly seen in the regional aeromagnetic
image.
Mineralisation
The Ashburton Mineral Field (which
incorporates the Project area) has a long history of gold, copper,
silver, lead and zinc exploration.
Several smaller prospects which were
historically exploited for gold, copper, silver and lead are
located nearby including the Soldiers Secret and Top Camp gold
deposits. Small-scale production of copper, lead and silver has
also been recorded in the Ashburton Basin, mainly from the
Ashburton Downs copper deposits within the Project area and others
in the region such as Kooline (Pb, Ag) and Bali Hi (Cu-Pb-Ag)
areas.
Historical Exploration
The Ashburton Downs copper deposits
have a long history of exploration. Within the Project area, a
number of prospects have been examined by Jackson (2007-2010),
Cauldron Energy ("Cauldron") up to 2010, and TechGen Metals Ltd
("TechGen") to March 2022. No work has been undertaken since March
2022 to the present day. Most of the exploration was confined to
surface rock chip sampling where some high grades of copper were
identified; Jackson 10.7% Cu, Cauldron 1.82% Cu and Techgen up to
16.05% Cu.
In addition, TechGen carried out
geophysical surveys over the Project area. In March 2022, seven
reverse circulation (RC) drill holes were completed over two of the
three geophysical targets defined. The third target in the syncline
to the southwest of the historical Blue Rocks Mine, remains
untested and undrilled, and Oracle believes this to be the centre
of the mineralised system. Examples of the mineralisation style can
be seen in Figures 1, 3 and 4. Figure 5 illustrates the TechGen
geophysical anomalies and drill holes.
Refer to the Highlights section
above for further information on the rock chip sample and RC drill
hole results.
Figure 2:
Blue Rock Valley project location
and access
Figure 3:
Rock sample BRR011 assayed at
49.9% copper and 4.93g/t silver (TechGen, 13 October
2021)
Figure 4:
One of several historical copper
workings from the 1960s in the Project area with oxide copper
samples (TechGen, 19 September 2021)
Figure 5:
VTEM anomalies and drill hole
locations, Blue Rock Valley Project (TechGen, 3 March 2022).
The untested target is 2.2km in
strike/length