Nordic Mines announces
(Thomson Reuters ONE) -
The English text is an unofficial translation of the Swedish original, and in
the event of any discrepancies between the Swedish text and the English
translation the Swedish text shall take precedence.
PRESS RELEASE 21 October 2015
Today, October 21 2015, Nordic Mines AB (publ) ("Nordic Mines" or "the Company")
will be holding an extraordinary general meeting ("the Meeting") as a result of
the Board's decision to conduct a new issue of shares with pre-emption rights
for the Company's shareholders subject to the Meeting's subsequent approval
("the Rights Issue"). Due to the Rights Issue, the Company has also opted to
move the publication of the Company's financial report for the third quarter
forward to 30 October 2015. At the Meeting the Company's CEO, Eva Kaijser, will
present the underlying information that Nordic Mines took into consideration
prior to its decision to conduct the Rights Issue and the Company's current
activities and strategy moving forward, including, for example:
* In order to obtain enhanced financial longevity while waiting for more
beneficial external factors, such as the price of gold and exchange rates,
which are needed to restart operations at the Laiva mine, Nordic Mines has
initiated a number of measures to reduce the Company's total operating
costs. These measures include the cost savings at the Laiva mine that were
described in detail in the press release dated 13 August 2015. It is the
Company's expectation that the measures, when fully implemented, will reduce
the Company's total operating costs by approximately one-third. Through
streamlining, the Company's overhead costs have been reduced by
approximately 50 percent.
* The Laiva mine's General Manager, Tom Söderman has, as previously announced,
decided at his own request to step down from his post. The Company's current
Exploration Manager, Peter Finnäs, will replace Tom Söderman until further
notice as the Acting General Manager starting on 1 November 2015.
* Nordic Mines has made the assessment at this point in time that a gold price
of around EUR 1,200 per troy ounce is required to restart operations at the
Laiva mine as an independent gold project with sufficient profitability and
with the possibility for future financing through loans.
* In order to fund the restart of the Laiva mine at a later date, the
Company's assessment as of today is that an additional capital contribution
of EUR 20 million in addition to the Rights Issue would be required whereof
approximately half the amount is intended to fund working capital related to
the restart. The remaining amount constitutes initial investments and a
liquidity reserve for unforeseen costs and administration. This funding is
assumed to be a combination of debt financing and additional capital
contributions.
* The Company considers there to be possibilities for strengthening the Laiva
project through partnerships and structural transactions with other actors
in the Nordic gold mining industry. Nordic Mines believes that gold
concentrate from several Nordic gold mines could be refined in the Nordic
Mines processing plant, thereby processing the final product all the way
from gold concentrate to doré bars and subsequently improving profitability.
There are also clear synergies in the form of purchasing optimisation and
streamlined administration.
* Given the current status of the industry and the global factors that are
affecting it, the Board of Directors will regularly assess and consider
strategic partnerships and mergers as well as divestitures of the Laiva
project, in its entirety or in part, if such are considered to be beneficial
for the Company's shareholders.
The Meeting is being held as a result of the funding solution previously
presented by the Company, which entails that Nordic Mines has reached an
agreement in principle with the Company's lenders under which Nordic Mines will
acquire all of the lenders' claims on Group companies in accordance with
existing project financing agreements. Under the agreement in principle:
* The Company will acquire all of the lenders' claims on Group companies in
accordance with the existing project financing agreements for a purchase
price of around EUR 5 million. This corresponds to an additional write-down
of around EUR 10 million. The original debt was around EUR 45 million.
* The agreement also includes outstanding warrants held by the lenders
corresponding to an ownership of 12 per cent and the thereto related
promissory note.
* Nordic Mines regains through this purchase full control over the assets that
are pledged in accordance with the project financing agreement.
The purchase will be financed through the Rights Issue, which will inject around
SEK 108 million into the Company at full subscription. The plan is to use the
funds raised by the Rights Issue for:
* The equivalent of EUR 5 million for the purchase of all of the lenders'
claims on Group companies.
* Around EUR 3 million to fund the Company for the next 12 months while
waiting for more beneficial external factors in the form of primarily the
gold price and currency rates.
* Excess funds raised from the share issue will provide the Company with
enhanced financial longevity and the ability to carry out value-enhancing
activities, primarily at the Laiva mine.
The agreement in principle with the Company's lenders is conditional upon final
contract documentation, on formal internal decisions regarding the approval of
the agreement being made by each bank and in addition that the Company raises
funds for the purchase price.
Nordic Mines has engaged Evli Bank and PWC Corporate Finance Debt & Capital
Advisory as financial advisors.
Upcoming informational meetings
Extraordinary general meeting 21 October 2015
Financial statement for Q3 2015 30 October 2015
For further information, please contact:
Eva Kaijser, CEO,+46 (0)70 932 09 01
For more information about Nordic Mines, please visit www.nordicmines.se.
The information presented above has been disclosed pursuant to the Securities
Markets Act and/or the Financial Instruments Trading Act. The information was
published on 21 October 2015 at 8:00 a.m.
Nordic Mines is a Nordic mining and exploration company. The Laia mine in
Finland produced gold between 2011 and 2014. The deposit is among the largest in
the Nordic region. Nordic Mines is a member of SveMin and applies its reporting
regulations for public mining and exploration companies. The Nordic Mines share
has been admitted for trading on Nasdaq Stockholm's Small Cap list. Also refer
to www.nordicmines.se.
Press release (PDF):
http://hugin.info/138647/R/1960270/714537.pdf
This announcement is distributed by GlobeNewswire on behalf of
GlobeNewswire clients. The owner of this announcement warrants that:
(i) the releases contained herein are protected by copyright and
other applicable laws; and
(ii) they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and
originality of the information contained therein.
Source: Nordic Mines AB via GlobeNewswire
[HUG#1960270]
Unternehmensinformation / Kurzprofil:
Datum: 21.10.2015 - 08:00 Uhr
Sprache: Deutsch
News-ID 428370
Anzahl Zeichen: 8119
contact information:
Town:
Stockholm
Kategorie:
Business News
Diese Pressemitteilung wurde bisher 174 mal aufgerufen.
Die Pressemitteilung mit dem Titel:
"Nordic Mines announces"
steht unter der journalistisch-redaktionellen Verantwortung von
Nordic Mines AB (Nachricht senden)
Beachten Sie bitte die weiteren Informationen zum Haftungsauschluß (gemäß TMG - TeleMedianGesetz) und dem Datenschutz (gemäß der DSGVO).
