TIDMANR
RNS Number : 0309X
Altona Energy PLC
14 November 2014
Embargoed until 7.00am 14 November 2014
Altona Energy Plc
("Altona" or "the Company")
Arckaringa Joint Venture
Altona (AIM: ANR) is today pleased to announce that Altona,
Sino-Aus Energy Group Limited ("Sino-Aus") and Wintask Group
Limited ("Wintask") (together the "JV Partners") have signed an
agreement in respect of the terms of the Arckaringa project joint
venture ("Joint Venture Agreement" or "the JV") on 13 November,
2014, and have incorporatedan Australian joint venture entity,
Arckaringa Coal Chemical Joint Venture Co Pty Ltd, with the quantum
of the contributions to be made in stage payments by Wintask and
Sino-Aus totalling AUD$33 million. The Company will post its final
results for the year ended 30 June 2014 at 7.01am today.
Highlights
-- Investment into the Arckaringa project by Wintask and Sino-Aus of AUD$33 million
-- Initial drilling programme and Bankable Feasibility Study
("BFS") targeted to be completed within two years
-- Wintask and Sino-Aus will provide Altona with working capital
of GBP2 million, subject to certain conditions, through a
subscription of Altona ordinary shares of 0.1p each ("Shares")
-- The product focus of the Arckaringa project will be
Coal-to-Methanol, coal chemical and synthetic gas production due to
market demand and reliance of proven technology
Michael Zheng, Altona Energy's Executive Chairman,
commented:
"We are delighted to have reached this milestone agreement with
Sino-Aus and Wintask, which are both fully committed to the
project. The new JV entity has been created to complete the BFS at
Arckaringa, and ultimately to bring this world-class project to
fruition. I would like to thank our shareholders for their patience
and loyalty and we offer our promise that our entire focus will be
on driving forward the drilling programme and BFS and further
development of Arckaringa project, which will lay a solid
foundation for future production."
For further information, please visit www.altonaenergy.com or
contact:
Altona Energy Plc
Michael Zheng, Executive Chairman +8610 596 96 162
Leander (Financial PR)
Christian Taylor- Wilkinson +44 (0)7795 168 157
WH Ireland Ltd (Nomad)
Adrian Hadden
James Bavister +44 (0) 20 7220 1666
Old Park Lane Capital Plc (Broker)
Michael Parnes +44 (0) 20 7493 8188
Overview
The ownership of the JV will be split accordingly: Altona 45%,
Sino-Aus 45%, Wintask 10%. The transfer of Exploration Licences
4511, 4512, 4513 ("Arckaringa Licences") to the JV will occur when
all conditions precedent have been met (the "Effective Date").
The conditions precedent to the Joint Venture Agreement are as
follows:
-- the approval of the joint venture by Australia's Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB);
-- ministerial consent pursuant to the Mining Act for the
transfer of the Arckaringa Licences to the joint venture company;
and
-- the approval by shareholders for the issue of the new Shares
at a price of 1p each ("Placing Shares") at a specially convened
General Meeting immediately following the AGM.
Operational ownership of the project will be shared among the JV
Partners, with the first step of the BFS being the planned drilling
programme; the results of which will inform the JV Partners of the
scope of work needed to complete the BFS. The JV Partners have
agreed to endeavour to complete the BFS within two years of the
Effective Date.
If the cost of the BFS exceeds the total of the Sino-Aus
Contribution and the Wintask Contribution, then each of the three
JV Partners will be obliged to contribute to the overrun amount in
accordance with its shareholding interests.
Arckaringa Coal Chemical Joint Venture Co Pty Ltd will have a
board consisting of two voting members from Altona, two voting
members from Sino-Aus and one voting member from Wintask. Sino-Aus
has the right to appoint the chairman of the board. For the
avoidance of doubt, Qinfu Zhang, being both a Director of Altona
and a representative of Wintask, will not be eligible to be
appointed to the JV board as one of the two representatives of
Altona.
Financial Contribution
The financial contribution from the Sino-Aus and Wintask is as
follows:
All A$ Sino-Aus Wintask Total
-------------------- -------------- ------------ -----------
1st Contribution* $5.4 million $0.6million $6million
-------------------- -------------- ------------ -----------
2nd Contribution** $5.4 million $0.6million $6million
-------------------- -------------- ------------ -----------
3rd Contribution
*** $10.8 million $1.2million $12million
-------------------- -------------- ------------ -----------
4th Contribution
**** $8.1 million $0.9million $9million
-------------------- -------------- ------------ -----------
Total Contribution $29.7million $3.3million $33million
-------------------- -------------- ------------ -----------
* First Contribution Date means the date being 30 days from the
date effective date.
**Second Contribution Date will occur 30 days from the
commencement of the First Stage Task (ie, drilling programme) to be
approved by the Board of the JV.
***Third Contribution Date will occur 30 days from the
completion of the First Stage Task.
****Fourth Contribution date will occur after the completion of
the Second Stage Tasks, which are to be determined by majority vote
following the completion of the first stage tasks. The completion
of a task is agreed by majority vote.
Further, Sino-Aus and Wintask will provide working capital
directly to Altona, amounting to GBP2 million, in two tranches,
which the Company regards as a strong sign of confidence from its
partners.
The funding will be split as follows: subject to certain
conditions Wintask will subscribe for 20,000,000 Placing Shares in
two equal tranches and Sino-Aus will subscribe for 180,000,000
Placing Shares in two equal tranches. Altona will therefore seek
shareholder approval at the forthcoming General Meeting, immediate
following the AGM, for the issue of up to 200,000,000 Placing
Shares.
Subject to shareholder approval and once the first contribution
funds are received, Wintask and Sino-Aus will subscribe for
100,000,000 Placing Shares in the Company at the placing price of 1
pence per share to raise gross proceeds of GBP1 million. Their
holdings following the first tranche placing are below:
Shareholder Previous holding Placing Shares Total Shares Percentage
of Company's
enlarged Issued
Share capital
------------- ----------------- --------------- ------------- -----------------
Wintask (1) 230,000,000 10,000,000 240,000,000 26.9%
------------- ----------------- --------------- ------------- -----------------
Sino-Aus - 90,000,000 90,000,000 10.9%
------------- ----------------- --------------- ------------- -----------------
(1) Mr Zhang Qinfu, executive director of the Company, is a
director of Wintask and was nominated as a director of the Company
by Wintask
Subject to the tranche one placing conditions and once the
receipt of the second contribution funds have been received,
Wintask and Sino-Aus will subscribe for 100,000,000 Placing Shares
in the Company, again raising GBP1 million gross proceeds for the
Company. Their holdings following the second tranche placing are
below:
Shareholder Previous holding Placing Shares Total Shares Percentage
of Company's
enlarged Issued
Share capital
------------- ----------------- --------------- ------------- -----------------
Wintask (1) 240,000,000 10,000,000 250,000,000 25.2%
------------- ----------------- --------------- ------------- -----------------
Sino-Aus 90,000,000 90,000,000 180,000,000 18.1%
------------- ----------------- --------------- ------------- -----------------
(1) Mr Zhang Qinfu, executive director of the Company, is a
director of Wintask and was nominated as a director of the Company
by Wintask
The first and second tranche placings are conditional inter alia
on admission of the Placing Shares to trading on AIM. The Placing
Shares, when issued, will rank pari passu in all respects with the
Company's existing issued Shares.
Upon completion of the subscription by Sino-Aus of 180 million
Placing Shares in Altona, Sino-Aus will have the right to appoint a
director to the board of Altona.
Following completion of the first tranche placing, there will be
891,956,853 Shares in issue and following the completion of the
second tranche placing, there will be 991,956,853 Shares in
issue.
Other Information
The board believes that the South Australia government is
currently highly committed to resources projects in their region,
and hasbeen a long-time supporterof the Arckaringa project,
especially following the return of the Exploration Licences back to
Altona on 18 March 2014.
Altona Energy (LSE:ANR)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2024 to May 2024
Altona Energy (LSE:ANR)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2023 to May 2024