European Metals Holdings Ltd (LON:EMH) today announced that it has today raised gross proceeds (before expenses) of £1,035,500 via a share placing.
The Company has today issued 5,177,500 new ordinary shares with new and existing investors at an issue price of 20 pence per new ordinary share, representing an approximate 13 per cent. discount to the closing mid-market price of the ordinary shares on 16 November 2018.
Cadence Minerals Plc subscribed for a total of 250,000 Placing Shares. Following participation in the Placing, Cadence Minerals Plc is now interested in a total of 28,096,470 CDIs representing 19.16% of the enlarged issued share capital of the Company.
Use of Proceeds
The net Placing proceeds will be used to continue to advance EMH’s corporate strategy including:
· To progress the Company’s drilling programme and upgrade its resource model to include measured resources and facilitate an estimation of proven reserves;
· Begin the engineering process for a Definitive Feasibility Study;
· Progress Environmental Impact Assessments for mining and processing;
· Operate a pilot plant for production of samples for marketing; and
· Progress discussions with potential strategic partners.
Admission and Settlement
Application is being made for the new ordinary shares represented by the Placing Shares to be admitted to trading on AIM, with admission expected to take place on or around 23 November 2018. The new ordinary shares will rank pari passu in all respects with the existing ordinary shares in EMH.
Total voting rights
Following Admission, the Company will have 146,642,227 Ordinary Shares in issue. There are no shares held in treasury. The total voting rights in the Company are therefore 146,642,227 and shareholders may use this figure as the denominator by which they are required to notify their interest in, or change to their interest in, the Company under the Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules. The Placing is conditional upon the terms of a placing agreement with WH Ireland Limited and Shard Capital Partners LLP and the Placing Shares being admitted to trading on AIM.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON CINOVEC
PROJECT OVERVIEW
Cinovec Lithium/Tin Project
European Metals, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Geomet s.r.o., controls the mineral exploration licenses awarded by the Czech State over the Cinovec Lithium/Tin Project. Cinovec hosts a globally significant hard rock lithium deposit with a total Indicated Mineral Resource of 372.4Mt @ 0.45% Li2O and 0.04% Sn and an Inferred Mineral Resource of 323.5Mt @ 0.39% Li2O and 0.04% Sn containing a combined 7.18 million tonnes Lithium Carbonate Equivalent and 263kt of tin. An initial Probable Ore Reserve of 34.5Mt @ 0.65% Li2O and 0.09% Sn has been declared to cover the first 20 years mining at an output of 22,800tpa of lithium carbonate.
This makes Cinovec the largest lithium deposit in Europe, the fourth largest non-brine deposit in the world and a globally significant tin resource.
The deposit has previously had over 400,000 tonnes of ore mined as a trial sub-level open stope underground mining operation.
European Metals Holdings has completed a Preliminary Feasibility Study, conducted by specialist independent consultants, which indicated a return post tax NPV of USD540m and an IRR of 21%. It confirmed the deposit is amenable to bulk underground mining. Metallurgical test work has produced both battery grade lithium carbonate and high-grade tin concentrate at excellent recoveries. Cinovec is centrally located for European end-users and is well serviced by infrastructure, with a sealed road adjacent to the deposit, rail lines located 5 km north and 8 km south of the deposit and an active 22 kV transmission line running to the historic mine. As the deposit lies in an active mining region, it has strong community support.
The economic viability of Cinovec has been enhanced by the recent strong increase in demand for lithium globally, and within Europe specifically.