Marula Mining
PLC
("Marula'' or the "Company")
11 April
2024
Update on Agreements for Sale
of By-Products Minerals at Blesberg Lithium and Tantalum
Mine
Marula Mining (AQSE: MARU), an
African focused mining and development company, is pleased to
provide an update on its planned sales of its production of
columbite-tantalite ("coltan"), feldspar and other by-product minerals from the
Blesberg Lithium and Tantalum Mine located
in the Northern Cape Province in the Republic of South
Africa ("Blesberg" or the "Project").
As announced on 19 March
2024, the Company's wholly owned South
African subsidiary South African Lithium and Tantalum Mining (Pty)
Limited ("SALT") had 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 100% of the lithium bearing
ore and concentrate production from Blesberg. Deliveries to Fujax
under the Agreement are scheduled to commence in May 2024 and
continue through to 31 December 2026, with an option to extend
deliveries by a further three years thereafter.
The Company can confirm that It is
also now progressing sales agreements with Fujax, and a number of
additional parties in South Africa for the sale of its production
of other by-product minerals including tantalum, feldspar and mica
that are extracted through the Company's existing processing and
XRF sorting equipment and planned expansion to the processing plant
in Q2 2024.
Highlights
·
Processing operations at Blesberg, which include
the Rados XRF Particle Sorter that is already in operation and the
Tomra XRT Sorter that will now be installed and commissioned this
quarter (previously anticipated to be installed in Q1 2024), allow
for the recovery of the lithium bearing ores and through its
sorting technology, the separate recovery of the
coltan, feldspar and other by-product
minerals that are present.
·
The Company is seeking to maximise the economics
at Blesberg by entering into additional sales agreements for its
production of these by-product minerals which include the coltan,
feldspar and other minerals.
·
The sampling program of these minerals has
recently been completed and analysis is ongoing
·
150 kilograms ('kg') of coltan mineralisation from
stockpiles at Blesberg has now been submitted for independent
testing and analysis.
·
The assay results from this testwork will be used
to verify both the tantalum and niobium grades and the results will
be incorporated into key commercial terms of the proposed sales
agreement with local and international offtake groups including
Fujax
·
Representatives on site from Fujax this week to
also take samples of the coltan for analyses in the United Kingdom
ahead of a proposed initial sale of 2 tonnes ("t").
·
20.64kg of feldspar has also been sent for
mineralogy analysis. The results are to be included with previous
historic test work which has already confirmed that its technical
specifications meet the requirements of local purchasers of
feldspar for the ceramics and glass industry
·
The sample results for the coltan and feldspar
which will include grade, mineralogy and quality analyses are
expected to be received in Q2 2024.
·
The Company is anticipating sales agreements to be
concluded and first sales and revenue to be received from the sale
of these by-product minerals late in Q2 2024.
Henk van Zyl, Marula Mining PLC General Manager Southern
Africa said:
"Blesberg has such a valuable assortment of minerals that
extend beyond just the lithium bearing ores.
"We know that Blesberg was one of the major producers in South
Africa of tantalum and we believe there is an opportunity through
the sale of the coltan mineralisation that has been identified at
the mine to materially enhance the project economics by concluding
a standalone offtake agreement for this by-product of the lithium
mining activities.
"In addition with the completed sampling program, we are also
awaiting assay and metallurgical results on the feldspar
mineralisation that is present at Blesberg. Historically there has
been sales of this material from Blesberg into the local South
African market and sales of these minerals continues from other
operations in the Northern Cape."
The
Directors of Marula are responsible for the contents of this
announcement.
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.