(TheNewswire)
29 April 2022 – TheNewswire - Altus Strategies Plc (AIM:ALS ) , ( TSXV:ALTS ) , ( OTC:ALTUF) announces itsaudited final results for the year ended 31 December 2021. These arepresented below and are available (along with the Company's 2021Annual Report) to download on the Company's website at http://altus-strategies.com/investors/financials/ and on SEDAR at www.sedar.com .
Corporate highlights
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Acquisition of an effective 0.418%Net Smelter Return ( NSR ”) royalty on the Caserones copper mine(“ Caserones ”) in northern Chile forUS$34.1m
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Caserones royalty acquired via astrategic 50:50 partnership with NYSE-American and TSX-V listed EMXRoyalty Corp ( EMX ”) through a Chilean special purposevehicle (“ SPV ”)
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Receipt of maiden royalty income of£1.7m (before tax) in respect of Q2 and Q3 2021 production atCaserones
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Acquisition of 24 royalty interestsfrom Newcrest Mining Ltd ( Newcrest ”) for US$24.0m, including royalties ontwo producing gold mines, one near-producing gold mine and 21development and exploration stage projects (23 of which are located inAustralia and one in Côte d’Ivoire)
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Newcrest royalties acquisitionundertaken through a strategic joint venture with private companyAlphaStream Limited ( AlphaStream ”) through SPVs in United Arab Emiratesand Australia; first close of the acquisition covering all assetsexcept nine development and exploration stage assets forUS$20.0m
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US$29 million strategic acquisitionloan facility provided by the Company’s largest shareholder LaMancha Fund SCSp (“ La Mancha ”)
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Moroccan portfolio of 14 primarilysilver and copper projects to be vended to Eastinco Mining andExploration Plc ( Eastinco ”) subject to Eastinco listing on theStandard List of the London Stock Exchange; Altus to retain NSRroyalty rights on all projects, to gain a royalty right on Musasatantalum mine in Rwanda and to become a major shareholder ofEastinco
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Appointments to the seniormanagement team strengthen the Company’s corporate and technicalcapabilities across its key areas of operation:
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Mark Campbell appointed asNon-Executive Chairman of 100% owned subsidiary Akh Gold Holdings Ltdand General Manager (Egypt)
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Amilha Young appointed as CompanySecretary and Legal Counsel
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Boubacar Thera appointed asCorporate Manager (Mali)
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David Hall appointed as StrategicAdvisor (Egypt)
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Operational highlights
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Expansion of activities into Egyptthrough award of gold exploration licences, forming four projects,totalling 1,565km located inthe Eastern Desert through a competitive international biddingprocess; discovery of numerous hard rock artisanal gold workings fromfield reconnaissance at Gabal Om Ourada and Wadi Duburprojects
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Western Mali: High gradeintersections including 21.9 grams per tonne ( g/t ”) gold(“ Au ”) over 10.2m from 28m from diamond drilling (“ DD ”) at Diba golddeposit in western Mali (results are down-the-hole and not truewidths)
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Southern Mali: Gold resourceexceeds one million ounces (17.3 million tonnes at 1.2 g/t Au for665,000 inferred ounces and 9.2 million tonnes at 1.2 g/t Au for360,000 indicated ounces) at Tabakorole gold project in Southern Maliunder Joint Venture ( JV ”) with Australian Securities Exchange( ASX ”) listed Marvel Gold Ltd (“ MarvelGold ”) (see Altus’ newsrelease “Gold Resource Exceeds One Million Ounces at Tabakorole inSouthern Mali” dated 5 October 2021). Upgraded Mineral ResourceEstimate (“ MRE ”) generated a 24% increase inindicated ounces and 7% increase in inferred ounces, with 70% ofdeposit comprising the MRE within 150m of the surface; encouraging DDresults and discovery of a potential new parallel zone ofmineralisation; significant increase in JV landholding at Tabakorole(by 100km to292km )
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Morocco: Grant of 10 newexploration licences taking the Company’s portfolio to 14 projectscovering 824km targetingprimarily copper and silver; discovery of high-grade copper and silverfrom reconnaissance exploration at the newly granted Azrar, Izougzaand Tata projects
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Completion of strategic review ofBikoula iron project in southern Cameroon by Mining Plus UK Ltd( Mining Plus ”) to determine next steps for projectdevelopment
Financial highlights
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Completion in March 2021 ofoversubscribed fundraising for £7.7m / C$13.4m at an issue price of£0.75 / C$1.30 per Ordinary Share with net proceeds primarily used toaccelerate gold exploration programmes in Egypt and Mali
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Receipt of second tranche of 10million shares in Canyon Resources Ltd ( Canyon ”) with avalue at the time of £0.6m / C$1.1m
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Completion in December 2021 ofoversubscribed fundraising for £19.8m / C$33.7m at an issue price of£0.535 / C$0.90 per Ordinary Share with net proceeds primarily usedfor completion of the Newcrest royalty acquisition
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Cash balance of £6.4m / C$10.9m as at 31 December2021
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Cash outflow from operating activities of £7.9m /C$13.4m for the year
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Listed equity holdings of £1.7m / C$2.9m as at 31December 2021
Post-period end
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Second and final close of theNewcrest royalties acquisition covering nine development andexploration stage assets located in Australia for consideration ofUS$4.0m
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Completion of 11,832m drillingprogramme at Diba and Lakanfla gold project with latest results of upto 1.27 g/t Au over 127m from 21m on the Lakanfla Central prospect and1.81 g/t Au over 10m from 256m at the Diba NW prospect (results are down-the-hole and not truewidths)
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Extension of La Mancha loan facility to 30 June 2022with annualised interest rate increased to 10% plus the United StatesDollar ( USD ”) London Inter-bank Offered Rate (“ LIBOR ”)
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1.0% Gross Revenue Royalty( GRR ”) generated on Toura Nickel-Cobalt project in Côte d’Ivoirethrough sale of interest in local subsidiary to Firering StrategicMinerals Plc (“ Firering ”) for €15,000
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Revised joint venture agreementsigned with Marvel Gold whereby the Company regained a 100% interestin the Lakanfla licence in western Mali, located 5km east of theCompany’s Diba project, and reduced its interest in the Tabakorolegold project in southern Mali to 30%; Altus retains a 2.5% NSR royaltyon the Tabakorole project
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Award of a ten year (renewable)mining licence at the Agdz project in central Morocco covering an areaof 34.36km , representing thearea of copper and silver mineralisation discovered to date
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Award of a four year (renewable)‘small scale’ mining licence at the Diba gold project in westernMali covering an area of 83.1km , incorporating the Diba Deposit and other key prospects
Steven Poulton, Chief Executive ofAltus, commented:
“2021 marked another milestoneyear for Altus. With the acquisition of an NSR royalty on the Caserones coppermine in Chile and receipt ofthe maiden royalty payment just a month after closing the dealtransformed Altus into a revenue generating business. Later in theyear, we acquired a portfolioof 24 royalty interests from Newcrest Mining Ltd. The Newcrestportfolio includes royalties on two producing gold mines, onenear-producing gold mine and 21 development and exploration stageprojects, bringing the Company’s global portfolio to 33 royaltyinterests and 27 project interests across nine countries and ninemetals.
“Operationally, our focus duringthe period was on advancing and de-risking our royalty generationassets, primarily in Mali and Egypt. In southern Mali, an updatedindependent Mineral Resource Estimate at the Tabakorole gold royaltyand JV project reported that gold resources now exceed one millionounces and there remains significant potential for further growth inparallel zones, along strike and at depth. Elsewhere in western Mali,diamond drilling we completed at the Company's 100% owned Diba goldproject returned impressive high-grade intersections and discoverednew zones. Earlier this month, post-period, Altus was granted asmall-scale gold mining licence for Diba; an important step as we nowprogress with an updated MRE and Preliminary Economic Assessment forthe combined Diba & Lakanfla project. In Egypt, Altus was awardedhighly prospective gold exploration licences totalling1,565km 2 in the Eastern Desert,which we consider has world class discovery potential. Systematicexploration and target evaluation is already underway across theseprojects.
“Altus is exceptionallywell-positioned to progress with its royalty generation activitiesacross Africa while also reviewing accretive royalty incomeacquisition opportunities. The Company has a strong pipeline oftransactions under review and we intend to further enhance anddiversify our portfolio in the coming years growing our revenuestreams in parallel.
“2022 is on course to be anotherhighly productive year for the Company and we look forward toproviding further updates in due course. ”
For further information you are invited to visit theCompany’s website www.altus-strategies.com orcontact:
Altus Strategies Plc Steven Poulton, Chief Executive | Tel: +44 (0)1235 511 767 E-mail: info@altus-strategies.com |
SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP (NominatedAdviser) Richard Morrison / Adam Cowl | Tel: +44 (0) 20 3470 0470 |
SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP (Broker) Grant Barker Rob Rees | Tel: +44 (0) 20 3470 0471 Tel: +44 (0) 203470 0535 |
Shard Capital Partners LLP (Broker) Isabella Pierre / Damon Heath | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7186 9927 |
Yellow Jersey PR (Financial PR & IR) Charles Goodwin / Henry Wilkinson | Tel: +44 (0) 20 3004 9512 E-mail: altus@yellowjerseypr.com |
About Altus Strategies Plc
Altus Strategies (AIM:ALS, TSX-V: ALTS & OTCQX: ALTUF) is a mining royalty companygenerating a diversified and precious metal focused portfolio ofassets. Its differentiated approach of generating royalties on its owndiscoveries in Africa and acquiring royalties globally throughfinancings and acquisitions with third parties, has attracted keyinstitutional investor backing. Altus has established a globalportfolio comprising 33 royalty interests and 27 project interestsacross nine countries and nine metals. The Company continues to assessroyalty acquisition opportunities as well as actively advancing itsportfolio of gold and base metal projects across Africa, as part ofits ‘boots on the ground’ royalty generation strategy. Altusengages constructively with all stakeholders, working diligently tominimise its environmental impact and to promote positive economic andsocial outcomes in the communities where it operates. For furtherinformation, please visit www.altus-strategies.com .
Qualified Person
The technical disclosure in this regulatoryannouncement has been approved by Steven Poulton, Chief Executive ofAltus. A graduate of the University of Southampton in Geology (Hons),he also holds a Master's degree from the Camborne School of Mines(Exeter University) in Mining Geology. He is a Fellow of the Instituteof Materials, Minerals and Mining and has over 20 years of experiencein mineral exploration and is a Qualified Person under the AIM rulesand NI 43-101.
Cautionary Note RegardingForward-Looking Statements
Certain information included in this announcement,including information relating to future financial or operatingperformance and other statements that express the expectations of theDirectors or estimates of future performance constitute"forward-looking statements". These statements addressfuture events and conditions and, as such, involve known and unknownrisks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actualresults, performance or achievements to be materially different fromany future results, performance or achievements expressed or impliedby the statements. Such factors include, without limitation, thecompletion of planned expenditures, the ability to completeexploration programmes on schedule and the success of explorationprogrammes. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on theforward-looking information, which speak only as of the date of thisannouncement and the forward-looking statements contained in thisannouncement are expressly qualified in their entirety by thiscautionary statement.
Where the Company expresses or implies an expectationor belief as to future events or results, such expectation or beliefis based on assumptions made in good faith and believed to have areasonable basis. The forward-looking statements contained in thisannouncement are made as at the date hereof and the Company assumes noobligation to publicly update or revise any forward-lookinginformation or any forward-looking statements contained in any otherannouncements whether as a result of new information, future events orotherwise, except as required under applicable law orregulations.
TSX Venture ExchangeDisclaimer
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor the InvestmentIndustry Regulatory Organisation of Canada accepts responsibility forthe adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Market Abuse RegulationDisclosure
This announcement contains inside information for thepurposes of Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) 596/2014 asit forms part of UK domestic law by virtue of the European Union(Withdrawal) Act 2018 (" MAR "), and is disclosed in accordancewith the Company's obligations under Article 17 of MAR.
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