TIDMVAST
RNS Number : 5952Q
Vast Resources PLC
19 October 2023
Vast Resources plc / Ticker: VAST / Index: AIM / Sector:
Mining
19 October 2023
Vast Resources plc
('Vast' or the 'Company')
Tajikistan Update:
Start of first shipment of lead and zinc at Takob Processing
Plant
MoU regarding Aprelevka Gold Mines
Vast Resources plc ("Vast"), the AIM-listed mining company, is
pleased to announce an update on the Company's activities in
Tajikistan.
Takob Processing Project
Loading of the first shipment of 136 Dry Metric tonnes of lead
and zinc concentrate has commenced for delivery to our off-taker
Trafigura. This is a significant milestone for the project as the
Company completed all the necessary logistics for shipments of
concentrate out of Tajikistan. Now that the logistics are in place
the Company envisages that there will be regular shipments in the
future.
MoU with Central Asian Minerals and Resources (CAMR)
The Company has signed on behalf of Bay Square Pacific Ltd (Bay
Square), a company incorporated in Mauritius and owned by an
existing strategic partner of the Company in Tajikistan as referred
to in the Company RNS of 15 August 2022, a legally binding
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with CAMR , a company
incorporated in the Isle of Man under which Bay Square will acquire
the entire share capital of Gulf International Minerals Ltd (Gulf)
, a company incorporated in the United Kingdom. The completion of
the purchase is understood not to be dependent on any government
approval in Tajikistan and is conditional only on the completion of
satisfactory due diligence to be completed by 30 November 2023 or
such later date as is agreed to be undertaken/supervised by Vast on
behalf of Bay Square.
Gulf, which at completion will have no liabilities, has a 49%
interest in a joint venture with the Government of Tajikistan
(holding 51%) which owns the Joint Tajik-Canadian Limited Liability
Company Aprelevka (Aprelevka). Under the joint venture agreement,
Gulf has the right to exercise management over Aprelevka.
Aprelevka holds four active mining licences located along the
Tien Shan Belt that extends through Central Asia, currently
producing approximately 11,600oz of gold and 116,000 oz of silver
per year. It is the intention of the Company to assist in
increasing Aprelevka's production from these four mines closer to
the historical peak production rates of approximately 27,000oz of
gold and 250,000oz of silver per year from the operational
mines.
Two additional mines have been explored, and eight further
licenced mining areas that are currently being prospected have
shown positive results.
The budget required to carry out the present intended
development at the mines which, under the agreement between Vast
and Bay Square, will be funded by Bay Square under an interest free
loan repayable in priority to any dividends being paid by
Aprelevka.
Vast has been requested by Bay Square to carry out, at the cost
of Bay Square, due diligence on Gulf and on Aprelevka; to negotiate
the acquisition of Gulf; and post completion to manage the mining
and development activities of Aprelevka for a 5-year period. In
consideration, Vast will be entitled to a 10% share of the earnings
before interest, tax and depreciation that Gulf receives from its
49% interest in Aprelevka. Vast will also have the right at any
time from 1 January 2025 until the end of the 5-year management
period (i) to convert its earnings share entitlement into a 10%
equity interest in Gulf and (ii) to acquire up to 20% of the share
capital of Gulf at market value at the time of acquisition, market
value to be determined by the auditors in default of an agreement
between the parties.
Andrew Prelea, Chief Executive Officer at Vast Resources PLC,
commented:
"We are delighted at the progress we have made in Tajikistan,
both in terms of the work carried out by our team on the ground who
have worked tirelessly to ensure that all the logistics are in
place in preparation of our first shipment to Trafigura, as well as
the MOU with Central Asia Minerals and Resources.
"Our success in country and our collaborative approach to
operating the Takob processing facility was key in securing the MOU
with CAMR and demonstrates the Board's ability to increase our
earnings and enhance shareholder value, whilst establishing
ourselves further in Tajikistan."
Further information on Aprelevka
Two Canadian CIM-compliant NI 43-101 reports have been published
on the Aprelevka assets; a 2003 Technical Report, and a Competent
Person's Report produced in 2011 to support the Admission Document
of another company that previously held an interest in Aprelevka.
Both reports are now considered substantially out-of-date in terms
of mineral resources given production since those reports were
released.
The operator undertook further prospecting and exploration
between 2019-2022.
The new results shown below are NAEN code-compliant (but are not
JORC compliant) from 2019 to 2022 and are in accordance with the
Tajikistan Mineral Resource legalisation (source: Exploration and
Prospecting Report Gulf). The Company will be engaging technical
consultants to provide independent due diligence. In the meantime,
the figures set out below should be viewed with caution and as
background information only.
New Resources Existing Mines non JORC compliant
C1+C1+C2+P1+Dashti P2
Total
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Silver
Ore Gold grammes Gold Oz Silver grammes Oz
--------------- ------------- ------------------ ------------------- -----------
Aprelevka 4,719,294 12,346,506 397,633 196,856,000 6,339,968
--------------- ------------- ------------------ ------------------- -----------
Burgunda
--------------- ------------- ------------------ --- -------------- -----------
Ikkizhelon
Kizil-Cheku
--------------- ------------- ------------------ --- -------------- -----------
New Resources Existing Licences non JORC compliant
C2+P1+P2
Total
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Silver
Ore Gold grammes Gold Oz Silver grammes Oz
--------------- ------------- ------------------ ------------------- -----------
Kushmullo 4,853,879 10,224,838 329,302 88,406,000 2,847,214
--------------- ------------- ------------------ ------------------- -----------
Tashkeseken
I-II
--------------- ------------- ------------------ --- -------------- -----------
Taganasov
Okkur
--------------- ------------- ------------------ --- -------------- -----------
New Resources Existing Prospecting Licences non JORC compliant
P1+P2
Total
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Silver
Ore Gold grammes Gold Oz Silver grammes Oz
--------------- ------------- ------------------ ------------------- -----------
Dashti 25,766,200 34,300,800 1,106,477 187,388,000 6,044,774
--------------- ------------- ------------------ ------------------- -----------
Bogishamol
--------------- ------------- ------------------ --- -------------- -----------
Kyshalisoy
Tutli IV
Oshoba
--------------- ------------- ------------------ --- -------------- -----------
Combined Total of Existing Resources, Exploration and Prospecting
Licences Non JORC Compliant
Thousand
t 35,339.419 t 35,339,419 t 35,339,419 Ore Tonnes
--------------- ------------- ------------------ --- -------------- -----------
kgs 56,872.144 g 56,872,144 Oz 1,834,585 Au
--------------- ------------- ------------------ --- -------------- -----------
tonnes 794.206 g 794,206,000 Oz 25,619,548 Ag
--------------- ------------- ------------------ --- -------------- -----------
A December 2020 corporate presentation by a previous operator
suggested that there may be the potential for a sizeable increase
in gold mineralization.
The table below shows historical production by JTC LLC
"Aprelevka" Bahori since 2011.
2011-2022 Ore extraction Production figures. Please not the
first C1 reference refers to the reserve category and the second 1
& 2 reference refers to the resource category under the NAEN
Code.
*Sourced from from JTC LLC "Aprelevka" Bahori
No. Year NAEN Ore extracted Metal
Inventory category tonnes Gold, Silver,
Oz Oz
------------------- -------------- -------- ----------
1 2011 + 1 121,080 24,140 133,811
----- ------------------- -------------- -------- ----------
2 2012 + 1+ 2 121,271 17,755 168,406
----- ------------------- -------------- -------- ----------
3 2013 + 1+ 2 100,260 27,444 202,646
----- ------------------- -------------- -------- ----------
4 2014 + 1+ 2 94,465 20,462 258,299
----- ------------------- -------------- -------- ----------
5 2015 + 1+ 2 107,553 23,189 253,541
----- ------------------- -------------- -------- ----------
6 2016 + 1+ 2 141,616 21,441 206,022
----- ------------------- -------------- -------- ----------
7 2017 + 1+ 2+ 1 .+ 2 . 125,554 22,244 218,754
----- ------------------- -------------- -------- ----------
8 2018 + 1+ 2+ 1 .+ 2 . 123,738 18,253 209,816
----- ------------------- -------------- -------- ----------
9 2019 + 1+ 2+ 1 .+ 2 . 94,772 13,615 231,646
----- ------------------- -------------- -------- ----------
10 2020 + 1+ 2+ 1 .+ 2 . 139,895 12,331 206,183
----- ------------------- -------------- -------- ----------
11 2021 + 1+ 2+ 1 .+ 2 . 116,063 10,933 213,610
----- ------------------- -------------- -------- ----------
12 2022 + 1+ 2+ 1 .+ 2 . 82,516 8,858 151,494
----- ------------------- -------------- -------- ----------
Total: + 1+ 2+ 1 .+ 2 . 1,368,783 220,666 2,454,227
------------------- -------------- -------- ----------
Aprelevka Summary financial information for the year ended 31
December 2022:
US$
As at 31 December 2022
-------------------------
Total assets 15,425,802
-------------------------
Net current
assets 1,291,970
-------------------------
Total equity 9,601,333
-------------------------
Long-term liabilities -
-------------------------
Year ended 31 December
2022
-------------------------
Turnover 16,044,311
-------------------------
Net loss (818,929)
-------------------------
NOTE: The above figures have been derived from the JTCLLC
"Aprelevka" Financial Statements, 2022, on which the Auditors
provided an audit report which was qualified due to non- attendance
at the stocktake.
The Tien Shan Belt
The Tien Shan Belt, where Aprelevka's precious metals' assets
are located, extends for over 2,500km, from western Uzbekistan,
through Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and southern Kazakhstan to western
China, and represents the central part of the Altaid Orogenic
Collage (Sengör et al, 1993; Sengör and Natalin, 1996; Yakubchuk,
2004) of central Eurasia. The Tien Shan Belt is host to a number of
large gold deposits and gold mines.
Competent Person
The technical information in this announcement has been reviewed
by, and the forward-looking technical views are based on,
information interpreted by Mr Nicolae Turdean, our Romanian Country
Manager and a full-time employee of the Company. Mr Nicolae Turdean
is a Qualified Person who is a Member in good standing of the:
-- Romanian National Association of Specialists in Mining Industry
-- General Association of Romanian Engineers
-- Romanian National Committee of Mining Engineers
Nicolae has 40 years' experience in the Romanian mining
industry. He was most recently President of the National Agency for
Mineral Resources. Prior to this, Nicolae was the Chief Executive
of Cupru Min SA, the Romanian state-owned copper producer. Nicolae
has worked closely with the Ministry of Economy and Commerce, the
Minister of Economy and Finance, and the World Bank, as well as
serving on the Board of Administration for a number of companies.
Nicolae holds both a Bachelor of Mining Science and a MSc. in the
Management of Mining Activities from the Technical University of
Petrosani in Romania.
The technical information and forward-looking views have also
been reviewed by and interpreted by Negru Vlad Andrei, Chief
Geologist for geological and geotechnical consultants Formin SA.
The information is in the course of further review by SRK.
Important Notices
This announcement contains 'forward-looking statements'
concerning the Company that are subject to risks and uncertainties.
Generally, the words 'will', 'may', 'should', 'continue',
'believes', 'targets', 'plans', 'expects', 'aims', 'intends',
'anticipates' or similar expressions or negatives thereof identify
forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements
involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to
differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking
statements. Many of these risks and uncertainties relate to factors
that are beyond the Company's ability to control or estimate
precisely. The Company cannot give any assurance that such
forward-looking statements will prove to have been correct. The
reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on these
forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this
announcement. The Company does not undertake any obligation to
update or revise publicly any of the forward-looking statements set
out herein, whether as a result of new information, future events
or otherwise, except to the extent legally required.
Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure
Certain information contained within this announcement is deemed
by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under
the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014 as it forms part of
UKDomestic Law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act
2018 ("UK MAR") until the release of this announcement.
**ENDS**
For further information, visit www.vastplc.com or please
contact:
Vast Resources plc www.vastplc.com
Andrew Prelea (CEO) +44 (0) 20 7846 0974
Andrew Hall (CCO)
Beaumont Cornish - Financial www.beaumontcornish.com
& Nominated Advisor +44 (0) 20 7628 3396
Roland Cornish
James Biddle
Shore Capital Stockbrokers Limited www.shorecapmarkets.co.uk
- Joint Broker +44 (0) 20 7408 4050
Toby Gibbs / James Thomas (Corporate
Advisory)
Axis Capital Markets Limited www.axcap247.com
- Joint Broker +44 (0) 20 3206 0320
Richard Hutchinson
St Brides Partners Limited www.stbridespartners.co.uk
Susie Geliher +44 (0) 20 7236 1177
ABOUT VAST RESOURCES PLC
Vast Resources plc is a United Kingdom AIM listed mining company
with mines and projects in Romania, Tajikistan, and Zimbabwe.
In Romania, the Company is focused on the rapid advancement of
high-quality projects by recommencing production at previously
producing mines.
The Company's Romanian portfolio includes 100% interest in Vast
Baita Plai SA which owns 100% of the producing Baita Plai
Polymetallic Mine, located in the Apuseni Mountains, Transylvania,
an area which hosts Romania's largest polymetallic mines. The mine
has a JORC compliant Reserve & Resource Report which underpins
the initial mine production life of approximately 3-4 years with an
in-situ total mineral resource of 15,695 tonnes copper equivalent
with a further 1.8M-3M tonnes exploration target. The Company is
now working on confirming an enlarged exploration target of up to
5.8M tonnes.
The Company also owns the Manaila Polymetallic Mine in Romania,
which the Company is looking to bring back into production
following a period of care and maintenance. The Company has also
been granted the Manaila Carlibaba Extended Exploitation Licence
that will allow the Company to re-examine the exploitation of the
mineral resources within the larger Manaila Carlibaba licence
area.
Vast has an interest in a joint venture company which provides
exposure to a near term revenue opportunity from the Takob Mine
processing facility in Tajikistan. The Takob Mine opportunity,
which is 100% financed, will provide Vast with a 12.25 percent
royalty on overall sales of non-ferrous concentrate and any other
metals produced.
Glossary
NAEN CODE - Russian Code for the Public Reporting of Exploration
Results, Mineral Resources, Mineral Reserves.
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END
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October 19, 2023 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)
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