GROC Greenroc Strategic Materials Plc

GreenRoc Mining Plc / EPIC: GROC / Market: AIM / Sector: Mining

28 May 2024

GreenRoc Mining plc

("GreenRoc" or the "Company")

Share Placing

GreenRoc Mining Plc (AIM: GROC), a company focused on the development of critical mineral projects in Greenland, is pleased to announce that it has raised gross proceeds of £238,311 by way of a placing of 13,239,499 new ordinary shares of 0.1 pence each (the "Placing Shares") at a price of 1.8 pence per Placing Share (the "Placing Price") (the "Placing").

In addition, the Company's largest shareholder, Alba Mineral Resources plc ("Alba"), an Alba non-Executive Director, as well as the majority of the Board and management of GreenRoc, have indicated their willingness to participate in a share placing in the Company on the same terms, namely at a price of 1.8 pence per share, for a total subscription of a further £110,000, once the Company is no longer in a "close period" for share dealings.  It is anticipated that GreenRoc will no longer be in a close period following the publication of its audited financial results for the year ended 30 November 2023, which is expected to be by 31 May 2024.  Confirmation of an additional share placing will be made by separate RNS.

Share Placing: Admission to Trading on AIM and Total Voting Rights 

Application will be made for the Placing Shares, which will rank pari passu with the existing ordinary shares of 0.1 pence each, to be admitted to trading on AIM ("Admission"). It is expected that Admission of 11,850,611 of the Placing Shares (which are settling on a T+6 basis) will become effective and that dealings will commence at 8:00 a.m. on or around 5 June 2024 with the balance of 1,388,888 Placing Shares (which are settling on a T+20 basis) becoming effective and dealings commencing at 8:00 a.m. on or around 19 June 2024.

Following the issue of the Placing Shares, the total issued share capital of the Company will consist of 181,353,661 ordinary shares of 0.1 pence each. The Company does not hold any ordinary shares in Treasury, therefore the total voting rights in the Company following Admission will be 181,353,661. This figure may be used by shareholders in the Company as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change in their interest in, the share capital of the Company under the FCA's Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules.

Use of Proceeds:

The raise will allow the Company to:

•  supplement the Pre-Feasibility Study ("PFS") on a graphite Active Anode Materials (AAM) Plant with studies on hydrofluoric-acid-free purification methods. The first results of the PFS were released on 7 May 2024. The results of the updated PFS are expected to be released within the next couple of months;

•  continue the process of identifying the ideal location for the AAM Plant;

•  finalise Pressurised Flotation Cell beneficiation tests of Amitsoq graphite ore;

• conduct testwork on the potential use of coarser flakes from Amitsoq as feedstock for expandable graphite production;

•  translate the Amitsoq Technical Project Description document into Greenlandic and send it for Public Pre-Consultation, a precursor to the Company's subsequent application for an Exploitation Licence;

•  enter the DigBee scheme for benchmarking and disclosure of the ESG performance of the mine;

•  prepare and submit an application for Strategic Project status under EU's Critical Raw Materials Act; and

·      continue discussions with potential strategic and offtake partners.

GreenRoc's CEO, Stefan Bernstein, commented: 

"This funding will allow GreenRoc to advance on several fronts. With respect to our plans to establish localised production of graphite AAM for the European battery industry, we can now add some important studies to augment the already very positive PFS that we released earlier this month. We expect that using a hydrofluoric-acid-free purification technique will further increase the profitability of the AAM plant. We will also be investigating more closely some specific potential sites for the location of the AAM plant - all being in Northern Europe.

"In relation to our upstream operations at the Amitsoq Mine, as soon as we have received the Greenland Government's comments on our technical Project Description document, this will be finalised, translated and sent out for public pre-consultation. Pre-consultation is expected to take 35 days, following which we can adjust the Project Description, prepare and submit our formal Application for an Exploitation Permit.

"In addition to some further technical testing of our graphite, which will add to the upcoming PFS for the Amitsoq Mine, we will also register with and submit our data to the DigBee scheme, a leading ESG disclosure platform for the mining industry. This will provide an independent benchmark of the ESG performance of the mine, which will be an important deliverable in our ongoing discussions with strategic and offtake partners."

Forward Looking Statements

This announcement contains forward-looking statements relating to expected or anticipated future events and anticipated results that are forward-looking in nature and, as a result, are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, such as general economic, market and business conditions, competition for qualified staff, the regulatory process and actions, technical issues, new legislation, uncertainties resulting from potential delays or changes in plans, uncertainties resulting from working in a new political jurisdiction, uncertainties regarding the results of exploration, uncertainties regarding the timing and granting of prospecting rights, uncertainties regarding the timing and granting of regulatory and other third party consents and approvals, uncertainties regarding the Company's or any third party's ability to execute and implement future plans, and the occurrence of unexpected events. 

Actual results achieved may vary from the information provided herein as a result of numerous known and unknown risks and uncertainties and other factors.

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of the UK Market Abuse Regulation and the Directors of the Company are responsible for the release of this announcement.

*ENDS** 

For further information, please contact:  

About GreenRoc

GreenRoc Mining plc is an AIM-quoted company which is developing mining projects in Greenland in critical, high-demand and high-value minerals. Led by a group of highly experienced mining industry professionals, GreenRoc has 100% ownership of the following high-grade critical mineral projects both of which benefit from defined Resources:

·       The Amitsoq Graphite Project, the Company's flagship project and one of the highest-grade graphite deposits in the world with a combined Measured, Indicated and Inferred JORC Resource of 23.05 million tonnes (Mt) at an average grade of 20.41% graphite, giving a total graphite content of 4.71 Mt; and

·       The Thule Black Sands Ilmenite Project ('TBS'), which has an initial Mineral Resource of 19Mt at 43.6% Total Heavy Minerals with an in-situ ilmenite grade of 8.9%.

Key Points about Amitsoq, GreenRoc's Flagship Asset

1.   Amitsoq is located in the Nanortalik region of southern Greenland, in year-round ice-free waters and on the same latitude as far northern Scotland. 

2.   GreenRoc is focused on fast-tracking the development of Amitsoq into a producing mine in the shortest possible timeframe to meet critical demand from Electric Vehicle ('EV') manufacturers in Europe and North America for new, high grade and conflict-free sources of graphite.

3.  The Amitsoq Island Deposit has a total inferred, indicated and measured JORC Resource of 23.05 million tonnes (Mt) at an average grade of 20.41% Graphitic Carbon ("C(g)"), giving a total graphite content of 4.71 Mt. This makes Amitsoq one of the highest-grade graphite projects in the world.

4.  Significant further resource upside exists at Amitsoq as the Amitsoq Island Deposit is open in at least two directions, with potential for considerable further expansion via the similarly high-grade Kalaaq Mainland Deposit as well as a series of other high-grade targets within GreenRoc's licence package.

5.  The Amitsoq Island Deposit was in small-scale production about 100 years ago, and there remains considerable underground mine development in place from that time, which will be of considerable benefit to GreenRoc in the mine construction phase.

6.  In GreenRoc's test work programmes:

a.  Micronisation and spheronisation test work has proven that Amitsoq graphite can be readily upgraded to high-grade, anode-quality graphite, known as high purity spherical graphite or cSPG, a critical component in the Li-ion battery of an EV.

b.  Amitsoq spheronised graphite has achieved higher than 99.95% purity with relatively little energy input and processing and using a milder alkaline purification method compared to the industry standard hydrofluoric acid, boding well for future production costs and sustainability commitments. 

c.  Electrochemical testing of Amitsoq graphite anode material within a test Li-ion battery cell has shown that it performs very well, in part due to its good crystallinity.

7.  The results of a Preliminary Economic Assessment (or PEA) for Amitsoq released on 31 October 2023 give a post-tax NPV8 for the Project of US$179M, an IRR of 26.7% and capex estimated at US$131M (including a 25% contingency).  These figures solely relate to the economics of a mining and primary processing operation in South Greenland and do not take into account any potential upside from a downstream processing operation which GreenRoc intends to establish in Europe or the USA.

8.  In relation to the downstream business, GreenRoc has completed a Feasibility Study into the establishment of a graphite spheronisation processing plant to produce 40,000 tonnes of cSPG per annum from graphite concentrate delivered from Amitsoq. This Feasibility Study, which was part-financed by a grant of approximately £250,000 from the UK's Automotive Transformation Fund, gives an after-tax NPV8 to the downstream business of US$545M with an IRR of 25.3%, total gross revenue of US$6.5Bn over a 22-year period, total gross profit totalling US$2.7Bn, a 4-year payback period on capital from start of production and an initial capex of US$321M inclusive of a 25% contingency.

9.  Following a detailed evaluation process, the European Raw Materials Alliance (ERMA) has expressed its support of GreenRoc and its Amitsoq graphite project, stating that: "GreenRoc's graphite resource is of global importance and, together with the Company's strategy, will enable the European Union to achieve a certain level of independence for the electrical vehicle supply chain. ERMA has approved the Amitsoq Graphite project and will engage to support its development and financing to produce these critical raw materials for the benefit of the European Union goals." (see RNS dated 8 February 2023).