Echo Energy PLC Placing, Appointment of Joint Broker & TVR

RNS Number : 4807Y

Echo Energy PLC

31 July 2024

 

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of the UK version of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 which is part of UK law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, as amended ("MAR"). Upon the publication of this announcement via a Regulatory Information Service, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.

31 July 2024

Echo Energy PLC

("Echo" or the "Company")

Placing, Termination of Convertible Loan Note Deed, Appointment of Joint Broker & Total Voting Rights

Echo (LON:ECHO), the Latin America focused natural resources company, is pleased to announce it has successfully raised, via Peterhouse Capital Limited, £418,245 before expenses through the allotment and issue of 16,729,800,000 new ordinary shares ("Placing Shares") at a price of 0.0025p per share (the "Placing"). Proceeds of the Placing will be used to:

·    enable the Company to initiate production at the Tesoro Gold Concession ("Tesoro"), through its 50%-owned Peruvian joint venture, Boku Resources SAC ("Boku"), by September 2024;

·    prepare for a final investment decision on the first identified tailings deposit project; and

·    strengthen the Company's balance sheet.

The Placing Shares will be issued in two tranches, with the first tranche, comprising 12,530,620,200 new ordinary shares (the "Unconditional Placing Shares") being issued immediately pursuant to Admission as detailed below, and the second tranche, comprising 4,199,179,800  new ordinary shares (the "Conditional Placing Shares") being issued conditional upon the Company's shareholders granting authority in a general meeting for sufficient number of ordinary shares in the Company to be issued. A further announcement and shareholder circular will be issued in connection with the general meeting in due course.

The Company will issue one warrant for every Placing Share at an exercise price of 0.005p for a period of 24 months from the date of Admission of the Conditional Placing Shares to AIM.

Termination of Convertible Loan Note Deed

The Company also announces it has terminated the convertible loan note deed (the "Agreement"), the details of which were notified on 6 June 2024, by mutual consent of the parties. Following the termination, no further funding will be provided to the Company under the Agreement.

Appointment of Joint Broker

The Company is pleased to announce the appointment of Peterhouse Capital Limited as its Joint Broker with immediate effect.

Stephen Birrell, Chief Executive Officer of Echo, commented:

"We are happy to announce the raising of new funds and the appointment of Peterhouse Capital Limited as our joint broker. This allows Echo to continue with our business growth plans for mining gold in Peru, as previously reported, as we seek to rebuild the Company."

Information on the Projects

In July 2024, Echo entered into the Boku 50:50 joint venture in Peru for gold and silver mining and the cleaning of known tailings deposits containing gold and silver.

Boku has secured a primary gold mining concession in southern Peru, Tesoro, at which it intends to establish formalised artisanal and small mining operations by September 2024.

Boku has also acquired the Ana Lucia polymetallic concession in central Peru, which Boku believes holds significant potential for developing a small-scale mining operation, similar to that operated by the neighbouring Cerro Bayo mine.

Boku also aims to build a material resource base of gold and silver rich tailings and has heads of terms in place with owners to acquire the rights to process the tailings and sell the recovered gold and silver.

The Echo directors believe that Tesoro should deliver early and strong cashflow, while the tailings projects and additional concessions build a material resource base for Boku.

Admission and Total Voting Rights

Application has been made to the London Stock Exchange for the Unconditional Placing Shares to be admitted to trading on AIM and it is expected that such Admission will take place on or around 8.00 a.m. on 6 August 2024.

In accordance with the provision of the Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules of the Financial Conduct Authority, the Company confirms that, following the issue of the Unconditional Placing Shares, its issued ordinary share capital will comprise 35,569,195,607 Ordinary Shares. All the Ordinary Shares have equal voting rights and none of the Ordinary Shares are held in Treasury. The total number of voting rights in the Company will therefore be 35,569,195,607. The above figure may be used by shareholders as the denominator for the calculations to determine if they are required to notify their interests in, or a change to their interest in, the Company.

For further information please contact:

Echo Stephen Birrell, Chief Executive Officer	Via Vigo Consulting [e-mail]
Zeus Capital Limited (Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker) James Joyce James Bavister Isaac Hooper	Tel: [phone]
Peterhouse Capital limited (Joint Broker) Duncan Vasey Lucy Williams	Tel: [phone]
Vigo Consulting (Investor Relations) Ben Simons Peter Jacob	Tel: [phone] [e-mail]

 

About Echo

Following the partial divestment of its assets in Argentina, Echo entered into a 50:50 joint venture in Peru in July 2024 with an experienced local partner for precious metals (gold/silver) mining and the cleaning of known tailings deposits containing Measured and Indicated resources of gold and silver. Through the JV, known as Boku Resources, Echo has secured an opportunity to scale operations in Peru producing gold and silver through primary mining and tailings cleaning, owning 50% of the production and resources. Initially, Boku intends to establish formalised artisanal and small mining operations on its 100% held Tesoro Gold concession, southern Peru, targeting early cash flow generation by Q4 2024.

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