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Cadence Minerals (AIM/NEX: KDNC; OTC: KDNCY) is pleased to announce that it has entered into a binding agreement to sell its working interests in the Yangibana Rare Earths project (“Yangibana Project”) tenements to Hastings Technology Metals (ASX: HAS) (“Hastings”). Cadence’s 30% interest in tenements covers a small portion of Yangibana and potentially represents one year of the 16-year mine life.

Highlights: 

• Cadence has agreed to sell its 30% working interest in the Yangibana Project tenements to the operator and owner of the remainder of the Yangibana Project, Hastings, for A$9 million (£5.1 million)
• The sale is to be satisfied by the issue of fully paid ordinary Hastings shares
• This transaction provides Cadence with equity exposure to 100% of the Yangibana Project via its equity holding in Hastings.
• The NPV of the Yangibana Project is currently AS$ 1 billion

Background

The interests will be sold for A$9.0 million to be settled by the issue of fully paid ordinary shares in Hastings at a price to be determined based on 30 days VWAP before completion, which is set at six months from the date of signing of this agreement. The commercial terms are summarised below.

As a consequence of the acquisition, Cadence will become a shareholder of Hastings. Hastings is developing the Yangibana Project. The Yangibana Project is a significant Australian Rare Earths Project, containing substantial Neodymium and Praseodymium resources.

The Yangibana Project currently covers approximately 650 square kilometres containing some 9 Mining Leases, 2 Prospecting Licenses and 19 Exploration Licenses. Cadence holds a 30% interest in 3 Mining Leases and 6 Exploration licenses. These tenements contain 0.70 million tonnes of Ore Reserves, which can increase the expected mine life of the Yangibana Project by approximately one year to a total of 16 years.

Hastings has commence site construction and is planning to commence commissioning of the beneficiation plant in late 2023, with the delivery of maiden production to key customers in 2024.

In February of this year, Hastings published a revised NPV calculation, which increased the NPV by 84% to AS$ 1 billion. Hasting’s current market capitalisation is circa A$ 415 million. Also, in February, the Australian Government’s Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF) approved a $140 million loan facility to Hastings and Yangibana, making it the first Australian rare earth project to receive NAIF funding. The Financial Times also commented on the story. The link can be found here: https://www.ft.com/content/552274c4-221a-49ac-91dd-562c51655e76

Cadence CEO Kiran Morzaria commented: “The sale of our 30% interest in a part of the Yangibana Rare Earths Project provides Cadence with an excellent return on its initial investment and equity exposure to the entire project. Yangibana’s importance as a key REE resource today cannot be overstated.”

We look forward to reporting on Hastings development and progress towards production as construction on the mine commences.”

Commercial Terms

The following represent the key binding commercial terms for Hastings to acquire the 30% working interest in certain tenements and general-purpose licences held by Cadence Minerals Plc through its subsidiary Mojito Resources Limited:

• Consideration – A$9 million to be settled by the issue of fully paid ordinary shares in Hastings Technology Metals Ltd (herein referred to as “Consideration Shares”).
• Issue price – equal to the volume-weighted average price (VWAP) of the Hastings shares in the 30 trading days before settlement.
• Escrow – the Consideration Shares will be subject to a voluntary escrow for up to 12 months from issue
• Conditions precedent limited to execution of documents to give effect to the binding term sheet, Hastings having issued and applied to the ASX for the quotation of the Considerations Shares and any necessary approvals being received.
• Settlement to occur five days after conditions precedent have been met.
• Conditions precedent to be completed within 180 days; otherwise, either party may terminate the binding term sheet.
• General representations, warranties and indemnities for an agreement of this nature.

The net loss attributable to our 30% holdings in the tenements for 31 December 2021 is nil. As such, the net loss attributable to the Company is also nil. As of 31 December 2021, the total carrying values of the tenements in the Company’s balance sheet was approximately £905,000. Based on the transaction announced, the initial profits on the sale of our interest is approximately £4.2 million.

As outlined above, the Consideration Shares will be subject to a voluntary escrow of up to 12 months from issue. During that time, the price of Hastings public equity may vary and result in either higher or lower profitability. After the lapse of the escrow arrangement, Cadence will retain or dispose of these shares as per our investment strategy, which is available here.

Q&A with Vox Markets

CEO Kiran Morzaria will be recording an investor presentation and Q&A with Vox Markets, which will be released on Friday, 1 July 2022.

Shareholders and investors are invited to submit their questions to Katrina Perez at Vox Markets via her email at kperez@voxmarkets.co.uk.  The questions should arrive no later than 6 pm on  Wednesday, 29 June 2022. Any that arrive after the deadline will not be included in the Q&A.

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Qualified Person

Kiran Morzaria B.Eng. (ACSM), MBA, has reviewed and approved the information contained in this announcement. Kiran holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Industrial Geology) from the Camborne School of Mines and an MBA (Finance) from CASS Business School.

Forward-Looking Statements:

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” ”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.  Many factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements including risks associated with vulnerability to general economic and business conditions competition environmental and other regulatory changes actions by governmental authorities the availability of capital markets reliance on key personnel uninsured and underinsured losses and other factors many of which are beyond the control of the Company. Although any forward-looking statements contained in this announcement are based upon what the Directors believe to be reasonable assumptions. The Company cannot assure investors that actual results will be consistent with such forward-looking statements.

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.

Cadence Minerals (AIM/AQX: KDNC; OTC: KDNCY) is pleased to note that Hastings Technology Metals (ASX:HAS) (“Hastings”), Cadence’s joint venture partner at the Yangibana Rare Earth Project in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia (“Yangibana” “Yangibana Project”), has announced significant progress on, and improved project economics for the Yangibana Project. The updated project economics, based on a Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) completed by Hastings in 2017 and revised in late 2021, follows an extensive and comprehensive review period, extending over three years, which has sought to de-risk project execution, optimise the flowsheet and enhance project economics.

Highlights:

• Post-tax Net Present Value8 (“NPV8”) increases by 84% to $1,012 million.
• Post-tax Internal Rate of Return (“IRR”) of 26%.
• Life of Mine pre-tax Free Operating Cashflow increases by 71% to $4,376 million.
• Revised capital cost estimated at A$582 million (including contingency is $658 million)
• Project is ‘shovel-ready’ following a comprehensive review and assessment of current inflationary pressures present in Western Australia.
• Capital payback period forecast at 2.7 years from commencement of production.
• Production of 3,400tpa of NdPr Oxides capable of supplying up to 8% of forecast global NdPr demand.
• Discussions on funding options with suitable partners continue to progress.
• $20 million early works program to deliver the core site infrastructure at Yangibana is well underway

Key to this process was validating the capex required to bring Yangibana into operation considering the current inflationary environment and tightening labour market in Western Australia.

Following this review period, the management team now have a high degree of confidence in the quantum of capital required and are proceeding to finalise funding arrangements for Yangibana ahead of proposed commencement of plant construction activities forecast to commence in H2 2022. The $20 million early works program to deliver the core site infrastructure at Yangibana is underway with plant and personnel achieving good progress to date.

The full HAS release can be found at: https://www.investi.com.au/api/announcements/has/000839dd-0cd.pdf

Hastings Technology Metals’ Executive Chairman Charles Lew commented: “Today is a significant milestone for the Hastings team that is the result of an extensive amount of work carried out over a number of years. The updated project economics tell a story of a world-class rare earths project that will be capable not only of delivering up to 8% of global NdPr demand for a period of at least 15 years but generate significant, long-term value for all shareholders.”

“The Hastings team has done a tremendous job since 2017 to optimise and de-risk the Yangibana project, both technically and commercially, to make it an even more compelling investment proposition. Since its discovery in 2014, we were always confident in the quality of the rare earths resource endowment at Yangibana. As it turned out, the steady progress we have made over the years has converged with a strong global rare earths magnet market underpinned by the global energy transition and electric mobility. As the updated project economics demonstrate, Yangibana will be a financially and operationally robust, long-life project.”

“We are well advanced on discussions with a range of funding partners (in addition to NAIF) and are now focused on finalising the appropriate capital structure that best positions Hastings for success in bringing Yangibana into production by 2024. This includes undertaking a corporate transaction or seeking a joint venture partner(s).”

Relevance to Cadence Minerals Holdings in the Yangibana Project:

Cadence owns 30% of 3 Mining Leases, 6 Exploration Licences which form part of the Yangibana Rare Earth Deposit. Hastings Technology Metals owns the remaining 70% (“Hastings”). The current mining schedule indicates that the joint venture areas are scheduled to be mined in years 12 to 15 on the mine plan. Further details of our ownership the mineral resources and reserves on our jointly held leases can be found at:

https://www.cadenceminerals.com/projects/yangibana-rare-earth-project-2/

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For further information:

Qualified Person

Kiran Morzaria B.Eng. (ACSM), MBA, has reviewed and approved the information contained in this announcement. Kiran holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Industrial Geology) from the Camborne School of Mines and an MBA (Finance) from CASS Business School. 

Forward-Looking Statements:

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” ”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 Cadence Minerals Plc’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.  Many factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements including risks associated with vulnerability to general economic and business conditions competition environmental and other regulatory changes actions by governmental authorities the availability of capital markets reliance on key personnel uninsured and underinsured losses and other factors many of which are beyond the control of Cadence Minerals Plc. Although any forward-looking statements contained in this announcement are based upon what the Directors believe to be reasonable assumptions. Cadence Minerals Plc cannot assure investors that actual results will be consistent with such forward-looking statements.