Emmerson Plc is pleased to announce it has raised gross proceeds of £6 million by way of a placing of 200 million new shares at a price of 3p and has today been readmitted to the Official List of the UK Listing Authority by way of a Standard Listing following its acquisition of 100% of the share capital of Moroccan Salts Limited (“MSL”) as originally announced on 17 October 2017 (“the Acquisition”). As a result of the Acquisition, Emmerson now owns 100% of the Khemisset Potash Project in Northern Morocco (“Khemisset” or “the Project”).
Trading in the Company’s shares will recommence trading at 8.00 a.m. on the London Stock Exchange’s (“LSE”) Main Market for listed securities under the ticker ‘EML’.
Highlights
- Significantly over-subscribed placing which raised gross proceeds of £6 million
- Re-admission to the LSE following acquisition of the Khemisset Potash Project in Morocco:
o Large potash JORC compliant Resource of 311Mt at 10.2% K20 with significant
exploration upside
o Accelerated pathway targeting the development of a low-capex, high-margin
mine – targeted delivery of Scoping Study by end of Q1 2019
o De-risked development following estimated historical spend (if conducted at
2018 costings) of US$20 million
o Located in one of the fastest growing potash consuming countries worldwide
and on the doorstep of European markets
o Established infrastructure including a network of toll roads, electricity distribution and deep-water ports
- Positive market dynamics for potash due to potassium-based fertilizers being critical to improved crop quality as demand for food increases in correlation with the world population
- Proven Board and management team with extensive potash and international capital market experience
Hayden Locke, CEO of Emmerson, commented:
“Now is the perfect time to be developing what we believe is an outstanding potash project. Food reserves are at a 50-year low and as the World’s population continues to rapidly grow, potash fertiliser becomes increasingly critical to increase crop yields and improve the quality of plants. It is estimated that by 2050, the World will need to produce 70% more food from ever reducing per capita amounts of arable land, to feed its growing population. Put simply, global food security goals cannot be achieved without the significant use of fertilisers.
“In Khemisset we have a project that ticks all the boxes: a large resource, significant exploration upside, an outstanding location – with Morocco being named as one of the fastest growing potash consuming countries in the world. Coupled with a shallow deposit and excellent local and export infrastructure, we are confident that we have a project which will benefit from low capital and operating costs.
“With £6 million raised in an oversubscribed placing we have the funds in place to deliver our near-term value drivers and, as a result, anticipate being able to hit the ground running with high impact newsflow post-listing as we move towards the delivery of a Scoping Study by the end of Q1 2019.
“We are delighted to have successfully brought London’s newest potash company to the market at a time where there is record potash demand against rebalancing, disciplined, supply. With an excellent project and a proven Board and management team in place, we now have the wheels in motion to meet our objectives and move towards becoming a producing potash fertiliser company.”
Ed McDermott, Emmerson’s Non-Executive Chairman commented:
“On behalf of the shareholders of Emmerson I am very pleased to welcome Hayden Locke (CEO) and Rob Wrixon (COO) to the Board. We are extremely happy with the acquisition of Moroccan Salts Ltd and look forward to developing the assets further and delivering value to our shareholders. I would like to thank Cameron Pearce and Sam Quinn for their service to Emmerson and wish them well in their next endeavours.”
