Marula Mining
PLC
("Marula'' or the "Company")
19 March
2024
Long-Term
Offtake Agreement Signed for Blesberg Lithium and Tantalum
Mine
Marula Mining (AQSE: MARU) an
African focused mining and development company, is pleased to
confirm that its wholly owned South African subsidiary South
African Lithium and Tantalum Mining (Pty) Limited ("SALT") has
signed a long-term offtake agreement (the "Agreement") with
United Kingdom based, global metals, minerals and energy commodities trading group
Fujax UK Ltd ("Fujax") for spodumene ore and concentrate from the
Blesberg Lithium and Tantalum Mine located in the Northern Cape
Province in the Republic of South Africa ("Blesberg" or the
"Project").
The agreement is based on the sale
and purchase of 100% of Blesberg's production of spodumene ore and
concentrate to Fujax through to 31 December 2026, with a minimum of
50,000 tonnes ("t") at a grade of 6.00% lithium ("Li2O")
(minimum 5.50% Li2O) to be delivered during this period
and with an option to extend by a further three years
thereafter.
Highlights:
·
Long-term offtake agreement entered into for the
sale and purchase of 100% of the production of spodumene ore and
concentrates from Blesberg
·
First sales to United Kingdom based Fujax to
commence in May 2024
·
Sales to continue on a monthly basis to Fujax
through to 31 December 2026, with an option for Fujax to extend by
a further three years to 31 December 2029
·
Minimum volume of 50,000 t of spodumene ore and
concentrate at a minimum grade of 5.50% Li2O is to be
made over the period to 31 December 2026
·
No maximum limits have been set on additional
deliveries of spodumene ore and concentrate over
this period from Blesberg to Fujax
·
Sales price referenced to the benchmark Shanghai
Metal Markets "Spodumene Concentrate Index
(CIF China) US$/t Price" net of agreed transportation and sampling
costs and standard commissions costs and charges
·
80% of monthly sales value to be paid on delivery
of material to Fujax's nominated warehouse in Cape Town and the
balance to be paid on receipt of final certificates of quality and
weight at the final discharge port
·
Fujax is an established and experienced global
mineral and energy trading company and sources, mines, finances,
trades, markets, contractually manages, and transports metals and
minerals throughout Africa, Asia and Europe
·
Fujax, headquartered in the United Kingdom was
established in 2013, and through its offices in the United Kingdom,
Switzerland, Hong Kong, South Africa, Zambia and Kenya supplies a
broad global customer base with responsibly sourced commodities
from a diverse range of countries across the entire commodity
supply chain
Jason Brewer, Marula Mining
PLC CEO said:
"I
am very pleased to have signed this long-term offtake agreement
with UK-based Fujax for 100% of our planned spodumene ore and
concentrate production from our Blesberg Lithium and Tantalum
Mine.
"This partnership allows us to move ahead at Blesberg with our
longer term and larger scale plans, knowing we have the support of
the Fujax's global team of metals and minerals trading logistics,
storage, risk management and financing
professionals.
"Over the past several months we have had multiple meetings
and discussions with the management team at Fujax in Nairobi,
London and Cape Town, in relation to the sales and marketing
arrangements for the Blesberg Lithium and Tantalum Mine in addition
to production from our other planned operations in East Africa. I
am excited that we have concluded this offtake agreement on the
sale and purchase of the spodumene ore and other lithium products
for a period of up to almost six years with them.
"I'd like to thank the team at Fujax and our team at Blesberg
and I believe that with this agreement in place, we have the
partners that can help strengthen our position in Africa and in the
global lithium market, as a long-term and sustainable producer of
high value lithium ores."
The
Directors of Marula are responsible for the contents of this
announcement. This announcement
contains inside information for the purposes of UK Market
Abuse Regulation.
About Marula Mining
Marula Mining (AQSE: MARU) is an
African focused battery metals investment and exploration company
and has interests in several high value mine projects in Africa;
the Blesberg Lithium and Tantalum Mine and Korridor Lithium Project
in South Africa, the Kinusi Copper Mine, the Nyorinyori Graphite
Project, the NyoriGreen Graphite Project and the Bagamoyo Graphite
Project all in Tanzania and the Nkombwa Hill Project in Zambia. As
we advance operations at these battery metals focused projects,
Marula will continue to build and expand its interests in other
high-quality projects in Africa.
Marula's strategy is to identify and
invest in advanced and high-value mining projects throughout East,
Central and Southern Africa that the Directors believe would
deliver returns for its shareholders. The Board and management team
aims to establish Marula as a socially and environmentally
responsible, sustainable, and profitable producer of critical
metals and commodities that are of increasingly strategic
importance to modern technologies and the global economy. Marula's
shares are traded on the AQUIS Stock Exchange (AQSE), Marula is
exploring opportunities to admit its shares to trading on the
London Stock Exchange plc's Standard List, Kenya's Nairobi
Securities Exchange and South Africa's Johannesburg Stock
Exchange.
For
enquiries contact:
Marula Mining PLC
Jason Brewer,
Chief Executive Officer
Faith Kinyanjui Mumbi
Investor Relations
|
Email :
jason@marulamining.com
Email :
info@marulamining.com
|
AQSE Corporate Adviser
Cairn Financial Advisers LLP,
Liam Murray / Ludovico Lazzaretti
|
+44 (0)20
7213 0880
|
Broker
Peterhouse Capital Limited,
Charles Goodfellow / Duncan Vasey
|
+44
(0)20 7469 0930
|
Financial PR and IR
BlytheRay
Tim
Blythe / Megan Ray / Said Izagaren
|
+44 (0)20 7138 3204
|
Caution:
Certain statements in this
announcement, are, or may be deemed to be, forward looking
statements. Forward looking statements are identified by their use
of terms and phrases such as ''believe'', ''could'', "should"
''envisage'', ''estimate'', ''intend'', ''may'', ''plan'',
''potentially'', "expect", ''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 reflect the Directors' current beliefs
and assumptions and are based on information currently available to
the Directors.