Apex
Minerals NL (ASX: AXM)
Apex
to spin off nickel assets in deal with Mark Creasy
ASX-listed
Croesus to become new WA base metals explorer
Apex Minerals NL (ASX: AXM) and Mark Creasy today announce that they will spin off their
prospective WA nickel assets into Croesus Mining NL (ASX: CRS), creating a new focused exploration company.
Croesus will undertake a
capital raising of between $5 million to $7 million, its board will be
restructured, and its name will be changed to Sirius Resources NL to reflect
its new direction.
The new company will house prospective exploration acreage in WA?s rich
nickel sulphide belt, which hosts world-class mines such as BHP Billiton?s
Leinster and Mount Keith projects, Xstrata?s Cosmos and Prospero deposits and
Norilsk Nickel?s Waterloo deposit.
Under an agreement struck with well-known prospector Mark Creasy,
Croesus will also give shareholders exposure to large areas of WA nickel and
base metal exploration territory strategically accumulated by Creasy over
several years.
Croesus will raise up to $7 million through a private placement at 0.85
cents to sophisticated investors who are clients of Blackwood Capital. The
transaction will be subject to the approval of Croesus shareholders at a
meeting to be held in approximately one month?s time.
In consideration for the transfer of its nickel assets, Apex will
receive approximately 67 million Croesus shares and 600 million five year
options with a strike price of 3 cents. Apex will also be reimbursed for past
costs it has incurred.
Mark Creasy, and the vendor entities controlled by him (Creasy) will
receive approximately 267 million Croesus shares as reimbursement for past
exploration costs incurred on the properties and interests to be transferred to
Croesus.
On the basis of a $7 million capital raising, Apex will have a 4% stake
in Croesus rising to 27% on a fully diluted basis (assuming the subsequent
exercise of the options), ensuring that shareholders in Apex stand to benefit
from any success in Croesus? extensive exploration program. Mark Creasy, who
currently holds 45% of Croesus, will hold a 29% stake decreasing to 20% on a
fully diluted basis.
Croesus will have access to Apex personnel and management expertise
under a Service Agreement which will have the additional benefit of keeping its
overheads low and ensuring that the group?s extensive knowledge of the region
is fully exploited.
Under the terms of this Service Agreement, and to reflect its major
stake in Croesus, Apex has nominated Mark Bennett as Managing Director and
Steve Lowe (a Non-executive Director of Apex) as Non-executive Chairman of
Croesus. Jeff Foster, an internationally recognised nickel expert, consultant
and Associate Professor at the University of Tasmania, will also become a
Non-executive Director of Croesus.
Dr Bennett
will retain his primary role as Apex?s Director of
Geology and his focus on Croesus will be equivalent to that currently spent on
Apex's nickel assets. He will be supported by members of Apex?s geological team, which comprises key former
members of the highly successful LionOre Mining
International exploration team responsible for the discovery of several nickel
deposits. As well as giving Croesus access to their skills, the arrangement
will help spread both Croesus? and Apex?s
corporate overheads under the terms of the Service Agreement.
Apex Managing Director Mark Ashley said the decision to house the
group?s nickel assets in a separate company would enable Apex to focus on its
gold operation at Wiluna, which was now achieving its annualised production
target of 120,000 ounces. The cash flow generated by the Wiluna project would
underpin further gold exploration and resource definition drilling of known
mineralization at the mine.
Mr Ashley said the transaction would also increase the prospects of exploration
success on the nickel tenements because of the additional funding available and
Croesus? sole focus on achieving its goal of becoming a significant nickel
producer.
?The creation of a new nickel and base metals explorer provides Apex
shareholders with an opportunity to have an exposure to a fully-funded
exploration program in some of the world?s most promising nickel regions while
benefiting from the cash flow generated at Wiluna,? he said.
THE CROESUS ASSETS
The Apex Interests
Apex will transfer its rights in the Lawlers
Nickel Joint Ventures and other nickel tenements situated in the Yandal Belt and Fraser Range province to Croesus in return
for the consideration described above.
- Lawlers Joint
Ventures (earning 70% of nickel rights)
Apex and Carey Minerals Pty Ltd, who are
currently earning in to the Lawlers Nickel Joint Ventures, will transfer their
rights in the joint ventures to Croesus. Apex and Carey Minerals are earning a
56% stake and 14% stake respectively. The joint ventures cover 80 strike kilometres of
extensions of the stratigraphy which hosts most of WA?s major nickel sulphide mines,
including BHP?s Leinster and Mount Keith nickel
operations, Xstrata?s Cosmos, Prospero and Sinclair
nickel mines and Norilsk?s Waterloo nickel mine.
It is the single largest ground holding that
remains relatively unexplored for nickel sulphide since the discovery and
development of most of the surrounding nickel mines.
Carey Minerals will receive approximately 16.7
million Croesus shares and 150 million five year options with a strike price of
3 cents. Carey Minerals will also be reimbursed for past exploration costs.
The Creasy Interests
Creasy will transfer a 70% interest in his Collurabbie,
Fraser Range and Youanmi exploration properties to
Croesus and the parties will enter into joint ventures to explore and develop
those properties. Creasy is entitled to a 30% free-carried interest through to
the completion of a feasibility study under each of the joint ventures. The
Fraser Range and Youanmi properties are subject to
certain split commodity arrangements as detailed below.
- Collurabbie Joint
Venture (70% all mineral rights)
The Collurabbie Joint
Venture covers the northern extensions of the stratigraphy
which hosts BHP?s Olympia
nickel-copper-platinum group metals (Ni-Cu-PGM?s)
discovery, some 12km along strike. Drilling results previously published for
the Olympia discovery include 5.77m @ 3% Ni, 1.96% Cu and 5.3g/t PGM?s. Despite being along strike from Olympia, the area is
concealed by overburden and largely unexplored, and is highly prospective for
Olympia-style Ni-Cu-PGM targets.
Creasy will transfer a 70% interest in the
tenements and all mineral rights to Croesus which, together with Creasy?s remaining interest will be the
subject of a joint venture between the parties.
- Fraser Range Joint
Venture (70% base metal and PGM rights)
The Fraser Range Joint Venture covers 400km
strike length of the Albany-Fraser mobile belt, to the south of Anglogold?s/Independence?s Tropicana gold
discovery. Much of the area is completely unexplored, but prospective ultramafic
rocks have been intersected in previous drilling in the southern part of the
area adjacent to the Eyre Highway. The area is prospective for the rare but
giant intrusive-associated Ni-Cu-PGM deposits.
The Fraser Range tenements will remain under the
ownership of Creasy which will grant split commodity nickel, copper, cobalt,
zinc, lead and PGM rights to a 70/30 joint venture to be formed between Croesus
and Creasy.
- Youanmi Joint
Venture (70%, excluding vanadium-titanium-magnetite rights)
The Youanmi Joint
Venture covers the Youanmi intrusive complex and
surrounding felsic stratigraphy. The
intrusive complex is prospective for magmatic Ni-Cu-PGM mineralisation and the
surrounding stratigraphy is prospective for
volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) style copper-zinc mineralisation, as
evidenced by historic drill intersections and new resources recently published
by other companies nearby. These occurrences include the Empire Resources? Just
Desserts copper-gold resource and Metals Australia?s Manindi zinc resource. The area
also contains extensions of structures which host gold mineralisation at Apex?s nearby Youanmi
gold mine.
A 70% interest in the Youanmi
tenements will be transferred to Croesus which will form a 70/30 joint venture
with Creasy. Split commodity rights in respect of vanadium, titanium and
magnetite will be reserved to Creasy pursuant to a split commodity agreement.
The Croesus Interests
- Polar Bear
Joint Venture (20% all mineral rights)
Croesus will retain its 20% interest in the
Polar Bear Joint Venture, managed by Barrick Gold Australia and
situated north of the township of Norseman. The project contains the southern
extensions of the nickel prospective Kambalda stratigraphy.
?The Croesus transaction offers investors an
opportunity to be part of a significant exploration program in some highly
promising nickel provinces, managed by a proven team of discoverers,? Dr
Bennett said. ?We are very optimistic toward the Lawlers Joint Ventures given the success enjoyed by many
other companies on this world-class nickel sulphide belt.?
?In addition to this, the deal with Mark Creasy also gives investors
exposure to over 8,000 square kilometres of nickel and base metal exploration
acreage in key emerging provinces such as the Collurabbie
and Fraser Range belts, which have known mineralisation but remain largely
unexplored.?
Mark
Ashley Gary
Steinepreis
CEO
and Managing Director Executive
Director
Apex
Minerals NL Croesus
Mining NL
For further information:
Mark Ashley, Managing Director, Apex Minerals NL
Contact: Office ? +61 (0)8 6311 5555 Mobile
? +61 (0)411470104
Gary Steinepreis, Executive Director,
Croesus Mining NL
Contact: Office
- + 61 89 420 9300 Mobile
- + 61(0) 411 422 067
Paul
Armstrong / Nicholas Read, Read Corporate
Contact: Office ? +61(0)8 9388 1474 Mobile ? +61 (0) 421 619 084
Competent Person?s statement
The information in
this report that relates to Exploration Results is based on information
compiled by Dr. Mark Bennett who is an employee of Apex Minerals. Dr. Bennett
is a Member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and has
sufficient experience of relevance to the styles of mineralisation and the
types of deposits under consideration, and to the activities undertaken, to
qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2004 Edition of the Joint Ore
Reserves Committee (JORC) Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration
Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves. Dr. Bennett consents to the
inclusion in this report of the matters based on information in the form and context
in which it appears.
READ CORPORATE
Public
Relations Corporate Communications
T: (+61-8) 9388-1474 | F:
(+61-8) 9388-1472 | E: info@readcorporate.com.au | Web: www.readcorporate.com.au
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