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.
31 July 2024
Echo Energy PLC
("Echo" or the
"Company")
Placing, Termination of Convertible Loan
Note Deed, Appointment of Joint Broker & Total Voting
Rights
Echo (LON:ECHO), the Latin America focused
natural resources company, is pleased to announce it has
successfully raised, via Peterhouse Capital Limited, £418,245
before expenses through the allotment and issue of 16,729,800,000
new ordinary shares ("Placing Shares") at a price of 0.0025p per
share (the "Placing"). Proceeds of the Placing will be used
to:
·
enable the Company to initiate production at the Tesoro Gold
Concession ("Tesoro"), through its 50%-owned Peruvian joint
venture, Boku Resources SAC ("Boku"), by September 2024;
·
prepare for a final investment decision on the first
identified tailings deposit project; and
·
strengthen the Company's balance sheet.
The Placing Shares will be issued in two
tranches, with the first tranche, comprising 12,530,620,200 new
ordinary shares (the "Unconditional Placing Shares") being issued
immediately pursuant to Admission as detailed below, and the second
tranche, comprising 4,199,179,800 new ordinary shares (the
"Conditional Placing Shares") being issued conditional upon the
Company's shareholders granting authority in a general meeting for
sufficient number of ordinary shares in the Company to be issued. A
further announcement and shareholder circular will be issued in
connection with the general meeting in due course.
The Company will issue one warrant for every
Placing Share at an exercise price of 0.005p for a period of 24
months from the date of Admission of the Conditional Placing Shares
to AIM.
Termination of
Convertible Loan Note Deed
The Company also announces it has terminated
the convertible loan note deed (the "Agreement"), the details of
which were notified on 6 June 2024, by mutual consent of the
parties. Following the termination, no further funding will be
provided to the Company under the Agreement.
Appointment of
Joint Broker
The Company is pleased to announce the
appointment of Peterhouse Capital Limited as its Joint Broker with
immediate effect.
Stephen Birrell, Chief Executive
Officer of Echo, commented:
"We are happy to announce the
raising of new funds and the appointment of Peterhouse Capital
Limited as our joint broker. This allows Echo to continue with our
business growth plans for mining gold in Peru, as previously
reported, as we seek to rebuild the Company."
Information on
the Projects
In July 2024, Echo entered into the Boku 50:50
joint venture in Peru for gold and silver mining and the cleaning
of known tailings deposits containing gold and silver.
Boku has secured a primary gold mining
concession in southern Peru, Tesoro, at which it intends to
establish formalised artisanal and small mining operations by
September 2024.
Boku has also acquired the Ana Lucia
polymetallic concession in central Peru, which Boku believes holds
significant potential for developing a small-scale mining
operation, similar to that operated by the neighbouring Cerro Bayo
mine.
Boku also aims to build a material resource
base of gold and silver rich tailings and has heads of terms in
place with owners to acquire the rights to process the tailings and
sell the recovered gold and silver.
The Echo directors believe that Tesoro should
deliver early and strong cashflow, while the tailings projects and
additional concessions build a material resource base for
Boku.
Admission and
Total Voting Rights
Application has been made to the London Stock
Exchange for the Unconditional Placing Shares to be admitted to
trading on AIM and it is expected that such Admission will take
place on or around 8.00 a.m. on 6 August 2024.
In accordance with the provision of the
Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules of the Financial Conduct
Authority, the Company confirms that, following the issue of the
Unconditional Placing Shares, its issued ordinary share capital
will comprise 35,569,195,607 Ordinary Shares. All the Ordinary
Shares have equal voting rights and none of the Ordinary Shares are
held in Treasury. The total number of voting rights in the
Company will therefore be 35,569,195,607. The above figure may be
used by shareholders as the denominator for the calculations to
determine if they are required to notify their interests in, or a
change to their interest in, the Company.
For further
information please contact:
Echo
Stephen Birrell, Chief Executive
Officer
|
Via Vigo Consulting
echo@vigoconsulting.com
|
Zeus Capital Limited (Nominated Adviser and Joint
Broker)
James Joyce
James Bavister
Isaac Hooper
|
Tel: +44 (0)20 3829 5000
|
Peterhouse Capital limited (Joint Broker)
Duncan Vasey
Lucy Williams
|
Tel: +44 (0)20 7469 0930
|
Vigo Consulting (Investor Relations)
Ben Simons
Peter Jacob
|
Tel: +44 (0)20 7390
0234
echo@vigoconsulting.com
|
About
Echo
Following the partial divestment of its assets
in Argentina, Echo entered into a 50:50 joint venture in Peru
in July 2024 with an experienced local partner for precious metals
(gold/silver) mining and the cleaning of known tailings deposits
containing Measured and Indicated resources of gold and silver.
Through the JV, known as Boku Resources, Echo has secured an
opportunity to scale operations in Peru producing gold and silver
through primary mining and tailings cleaning, owning 50% of the
production and resources. Initially, Boku intends to establish
formalised artisanal and small mining operations on its 100% held
Tesoro Gold concession, southern Peru, targeting early cash flow
generation by Q4 2024.
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