Cadence Minerals PLC Update - Bacanora Lithium (7969U)

TIDMKDNC

RNS Number : 7969U

Cadence Minerals PLC

16 July 2018

Cadence Minerals Plc

("Cadence Minerals", "Cadence" or "the Company")

Bacanora Lithium (BCN) Announces Strategic Investments of US$90m And A Proposed Placing to Raise US$100m.

Cadence Minerals (AIM/NEX: KDNC; OTC: KDNCY) is pleased to note the strategic investments announced today by Bacanora Lithium (AIM:BCN). Conditional strategic investments have been agreed with the State General Reserve Fund of Oman ("SGRF"), the sovereign wealth fund of the Sultanate of Oman and from Bacanora's off-take partner, Hanwa Co., LTD ("Hanwa"), for a combined total of US$90m ('the Investments'). The Investments comprise US$65m from SGRF and US$25m from Hanwa and are part of the proposed funding package for the development of an initial 17,500 tpa lithium carbonate ("Li2CO3") operation at the Sonora Lithium Project in Mexico ("Sonora" or the "Project") and are conditional on the full US$460m construction funding required for the Project ("Construction Funding") being in place. These investments follow on from the US$150m senior debt facility previously secured with Red Kite Mine Finance, one of the leading specialist mining lenders.

Highlights:

-- SGRF's commitment to conditionally invest US$65m upon completion will further validate Sonora's potential to become a leading supplier of high value lithium products to fast-growing industries, such as electric vehicles and energy storage, and once completed will significantly strengthen Bacanora's funding platform for the construction of a 17,500tpa Li2CO3 operation

-- Hanwa's stated intention to conditionally invest US$25m upon completion will further validate the quality of battery grade (+99.5%) Li2CO3 produced at Sonora and upon completion will secure access to the Japanese market

-- The Investments follow the US$150m senior debt facility secured with RK Mine Finance, one of the leading specialist mining lenders - see announcement of 4 July 2018

-- Upon completion the Investments will bring the combined equity and debt funding commitments secured to date to US$240m - 52% of the US$460m required for Stage 1 production of 17,500 tpa of Li2CO3 at Sonora, comprising US$420m capital costs and US$40m for working capital

-- SGRF's commitment is alongside an off-take agreement which, upon completion of the investment will provide SGRF with the option to buy 10,000 tpa of Li2CO3 once capacity at Sonora is expanded to 35,000 tpa of Li2CO3 as part of Stage 2 of the Project

-- The Conditional Strategic Investments follow the favourable Feasibility Study which assigned a pre-tax US$1.253 billion NPV8 to a 35,000 tpa battery grade Li2CO3 operation at Sonora; a pre-tax Internal Rate of Return of 26.2%; and Life of Mine operating costs of US$3,910/t of Li2CO3.

The full strategic investment release can be found at: https://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/market-news/market-news-detail/BCN/13719306.html

Cadence Minerals also notes that Bacanora Lithium has announced a proposed placing to raise gross proceeds of US$100m by way of a placing (the "Placing") of new ordinary shares in the Company (the "Placing Shares"). The combination of the Placing proceeds and the initial US$25m drawdown from the previously announced US$150m Red Kite Mine Finance senior debt facility ("RK Facility") will give the Company sufficient funds to begin construction on the Project, the intended commissioning for which is in Q1 2020.

Placing Summary:

-- The primary purpose of the Placing is to provide Bacanora with sufficient funds to begin construction of the Project by ordering the long lead items and beginning the required civil works.

-- The gross proceeds from the Placing will allow the Company to continue towards its stated intention of commissioning the Project during Q1 2020.

-- The issue of the Placing Shares is structured as a placing of new ordinary shares pursuant to the authorities granted at the Company's General Meeting held on 16 February 2018.

-- The timing of the closing of the Bookbuild and the final number and allocation of the Placing Shares to be issued are to be determined at the discretion of the Company and the Bookrunner.

-- Following the closing of the Bookbuild, a further announcement will be made confirming final details of the Placing.

Bacanora is a lithium exploration and development company. Cadence holds approximately 8% of Bacanora's equity and 30% of Mexalit and Megalit joint venture companies. Mexalit is the owner of the El Sauz, El Sauz 1, El Sauz 2, Fleur and Fleur 1 mineral concessions, which forms part of the 20-year mine plan of the Sonora Lithium Project in Northern Mexico.

The full placing release can be found at: https://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/market-news/market-news-detail/BCN/13719307.html

Cadence Minerals CEO Kiran Morzaria commented: "Following on from last week's senior debt funding package announcement, today sees Bacanora take two additional and hugely significant steps towards the start of the construction phase of the Sonora Lithium project in Q3 2018."

"Securing additional backing from existing strategic partner Hanwa and new funding from a blue chip investor of the calibre of SGRF further underscores the quality and longevity of the Sonora Lithium project. Along with the $100m placing, Bacanora looks set to complete its funding package by early 2019. On behalf of myself and Cadence Minerals, we congratulate Peter Secker and his team for achieving this milestone today"

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of EU Regulation 596/2014.

- Ends -

For further information:

 
Cadence Minerals plc                   [phone] 
 Andrew Suckling 
 Kiran Morzaria 
 
 WH Ireland Limited (NOMAD & Broker)    [phone] 
 James Joyce 
 James Sinclair-Ford 
 
 Hannam & Partners LLP (Joint Broker)   [phone] 
 Neil Passmore 
 Ingo Hofmaier 
 
 Square1 Consulting                     [phone] 
 David Bick 
 

Qualified Person

Kiran Morzaria B.Eng. (ACSM), MBA, has reviewed and approved the information contained in this announcement. Kiran holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Industrial Geology) from the Camborne School of Mines and an MBA (Finance) from CASS Business School.

About Cadence Minerals:

Cadence is dedicated to smart investments for a greener world. The planet needs rechargeable batteries on a global scale - upcoming supersized passenger vehicles, lorries and buses - require lithium and other technology minerals to power their cells. Cadence is helping find these minerals in new places and extracting them in new ways, which will meet the demand of this burgeoning market. With over GBP20 million vested in key assets globally, Cadence is helping us reach tomorrow, today.

Cadence invests across the globe, principally in lithium mining projects. Its primary strategy is taking significant economic stakes in upstream exploration and development assets within strategic metals. We identify assets that have strategic cost advantages that are not replicable, with the aim of achieving lower quartile production costs. The combination of this approach and seeking value opportunities allows us to identify projects capable of achieving high rates of return.

The Cadence board has a blend of mining, commodity investing, fund management and deal structuring knowledge and experience, that is supported by access to key marketing, political and industry contacts. These resources are leveraged not only in our investment decisions but also in continuing support of our investments, whether it be increasing market awareness of an asset, or advising on product mix or path to production. Cadence Mineral's goal is to assist management to rapidly develop the project up the value curve and deliver excellent returns on its investments.

Forward-Looking Statements:

Certain statements in this announcement are or may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are identi ed by their use of terms and phrases such as "believe" "could" "should" "envisage" "estimate" "intend" "may" "plan" "will" or the negative of those variations or comparable expressions including references to assumptions. These forward-looking statements are not based on historical facts but rather on the Directors' current expectations and assumptions regarding the Company's future growth results of operations performance future capital and other expenditures (including the amount. nature and sources of funding thereof) competitive advantages business prospects and opportunities. Such forward-looking statements re ect the Directors' current beliefs and assumptions and are based on information currently available to the Directors. Many factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements including risks associated with vulnerability to general economic and business conditions competition environmental and other regulatory changes actions by governmental authorities the availability of capital markets reliance on key personnel uninsured and underinsured losses and other factors many of which are beyond the control of the Company. Although any forward-looking statements contained in this announcement are based upon what the Directors believe to be reasonable assumptions. The Company cannot assure investors that actual results will be consistent with such forward-looking statements.

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July 16, 2018 11:36 ET (15:36 GMT)