IRON Ironveld Plc

This announcement contains inside information

28 March 2024

IRONVELD PLC

("Ironveld" or the "Company")

Interim Results for the Six Months ended 31 December 2023

Ironveld plc, the owner of a High Purity Iron ("HPI"), Vanadium and Titanium project located on the Northern Limb of the Bushveld Complex in Limpopo Province, South Africa (the "Project") is pleased to announce its Interim Results for the six months ended 31 December 2023 (the "Period").

Highlights

·      First sales of metal products including high purity iron and titanium slag from its Rustenburg smelter to local buyers, however, operational challenges and modifications delayed anticipated ramp up for the remainder of 2023

·      Directors provided working capital support for the Company with a facility of up to £500,000 to maintain flexibility of funding

·      Continued refurbishment of Rustenburg smelters and commencement of mining activities

·      Removal of rented electrical generators and planned installation of similar capacity with significantly lower cost

·      Smelter has been placed on care and maintenance to minimise costs and conserve cash until all new generators are installed

·      Positive discussions with potential iron powder customers progressed

·      Largest shareholder, Tracarta, agreed to cornerstone a cash subscription of £450,000 at a premium to the share price, in addition to a further £550,000 from existing shareholders, to assist with ongoing working capital requirements

·      Dr John Wardle assumed the role of Executive Chairman of the Company and commenced a full review of strategy, overhead costs and priorities, with Giles Clarke remaining as a Non-Executive Director

Post Period and Outlook

·      Entered into working capital loan facility agreements with Tracarta, which allowed the Company to draw down up to £375,000 to strengthen Ironveld's working capital position as discussions for direct institutional funding progressed. That facility is currently fully drawn.

·      Receipt of a non-binding term sheet from a South African based financial institution regarding the asset level financing of mining and smelting activities, including the transition to production. The transaction is subject to further due diligence

·      Martin Eales stepped down from the Board, with Executive Chairman, Dr. John Wardle, taking over his CEO duties on an interim basis

·      Ironveld is assessing current funding requirements until a transaction can be completed

·      The Company currently has cash of circa £25,000 (as of 27 March 2024)

John Wardle, Executive Chairman, said: "The Period saw Ironveld undergo significant changes at Board and Management level. These changes were necessary to continue to develop the Group operations towards unlocking the significant value in our assets. The receipt of a Term Sheet from a South African based financial institution in order to support the financing of mining and smelting activities at the Project is an important step in that direction. However the confirmation, quantum and timing of that potential funding is not yet certain.

"Thank you for your continued support and we look forward to sharing more positive news flow."

For further information, please contact:

Notes to Editors:

Ironveld (IRON.LN) is the owner of Mining Rights over approximately 28 kilometres of outcropping Bushveld magnetite with a SAMREC compliant ore resource of some 56 million tons of ore grading 1,12% V2O5, 68,6% Fe2O3 and 14,7% TiO2.

In 2022 Ironveld agreed to acquire and refurbish a smelter facility in Rustenburg, South Africa, in which it can process its magnetite ore into the marketable products of high purity iron, titanium slag and vanadium slag. This transaction became unconditional in March 2023.

Ironveld is an AIM traded company. For further information on Ironveld please refer to www.ironveld.com.

Chairman's Statement:

I took over as Chairman from Giles Clarke towards the end of the Period, and as one of my first points of action, I was tasked with undertaking a full Group wide review of everything Ironveld related, including strategy, overhead costs and priorities. Some months later, and having completed this comprehensive review, I see many areas for improvement within the Company which must be resolved before sustainable, profitable production can be achieved.

The Period was one of necessary change, given the failures in delivery we have experienced over the last year or more. However, it also saw the Company begin to show the initial signs of positive things to come, as it took its first steps from developer to producer. This was best demonstrated in late June when the Company announced first sales of metal products from the Rustenburg smelter.

Operations were affected by a number of teething and system problems at the Smelter after achieving first sales, including the need to repair the granulator and the requirement for additional generator power, which would delay what we anticipated to be a significant ramp up in production and sales for the remainder of the year. To combat this, additional rented diesel generation capacity was installed and the granulator refurbished to a level where it was performing significantly above expectations.

As part of my comprehensive review of the Company, and with cost saving in mind, we decided to suspend operations at the Rustenburg smelter until all of the currently installed electrical generation units could be replaced by LNG/Diesel dual-fuel units, since the cost of conventional diesel generation rendered any production uneconomic. Dual-fuel units are inherently more economical under current conditions in South Africa, however they are still expensive and the issue around power for the smelting operations has a crucial impact upon viability.

The Period saw the Company develop its operations in a number of other areas. A test project to process third party ferro-silicon slag metal was completed and demonstrated the flexibility of the smelter equipment and potential for further revenue streams. In addition, during September we formed "IPace", a DMS Magnetite joint venture with Pace SA, which secured capital funding from Sable Exploration and Mining for the development of a business to crush, mill and magnetically separate directly from the Company's mining operations for direct sale to end users. Pace, which was initially responsible for the funding of the project, failed to comply with the terms of the agreement and will be exiting the joint venture. Ironveld and Sable are currently negotiating the terms of a further investment to complete the DMS plant.

During the Period, the Company completed fundraisings totalling £1.5 million, in which I participated significantly.

Ensuring we do things responsibly, with the interests of our stakeholders and local communities at the heart of every decision we make, is of upmost importance to Ironveld. To this end we endeavour to prioritise employment of local community members and give preference to local community companies in terms of work or business opportunities. In terms of our Social Labour Program we have commitments to support local municipalities in our project area in the development of water supply schemes, electrification upgrades and roads and stormwater. In addition, we are establishing schemes to provide student support, training and bursaries to members of the various host communities.

Financial

The Group recorded a loss before tax of £385,000 (H1 2022: loss of £522,000) in the period. The Company does not plan to pay a dividend for the six months ended 31 December 2023.

Post Period End Events

In February 2024, it was announced that we entered into working capital loan facility agreements with Tracarta, the Company's largest shareholder, which allowed the Company to draw down up to £375,000. This consisted of a £250,000 facility through a 12-month extension of the existing agreement and a new £125,000 facility. Those funds are now fully drawn.

Later in the same month, the Company was able to announce that it received a non-binding term sheet from a South African based financial institution regarding the asset level financing of mining and smelting activities at the project. Through this, we would be able to invest in all Group operations, including the transition to production of high purity iron powders. This is a wide-ranging proposal which aims to provide full financing to all planned activities through to sustained production. However, the provision, quantum and timing of that potential funding is not yet confirmed, since the transaction is subject to further due diligence and other internal approvals, and there is therefore no certainty that a transaction will be concluded. I believe that this process may well take several more months to complete, and in the meantime the Company has both current liabilities to service and requires capital to continue development of projects outside the asset level institutional funding described above. Accordingly, the Board is assessing the Company's current funding requirements which will likely require the Company to raise additional capital, potentially through the issue of new equity.   

Outlook

The remainder of the year looks to be one which will see Ironveld transition fully to producer status with some key catalysts currently at play. From a market perspective, strong demand from customers for all three of our products of water-atomised high purity iron powder, vanadium slag and titanium slag continue.

It remains the Board's belief that should economic operations be achievable, which is mainly dependent upon the sourcing and installation of a more economical power system, the Rustenburg smelter facility represents the greatest opportunity for Ironveld to maximise value for the magnetite ore, as it allows for the processing of the ore into higher value metal products, such as water-atomised high purity iron powder, vanadium slag and titanium slag. According to market surveys, it appears that the production of higher value iron powders is required to maximise margins in the business. Such production requires significant investment and technical skills. The technical skills we are beginning to develop. The potential funding from a South African based financial institution has the potential to be transformational, so long as that commercial scale water-atomised high purity iron powder production can be achieved.

We would like to thank all our shareholders for their continued support for both the Company and the Project and we look forward to providing further updates in the near future.

John Wardle

Executive Chairman

28 March 2024

IRONVELD PLC

CONSOLIDATED INCOME STATEMENT

FOR THE PERIOD ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

IRONVELD PLC

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME

FOR THE PERIOD ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

IRONVELD PLC

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET

AS AT 31 DECEMBER 2023

The accompanying notes form an integral part of these financial statements.