Mining Licence Approved for Mahenge Liandu Graphite Project
Armadale Capital plc (LON: ACP) the AIM quoted investment group focused on natural resource projects in Africa, is pleased to announce the formal confirmation and receipt of the Mining Licence for its 100%-owned Mahenge Graphite Project in south-east Tanzania from the Tanzanian Ministry of Energy and Minerals. The Mining Licence provides the Company with exclusive development and mining rights over the graphite resources within the 8.54km2 Mining Licence and is a major de-risking milestone for investors.
HIGHLIGHTS
· Mining Licence ML/007744/2020 granted covering the long-life low cost Mahenge Liandu Graphite Project
· Transformational permitting milestone for Armadale to build a significant high-grade graphite mine with robust economics (DFS showing pre-tax NPV of $430m, IRR of 91% and Payback Period of 1.6 years)
Armadale Chairman, Nick Johansen, commented:
“We are delighted to announce another crucial step forward in the development of the Mahenge Liandu graphite Project and we also wish to thank the Tanzanian Ministry of Energy and Minerals for their considerable support throughout the application process. In addition, we would also like to extend our thanks to key members of the wider Armadale team for their efforts in completing this important piece of work.
Receipt of the 10-year Mining Licence for the Mahenge Liandu graphite project is one of the final and most important de-risking milestones for the Company and allows us to push forward towards construction of our planned initial Stage 1 60,000 tonne per annum capacity for the project – an initiative which will bring significant benefits to stakeholders, both local communities and plc level investors.
Armadale continues to make progress in other crucial workstreams and as previously indicated, we are making positive progress in development funding options specifically a debt package for the project, the Company is also currently in discussions with a number of potential finance partners; we are hoping to be able to announce some further progress with regards to these efforts and also with our offtake discussions in the near term.”
The information contained within this announcement is deemed to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU No. 596/2014) which is part of UK law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. Upon the publication of this announcement, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.
Enquiries:
Armadale Capital Plc
Nick Johansen, Non-Executive Director
Tim Jones, Company Secretary
+44 (0) 20 7236 1177
Notes
Armadale Capital Plc is focused on investing in and developing a portfolio of investments, targeting the natural resources and/or infrastructure sectors in Africa. The Company, led by a team with operational experience and a strong track record in Africa, has a strategy of identifying high growth businesses where it can take an active role in their advancement.
The Company owns the Mahenge Liandu graphite project in south-east Tanzania, which is now its main focus. The Project is located in a highly prospective region with a high-grade JORC compliant Indicated and inferred mineral resource estimate of 59.48Mt @ 9.8% TGC, making it one of the largest high-grade resources in Tanzania, and work to date has demonstrated Mahenge Liandu’s potential as a commercially viable deposit with significant tonnage, high-grade coarse flake and near surface mineralisation (implying a low strip ratio) contained within one contiguous ore body.
Other assets Armadale has an interest in, include the Mpokoto Gold project in the Democratic Republic of Congo and a portfolio of quoted investments.
