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PROSPECT RESOURCES LIMITED — AGM Information 2010
Nov 30, 2010
65617_rns_2010-11-30_03614175-30ad-40ad-9d0c-b8b79c341e3d.pdf
AGM Information
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ETHAN MINERALS LIMITED
First Annual General Meeting of Shareholders
November 30, 2010
May I welcome you all to the inaugural AGM.
In only 4 days, we will have reached the first anniversary of the listing of Ethan Minerals Limited ("ETH") or (“The Company”) on the ASX.
It has been quite an eventful year with a number of key achievements. You may recall that ETH was listed on the basis of the Mary Spring's lead project and the unique lease arrangements in the surrounding areas that had restricted detailed exploration in the past. Mary Spring's has now been drilled and indications are that a mine could be developed. However, this drilling and other exploratory work has delineated an additional 17 drilling targets. The feeling is that this area, as always suspected by Ken Fitzgerald has great potential. This will be further outlined in the investor presentation which will be presented shortly.
This presentation will also address the other interesting projects that ETH has initiated, ranging from the acquisition of leases for Manganese ("Mn") and Copper/Gold in Zambia to Gold interests in Indonesia.
Without going into the detail that will be outlined in the presentation, ETH believes that it has the possibility of developing a world class resource in Mn in Zambia. The total lease areas for Mn are about 416 Sq. Kms. There appears to be three main areas
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The Mkushi Area, the original site that attracted ETH in the first place. This appears to have Mn grades ranging from 44% to 50% in surface outcrops
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The Mukonshi Area, our second site. This also consists of surface outcrops and ranges in grades of Mn from 45% to 56%
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The Kapumba Area, our recent acquisition. This lease was granted recently and was at the time being mined illegally by Chinese miners. We are informed that this mine was being operated at a rate of about 1 MT PA of Mn. The total costs associated with acquiring this lease have been very low as detailed in ASX releases. To obtain such a quality operation at such a low cost is a tribute to the negotiating skills of Ken Fitzgerald. He undoubtedly has the special ability to identify value that others have missed and skilfully acquire them.
ETH has announced that it has a lease over 2,000 Sq Kms. of a copper/gold area in Zambia that over an 800 metre section of a 6 KM visible outcrop vein structure is averaging 23% copper and 58 Gms gold in limited sampling to date. This has the potential to become substantial prospect.
Regarding the operations in Indonesia, ETH has looked at a number of gold projects. ETH has always taken the process of firstly undertaking a due diligence exercise before any major acquisition outlays are made. In that manner, the company has tried to limit its cost exposure to only that of the due diligence process. However, as many people will tell you in the mining industry, there are cultural differences in the manner that business is conducted in Indonesia. This has caused a number of frustrations and delays to what should be straight forward operations. In
addition, culturally it could be said that then can be variance to the requirements on ASX listed companies.
We find that Zambia is a much easier place to do business and is more reliable given that as a former British colony it has similar laws and regulations to those in Australia.
I trust that shareholders will have noticed a change in the style of recent ASX announcements. This style will continue both in accordance with the ASX requirements for continuous disclosure and a new policy of providing as much transparency as possible. The Company has tried to outline in these announcements what we refer to as the "dots" of information along with explanations as to how to connect the dots.
Regarding the way forward, the dots point in the direction of the next stages they represent. This is to-
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Sign off take agreements at realistic world prices for ETH's Zambian Mn. We are seeking certain concessions in these contracts as to the timing of payment to alleviate ETH's working capital requirements. We are also seeking commercial loans from off takers to allow ETH to undertake its modest Capex Program (referred to in previous ASX announcements), to enable ETH to start production. This should avoid the need for ETH to make any new issues of shares in the foreseeable future.
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We have some Mn ore already stock piled and hope to sell this within the next few weeks to start cash flowing to ETH.
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We have identified the equipment we need, very basic earth moving plant as most of the Mn is in outcrops or in shallow veins.
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We therefore plan to start serious production in the new year subject to the seasonal conditions in Zambia. In the interim we will use contract miners to start the mining operations.
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The Kapumba mine will most probably be the first to start mining as the Chinese left behind the infrastructure.
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As production and cash flows increase this will be reinvested into purchasing more equipment to expand the mining operations, output and thus more revenue.
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As additional cash is generated from Mn sales, an RC drilling program will be instituted with a rig that will be contracted long term to test the depth and lengths of the Mn outcrops to a JORC standard. This should be completed by May/June 2011.
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Cash flows from the Mn will also be applied to drilling the copper/gold prospect to a JORC standard by say April 2011. Starting in the new year, it is also planned to use the Mn cash flows to infill drill Mary Springs and the satellite deposits to a JORC standard. The exact timing of this will depend on the speed of the Mn cash generation.
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Further due diligence as and when required will be undertaken in Indonesia, again utilising the cash from the Mn operations in Zambia.
If one takes the indicated projected production of just the Kampomba Mine without estimating possible production from the other lease areas, a number of 1 MT PA is possible once operations are restored at that mine. The next step is to input world Mn prices on a DMTU basis, noting that ETH's Mn is at the top end of grade and so commands a premium per its high percentage Mn. We have already outlined that the Mn deposits are out crops and shallow veins, in fact one could say they have a negative strip ratio. Thus only requiring earth moving equipment and not underground shafts etc. the mining costs will be very low. Being in close proximity to an existing functional
railway that runs to the port of Dar Es Salaam can only be considered a significant advantage as we do not have to build a railway with precious shareholder's capital.
Another interesting point about the Zambian operations is that ETH via its 100% subsidiary company Allegra Mining Zambia Limited has applied for a business registration. This requires the outlay of $10 million in the country. Subject to the granting of this, ETH's Zambian operations will not have to pay import duty on the Capex, will not be subject to Zambian Corporation's tax for a period of 5 years. It will be subject to a royalty on Mn sales at the rate of 3% of the FOB price less transport costs to the port facility.
Over the past year ETH has undertaken two placements. These were necessary in order to raise the necessary capital to pay government charges and other costs for the leases in Zambia which we are sure will ultimately be in shareholders' best interests in the next few years
Thus if all our plans come to fruition, ETH should not need to issue any more share in the foreseeable future. It should be generating acceptable cash flows and so self funding of all of its operations.
In conclusion, I am sure that you will all be looking forward to 2011 and the cash flows that it should bring. It is your board's intention to maximise shareholder wealth as much as possible in the future and we apologise for the past occasional dips in ETH's share price. I would like to make special thanks to Ken Fitzgerald who has pioneered the company's interests in Zambia with absolute vigour and determination.
I hope to see you all again next year and be able to deliver even better news.
Bill O'Neill
Chairman
Information in this report pertaining to mineral resources and exploration results was compiled by Mr MP Sullivan who is a member of Aus.I.M.M. Mr Sullivan has sufficient experience which is relevant to the style of mineralisation and the type of deposit that is under consideration and to the activity that he is undertaking to qualify as a competent person as defined in the 2004 Edition of the “Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves”. Mr Sullivan consents to the inclusion in the report of the matters based on his information in the form and context in which is appears.