African Mining and Exploration Plc ( AME or the Company ) Strategic sale of West Africa subsidiary and Board Change

Transcription

1 22August2013 AfricanMiningandExplorationPlc( AME or thecompany ) StrategicsaleofWestAfricasubsidiaryandBoardChange AfricanMiningandExplorationplc(AIM:AME),ispleasedtoannouncetheconditional saletoaimlistedalectomineralsplc( Alecto )ofitssubsidiary,amewestafricaltd ( AMEWestAfrica ),for 1.25minnewAlectoshares.AMEWestAfricaholds,through its subsidiary Caracal Gold Mali SARL, six prospective exploration permits in Mali, includingthe207sqkmkossantogoldproject. TheCompanyisalsopleasedtoannouncethatDavidArcher,currentlyanonexecutive director,willbeappointedceoofamewithimmediateeffect,replacingmarkjones whowillstepdownfromtheboardofametojointheboardofalectoasceo. Highlights StrategicdealwithAlectotosellsubsidiaryAMEWestAfricafor108,695,652 newsharesinalecto,pricedat1.15p,withanaggregatevalueof 1.25million AMEwillalsomakeafurther 500,000cashinvestmentinAlecto: o 250,000 through subscribing for 21,739,130 new Alecto shares at 1.15ppershare;and o 250,000 through subscribing for 12 month Alecto convertible loan notes. Following completion of the transaction, AME will hold in aggregate 130,434,783Alectoshares,representing26.7%ofAlecto sissuedsharecapital. Transaction enables AME to maintain significant exposure to these highly prospectivegoldlicenceswhilsteliminatingfundingrequirements AMEtoretainanexistingnetsmelterroyaltyof1%onthefirst300,000ounces goldproducedfromamewestafrica slicenceareaspayableincash AlectohasanextensiveportfolioofgoldexplorationprojectsinEthiopiaandan IronOxideCopperGold( IOCG )explorationprojectinmauritania,aswellasa numberofstrategicalliances AMEretainsaportfolioofwhollyownedprospectiveassets,includingthe250 sqkmkarangoldprojectinsouthernmali Activeinvestmentstrategyinplacetofurtherdevelopthebusinessandbuild shareholdervaluethroughstrategicacquisitions Strong Board and management team with proven experience in developing resourceassetsglobally o MarkJoneswillstepdownasCEO,effectiveimmediately;itisintended that he will join the board of Alecto as CEO in order to continue the developmentofthekossantogoldproject o Inlinewithstrategicdevelopment,DavidArcher,currentnonexecutive director,isappointedceoofamewithimmediateeffect

2 AME s incoming CEO David Archer said, Having recently delineated a maiden JORC compliantresourceatthekossantogoldproject,theboardfeltitstrategicallypractical and financially beneficial to divest a number of its Malian assets.the transaction allows AME to retain exposure to the AME West Africa s Malian gold projects, eliminatestheassociatedfundingrequirementsandcontingentobligationstoelectrum and provides AME with exposure to Alecto s exciting Ethiopian and Mauritanian projects.havingasolidcornerstoneinvestorinmrfahadaltamimi,alectoisalsoina strongpositiontobeabletofurtherdevelopthemaliangoldprojects,enablingameto focusonexpandingitsresourcesportfoliowithnewinvestmentopportunities. WithanexperiencedBoardandmanagementteam,Iamconfidentthatwearewell placed to further expand our portfolio of resources projects at what is a very opportunetimeinthecommodities cycle. Finally,IwouldliketotakethisopportunitytothankMarkJonesandourAMEWest AfricateamforalltheirhardworkanddedicationtotheCompany,whichhasresulted in a very active year for AME.I wish them well for the future and look forward to updatingshareholdersinduecourseonourfuturedevelopmentsaswecontinueto establishourselvesasamulticommodityexplorationanddevelopmentcompany. FurtherInformation DetailsoftheAgreement AMEhassignedaconditionalagreementwithAlectotosellitssubsidiaryAMEWest Africa,which,throughCaracalGoldMaliSARL, holdssixexplorationpermitsinmali. The consideration payable to AME for AME West Africa will be 108,695,652 Alecto sharespricedat1.15p,havinganaggregatevalueof 1.25million.AMEwillalsoretain anexistingnetsmelterroyaltyof1%onthefirst300,000ouncesgoldproducedfrom theamewestafricapermits.alectowillalsoassumethecontingentobligationsto make deferred consideration payments to Electrum Ltd, the previous owners of the AMEWestAfricaprojects. UnderthetermsoftheagreementAMEisabletoretainexposuretotheprospectivity of the licence areas held by AME West Africa, including the Kossanto Gold Project, which currently has a JORC Inferred Resource of 2.35 million g/t for 107,000 ounces at a cut off grade of 0.5 g/t Au, whilst avoiding costly expenditure coststofurtherdeveloptheprojects. Inaddition,AMEhasagreedtomakea 500,000strategiccashinvestmentinAlecto througha 250,000placingofnewsharesatapriceof1.15panda 250,000placingof 12 month Alecto convertible loan notes (the Loan Notes ). The Loan Notes are convertibleateitherparty soptionatapriceof1.15ppershareandwillbearinterest

3 of 7%, payable at expiry or conversion.the Loan Notes may not be converted into sharesifsuchconversionwouldleadtoameholdingmorethan29.9%ofalecto.this investmentwillfurtherensureameretainsanindirectstrategicinterestinamewest Africa slicenceareas. Completionoftheagreementissubjecttothesatisfactionofcertainconditions.These includealectoholdingageneralmeetingofitsshareholderstoapproveanincreasein itssharecapital,thedisapplicationofpreemptionrightsandtheallotmentofshares fornoncashconsideration.alectohasalreadyreceivedanirrevocableundertakingby FahadAlTamimi,Alecto scornerstoneinvestorwhocurrentlyholds100,051,000shares representing 27.9% of Alecto, to vote in favour of the resolutions.in addition, the directorsofalectowhoholdsharesrepresenting4.25%ofalectohavealsocommitted tovoteinfavouroftheresolutions.thisgeneralmeetingisexpectedtobeheldbefore theendofseptember2013andcompletionofthetransactionisexpectedveryshortly thereafter. Substantialtransaction ThesaleofAMEWestAfricaLtdconstitutesasubstantialtransactionunderAIMRule 12.As at 31 December 2012, the reported carrying value of AME West Africa was 568,227.Sincethen,thecarryingvalueofAMEWestAfricaincreasedto 991,653as at30june2013(unaudited).nofurtherdisclosuresarerequiredunderschedulefour oftheaimrules. CurrentPortfolioofAssets Following completion of the sale of AME West Africa, AME will continue to hold a prospective portfolio of wholly owned assets in Mali.This includes the 250 sq km KaranGoldProject,locatedinsouthernMali,90kmfromBamako.Explorationofthe projectisstillintheearlystages,butworktodateandartisanalworkingsinthearea suggest that the licence area could host significant gold mineralisation.structural interpretation of the regional geophysics indicates the presence of a complex and prospective NNW striking shear zone, cross cut by EW structures within the licence area.furthermore,in2010,artisanalpitsamplingresultsreturnedhighsof83.2g/tau, 36.6 g/t Au, 21.5 g/t Au. Similarly, a 12,400m reverse circulation ( RC ) drilling programme conducted in 2011 generated intercepts of 1.03g/t Au, 1.17g/t Au and 11.75g/t Au.However, although the RC drilling successfully interceptedgold mineralisation at three of the main targets, reinterpretation of the local and regional geophysics suggests that the RC drilling may have missed the crosscutting EastWest structures so there remains a significant potential to increase theresourcepotential. The Company also holds the 16 sq km Diatissan project, which has returned trench resultsofupto8.34g/tau.

4 AMEplanstoconductastrategicreviewofitsportfolioinordertodeterminethebest actiontotakeforthebenefitofshareholders. InformationonAlecto Alecto (AIM: ALO) is an African focussed, AIM listed resource exploration and development company with a portfolio of highly prospective gold and base metal assetsinmauritaniaandethiopia.asat31december2012,alecto snetassetswere 3.56manditslossfortheyearended31December2012was 1.1m.Asatcloseof marketson21august2013,alecto smarketcapitalisationwas 4.0m. Alectohasbuiltanexcitingresourceportfolioacrosshighlyprospectivebutpreviously underexploredregionsofafrica.inethiopiathealectoownstwogoldprojects:the 945sqkmWayuBodaGoldProject,locatedinthehighlyprospectivecentralsouthern Adola greenstone belt in southern Ethiopia; and the 1,953 sq km AysidMetekel explorationlicenceisinnorthwesternethiopia. InMay2013,AlectoandCentaminplc( Centamin ),thearabiannubianshieldmining companylistedintheftse250,enteredintoanonbindingheadsoftermsagreement inrelationtoaproposedjointventurebetweenthetwocompaniesandifprogressed, bothalectoandcentaminhavedeterminedthatwayubodashouldbenominatedasa JVProjectwhichwillacceleratetheproject sdevelopment.thisprojecthasextensive artisanalworkingsandrockchipsampleshavereturnedgradesofupto47.4g/tofgold. Additionally, Wayu Boda is 24km south of the privately owned National Mining Corporations 'Dawa' discovery, which has recently undergone a primary economic assessmentbyindependentconsultantsvenmynandisreportedtocontainreservesof over17mozofgold(addisfortune.2012). InMauritania,theCompanyhasatenementpositionof1,828sqkminthemineralrich Mauritanide belt of Mauritania. The 613 sq km Wad Amour licence is currently consideredthemostprospective,andduringthefourthquarterof2012alectofurther demonstratedthepotentialofthechirontargetthroughgeophysicalandgeochemical sampling and trenching programmes. Previous Alecto work at the Chiron target identifiedanomalouscoppervalueswithstrikelengthsover800m. BoardChange Inlinewiththisstrategicreview,currentNonExecutiveDirectorDavidArcherwillbe appointed CEO of AME with immediate effect. David has held executive and non executiverolesinanumberoflistedcompaniesandhasbeenactivelyinvolvedinthe internationalresourcesindustryforover30years.heistheformermanagingdirector of Hillgrove Resources Limited and Chairman of Crusader Resources Limited and CaravelResourcesLimited.Heisabarrister(nonpractising)oftheSupremeCourtof NewSouthWales(Australia)andwasthefounderandformerExecutiveChairmanof PowerTelLimitedandfounderandDeputyChairmanofSavageResourcesLimited.He

5 wasadirectorofeasternstargaslimitedfrom2006to2009.qualificationsinclude, B.Ec., Dip. Laws (BAB); and is a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy.AsCEO,Davidwillreceivenoadditionalfeesandbenefitsoverthenominal GBP1perannumfeehewasentitledtoasnonexecutivedirectorofAME. Concurrently,MarkJoneswillstepdownasCEOwithimmediateeffect,andleavethe Boardon30September2013.ItisplannedthathewilljointheBoardofAlectoasCEO tocontinuehisvaluedstewardshipofthekossantogoldproject.inordertominimise cashexpenditureuponterminationofhiscontractwithame,markhasagreedtowaive the right to 25% of his contractual entitlements as provided under his contract with AMEthatwasputinplaceatthetimeofAME sipoin2010.hisremainingcontractual entitlements will be satisfied primarily through the issue of 2,666,667 new ordinary sharesinameandthroughtheissueof1,575,000shareoptionsoverordinarysharesin AMEwithanexercisepriceof4.62pandanexerciseperiodoffiveyearsfromthedate ofgrantwiththebalancepayableincash.anapplicationtoadmitthesenewordinary sharestoaimwillbemadearoundtheendofseptember2013. **Ends** Forfurtherinformationpleasevisitwww.ameplc.co.ukorcontact: DavidArcher AfricanMining&Explorationplc Tel: JamesMaxwell/JennyWyllie N+1Singer Tel:+44(0) FelicityEdwards/CharlotteHeap StBridesMedia&FinanceLtd Tel:+44(0)