Stock Exchange Announcement
Date: 23 April 2008
On behalf of: Target Resources plc
Target
Resources plc (“Target” or the “Company”)
operational update
& additional investment
Target Resources plc (AIM:TGT), the alluvial diamond and gold mining
company operating in Sierra Leone, announces that it has commenced enhanced
mining in its Kono district area as per its mining plan. It also announces US$3
million in equity and loan to be used in Target’s new licences and for
ongoing working capital purposes.
Operational Update:
In October
2007 the Company completed a successful fundraising which facilitated the
purchase of new mining equipment to enable Target to increase its operations in
Sierra Leone
significantly.
The Company
has recently completed the purchase of the required mining and processing
equipment, to include earth moving machinery, jigs, processing plants and
dredging equipment and machinery. The last delivery, of the cutter-head dredge,
is scheduled to arrive to Sierra Leone
at the end of June 2008, in time to start operations on the Bafi River
during the rainy season.
Over the last four
months, and whilst the Company was in the process of purchasing the equipment
outlined above, the Company has extracted just under 500 carats from its
pitting and sampling program. The findings included two large stones, of 17.19
and 15.84 carats. Part of this quantity has already been delivered to
Target’s marketing partner, Laurelton Diamonds, Inc (a subsidiary of
Tiffany & Co (NYSE:TIF)), which apportioned some of it to its own polishing
stock, and some to outside tenders.
Enhanced
mining started late March 2008 in the areas identified by the Company’s advanced
RAP profiling system. Since then, gravel has been accumulated at a rate of about
8,000 tons per week. Processing of the gravel in the Company’s existing
DMS machine will commence following the arrival of essential equipment and
machinery parts, scheduled to arrive in May 2008.
Additional Investment:
Target is also
pleased to announce a further loan from Laurelton Diamonds, Inc. and an
investment of US$1 million by a Laurelton affiliate (‘the
Investment’). That affiliate will acquire 3,350,084 new ordinary shares
in Target at a price of 15p per share. Laurelton will provide a short term debt
facility of US$ 2 million. The funds will be used to commence exploration on
the Company’s new exploration licences in the Northern and Eastern
provinces of Sierra Leone,
which were announced to the market on 14 January 2008, and for ongoing working
capital purposes.
Application
has been made to the London Stock Exchange for the new ordinary shares issued pursuant
to the Investment to be admitted to trading on AIM (“Admission”),
which is expected to occur on 29 April 2008. The new ordinary shares will, upon
Admission, rank pari passu with the existing issued ordinary shares of 1p each
in the share capital of the Company.
Upon
Admission, the Company's enlarged share capital will comprise 121,725,583 ordinary
shares with voting rights. The Company does not hold any shares in treasury.
This figure of 121,725,583 ordinary shares 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 FSA's Disclosure and Transparency
Rules.
The Company
will announce its results for the year ended 31 October 2007 the week beginning
the 28 April 2008.
Commenting on the operation, Dr Nissim Levy, Managing Director, said:
“We are encouraged by the progress our team has made. Our new
machinery and equipment has been acquired, most of which has already been
delivered to the site and we are confident that we will be able to increase
operations as per the Company’s mining plan. With gravels extracted
every day, which we expect to be boosted imminently by our dredging operation,
we are on track to deliver our mining plan and maximise the full potential of
our leases in Sierra Leone
for our investors.”
- ENDS -
Enquiries:
Target Resources plc 020
7258 2300
Dr Nissim Levy, Managing Director www.target-resources.co.uk
Nominated Adviser and Broker
Arbuthnot Securities 020
7012 2000
John Prior
Investor Relations
4C Communications Limited 020 8949 7171
Carina Corbett
Financial PR to Target
Redleaf Communications 020
7822 0200
Emma Kane / Adam Leviton al@redleafpr.com
About Target
¡ Target is an
alluvial diamond mining and exploration company operating in Sierra Leone.
¡ Target is among
the first large scale mining ventures to be established in Sierra Leone since the end of the
civil war in 2002.
¡ The Company has
4,263 acres (17.25 Sq km) under mining leases in the rich diamond and gold
area of Kono, which is recognised as the most productive area for diamond
mining in Sierra Leone.
¡ The Company has
Exclusive Prospecting Licences for Gold, covering 520 sq km in the Alluvial
Gold area in the Tonkolili district and for Diamonds, covering 254 sq km in
Kenema District, known for its ‘fancy’ diamonds..
Target Resources Plc
16th Floor,
Marble Arch Tower,
55 Bryanston Street London, W1H 7AA
Tel +44 (0)20
7258 2300, Fax +44 (0)20 7258 2321
Email: info@target-resources.co.uk
Web: www.target-resources.co.uk
Registered in England and Wales, Company No 5566717