4 March 2024
Phoenix Copper
Limited
("Phoenix" or the "Company")
Refinancing of Short-Term
Loan Facility
Phoenix Copper Limited (AIM: PXC;
OTCQX ADR: PXCLY), the AIM quoted USA-focused base and precious
metals emerging producer and exploration company, is pleased to
confirm that, further to the announcement on 19 February 2024, the
Company has completed the refinancing of its US$2 million
short-term loan facility (the "Existing Facility") into a new
facility of up to US$10 million (the "New Facility").
The Existing Facility, plus accrued
interest, is being treated as the first drawdown on the New
Facility as at 2 March 2024 ("First Drawdown"). Further drawdowns
under the New Facility are subject to the Company having first
received at least US$25 million from its proposed corporate copper
bond financing. Although there can be no
certainty, the Directors remain confident that the bond financing
will close. Further announcements relating to the bond financing
will be made as appropriate.
Terms of the New Facility
|
Total Amount
|
US$10m Unsecured Loan
|
|
Availability Period
|
3 Years
|
|
First Drawdown
|
US$2.089 million
|
|
Interest
|
15% per annum
|
|
Repayment
|
The First Drawdown and any further
drawdowns have a 90-day repayment holiday and are then repayable in
equal monthly instalments over the following 15 months.
|
|
Conversion Terms
|
The First Drawdown is convertible
into shares of no par value in the Company at 20 pence per share (a
70% premium to the current share price) but cannot be converted for
an initial period of 60 days after the First Drawdown, unless the
Company's closing share price on the day prior to conversion is 30
pence or higher.
Further drawdowns are convertible at
a 40% premium to the average of the five daily VWAPs preceding the
date of drawdown (the "Reference Price").
The Company is not obliged to make
any further drawdowns.
|
|
Implementation Fee / Early Redemption
|
Implementation fee equivalent to 5%
of each drawdown.
The Company may redeem any amount
prior to maturity, subject to an early redemption fee equal to 10%
of the amount redeemed.
|
|
Warrants
|
The lender will receive warrants to
subscribe for ordinary shares of no par value each in the Company
equivalent to 40% of the pound sterling equivalent of the principal
amount of each drawdown, divided by the Reference Price, with an
exercise price equivalent to a 40% premium to the Reference Price,
and valid for three years.
The Company has granted warrants to
subscribe for 3,300,874 ordinary shares in the
Company in respect of the First Drawdown, with an
exercise price of 20 pence per share expiring on 1 March
2027.
|
Richard Wilkins, Chief Financial Officer of the Company,
commented: "I would like to thank
Riverfort Global for their ongoing support of the Company, and
particularly the flexibility they have allowed us over the last 12
months. We now look forward to closing our corporate copper bond
issue as soon as possible."
Market Abuse Regulation (MAR)
Disclosure
The Company deems the information
contained within this announcement to constitute inside information
as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014,
which has been incorporated into UK law by
the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. Upon the
publication of this announcement via the Regulatory
Information Service, this inside information is now considered to
be in the public domain.
For further information please
visit https://phoenixcopperlimited.com
Contacts
|
Phoenix Copper Limited
|
Ryan McDermott
Brittany Lock
Richard Wilkins
|
Tel: +1
208 954 7039
Tel: +1
208 794 8033
Tel: +44
7590 216 657
|
|
SP Angel Corporate Finance
LLP (Nominated Adviser)
|
David Hignell / Caroline
Rowe / Kasia Brzozowska
|
Tel: +44
20 3470 0470
|
|
Tavira Financial Limited (Joint
Broker)
|
Jonathan Evans / Oliver
Stansfield
|
Tel: +44
20 7100 5100
|
|
WH Ireland (Joint Broker and Joint
Bookrunner)
|
Harry Ansell / Katy
Mitchell
|
Tel: +44
20 7220 1666
|
|
Panmure Gordon (UK)
Limited (Joint Broker and Joint Bookrunner)
|
Mark Murphy / Will Goode / Joseph
Tan
|
Tel: +44
20 7886 2500
|
|
EAS Advisors (US Corporate
Adviser)
|
Matt Bonner / Rogier de la
Rambelje
|
Tel: +1
(646) 495-2225
|
|
BlytheRay
(Financial PR)
|
Tim Blythe / Megan
Ray
|
Tel: +44
20 7138 3204
|
Notes
Phoenix Copper Limited is
a USA focused, base and precious metals emerging producer
and exploration company, initially targeting copper, gold, silver
and zinc production from an open pit mine.
Phoenix's primary operations
are focused near Mackay, Idaho in the Alder
Creek mining district, at the 80% owned Empire
Mine property, which historically produced copper at grades of
up to 8%, as well as gold, silver, zinc and tungsten, from an
underground mine.
Since 2017, Phoenix has
carried out extensive drill programmes which have defined a NI
43-101 completed PEA (preliminary economic assessment) for an open
pit heap leach solvent extraction and electrowinning ("SX-EW")
mine, which was updated in October 2020. From the 2020 PEA,
the measured and indicated resource is 22,909,059 tonnes at an
average grade of 0.38% copper, 0.324 grammes per tonne ("g/t")
gold, 10.3 g/t silver, and 0.19% zinc. The contained metal for the
measured and indicated resource is 87,543 tonnes of copper, 238,406
ounces of gold, 7,595,198 ounces of silver and 43,871 tonnes of
zinc.
In addition to Empire, the district
includes the historic Horseshoe, White Knob and Blue Bird
Mines, past producers of copper, gold, silver, zinc, lead and
tungsten from underground mines. A new discovery at Red Star,
330 metres northwest of the Empire Mine proposed open
pit, has revealed high grade silver / lead sulphide ore, and from
three shallow exploration drill holes a maiden inferred resource of
103,000 tonnes containing 173.4 g/t silver, 0.85 g/t gold and 3.85%
lead (1.6 million ounces silver equivalent) was reported in an NI
43-101 technical report published in May 2019. Additionally,
the district includes Navarre Creek, a volcanic hosted
precious metals target in a 16.09 sq km area. The Company's total
land package at Empire comprises 8,434 acres (34.13 sq
kms).
At Empire, it is estimated that less
than 1% of the potential ore system has been explored to date and,
accordingly, there is significant opportunity to increase the
resource through phased exploration. The stated aim of the Company
is to fund this phased exploration through free cashflow generated
by its initial mine. A Plan of Operations in respect of the initial
open pit mine was filed with the relevant regulatory authorities
in June 2021.
Phoenix also has two wholly
owned cobalt properties on the Idaho Cobalt Belt to the north of
Empire. An Earn-In Agreement has been signed with Electra Battery
Materials, Toronto, in respect of one of those
properties.
Phoenix is listed
on London's AIM (PXC), and trades on New
York's OTCQX Market (PXCLF and PXCLY (ADRs)). More details on
the Company, its assets and its objectives can be found on PXC's
website at https://phoenixcopperlimited.com/