£200,000 investment in Vardar Minerals

RNS Number : 1136D

Beowulf Mining PLC

01 March 2022

 

The information contained within this announcement is deemed to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulation ("MAR") (EU) No. 596/2014, as incorporated into UK law by the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. Upon the publication of this announcement, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.

1 March 2022

Beowulf Mining plc

("Beowulf" or the " Company ")

£200,000 investment in Vardar Minerals

Beowulf (AIM: BEM; Spotlight : BEO), the mineral exploration and development company, is pleased to announce that the Company has invested a further £200,000 in Vardar Minerals Ltd ("Vardar").  The investment increases the Company's ownership in Vardar from 49.4 per cent to approximately 51.4 per cent, a majority shareholding.

Drilling

Beowulf is in discussions with Vardar management on the final plan for drilling.  A budget of up to £1.0 million is proposed that would include 3,400 metres of drilling, lead-zinc targets at Wolf Mountain, gold targets at Majdan Peak and a possible lithium target at Viti. Drilling could start in the next 1-2 months and Beowulf would provide the funding.

Licence Renewals

Vardar was unable to drill in 2021, as it awaited final approval of its licence renewal applications. The Independent Commission on Mines and Minerals ("ICMM") Board, the body that administers mineral licence permitting in Kosovo, renews licences and issues new licences, reached the end of its members' elected terms in Summer 2020.

The selection of a new Board was delayed, firstly, by COVID related disruptions, and secondly, by Kosovo's parliamentary elections which took place in February 2021 and concluded in December 2021.  Vardar has received written notice that renewal of its priority Mitrovica and Viti licences has been approved and is waiting for paperwork to be finalised.

New Licence - Shala

A new exploration licence, Shala, has also been approved.  The application covers an area of 87 square kilometres, extends to the north and northeast of the Mitrovica Project, and includes several areas with significant alteration associated with Oligo-Miocene magmatics along with associated gossans and evidence of historical artisanal workings. The licence encompasses the extension of a distinct northwest trending zone of lead-zinc-silver ("Pb-Zn-Ag") mineralisation from the Stan Terg deposit through the Wolf Mountain target. 

Works being planned for Shala include 3,900 km of high-resolution drone platform magnetics and 144 kilometres of 3D Induced Polarisation ("IP") data along with 4,200 soil samples over prospective target areas.

Kurt Budge, Chief Executive Officer of Beowulf, commented:

"I am very pleased to make this investment in Vardar, which gives Beowulf a majority shareholding in the company and is made in readiness for the next drilling campaign.

"With plans to drill 3,400 metres, into lead-zinc targets at Wolf Mountain, gold targets at Majdan Peak and a lithium target at Viti, and extensive geophysical surveys over the newly acquired Shala licence, we are looking forward to a busy few months in Kosovo."

Enquiries:

Beowulf Mining plc
Kurt Budge, Chief Executive Officer	Tel: [phone]
SP Angel (Nominated Adviser & Broker)
Ewan Leggat / Stuart Gledhill / Adam Cowl	Tel: [phone]
Blytheweigh
Tim Blythe / Megan Ray	Tel: [phone]

About Beowulf Mining plc

Beowulf Mining plc ("Beowulf" or the "Company") is an exploration and development company, listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange and the Spotlight Exchange in Sweden. The Company listed in Sweden in 2008 and, at 31 January 2022, was 75.68 per cent owned by Swedish shareholders.

Beowulf's purpose is to be a responsible and innovative company that creates value for our shareholders, wider society and the environment, through sustainably producing critical raw materials, which includes iron ore, graphite and base metals, needed for the transition to a Green Economy and to address the Climate Emergency.

The Company's asset portfolio is diversified by commodity, geography and the development stage of its various projects.

The Company's most advanced project is the Kallak iron ore asset in northern Sweden from which testwork has produced a 'market leading' magnetite concentrate of 71.5 per cent iron content.  In the Kallak area, 389 million tonnes of iron mineralisation has been estimated, a potential source of high-quality iron ore for fossil-free steel making in Norrbotten for decades to come.

Grafintec (previously Fennoscandian Resources), a wholly-owned subsidiary, through its Memorandum of Understanding ("MoU") with Epsilon Advance Materials Limited ("EAMPL") is enhancing its position within the Finnish battery ecosystem, collaborating with a strong and innovative technology/processing partner, with plans to develop an anode materials plant in Vaasa, Finland to supply the growing lithium-ion battery sector in Europe.

In Kosovo, the Company owns approximately 51.4 per cent of Vardar Minerals ("Vardar"), which is focused on exploration in the Tethyan Belt, a major orogenic metallogenic province for gold and base metals.  Vardar is delivering exciting results for its Mitrovica licence which has several exploration targets, including lead, zinc, copper and gold. It also has the Viti licence which is showing potential for copper-gold porphyry mineralisation. With Beowulf's support, Vardar is focused on making a discovery.

Kallak is the foundation asset of the Company, but with Vardar and Grafintec, the Company has many opportunities to grow, each business area displaying strong prospects.

Cautionary Statement

Statements and assumptions made in this document with respect to the Company's current plans, estimates, strategies and beliefs, and other statements that are not historical facts, are forward-looking statements about the future performance of Beowulf. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, those using words such as "may", "might", "seeks", "expects", "anticipates", "estimates", "believes", "projects", "plans", strategy", "forecast" and similar expressions. These statements reflect management's expectations and assumptions in light of currently available information. They are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to , (i) changes in the economic, regulatory and political environments in the countries where Beowulf operates; (ii) changes relating to the geological information available in respect of the various projects undertaken; (iii) Beowulf's continued ability to secure enough financing to carry on its operations as a going concern; (iv) the success of its potential joint ventures and alliances, if any; (v) metal prices, particularly as regards iron ore. In the light of the many risks and uncertainties surrounding any mineral project at an early stage of its development, the actual results could differ materially from those presented and forecast in this document. Beowulf assumes no unconditional obligation to immediately update any such statements and/or forecasts.

 

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