NZX Announcement: Chatham Rock Phosphate appoints London corporate advisers for capital raising

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Dear Chatham Rock Phosphate Shareholder,

This announcement has just been released to NZX.

Regards,

Chris Castle

Managing Director

Chatham Rock Phosphate Limited

Email: chris@crpl.co.nz

Cell: +64 21 558 185

Skype: phosphateking

www.rockphosphate.co.nz

 

Media Release

24 December 2013

Chatham Rock Phosphate appoints London corporate advisers for capital raising

Chatham Rock Phosphate has appointed London corporate finance advisers Wimmer Financial to manage an international capital raising over coming weeks.

The financing, by private placement, is likely to be determined by a book build process managed in conjunction with Wimmer Financial.   The offering, for qualified investors, is likely to be the final capital raising required before CRP is fully permitted.

“As our project is well advanced in all other respects we see the granting of the second permit we require - the environmental or “Marine” consent - as a game changer for us,” according to Managing Director Chris Castle. 

He says an opportunity to invest on the same terms (including options) is unlikely to occur again.

“The recently granted mining permit, the first to be granted under new legislation, faced very rigorous scrutiny indeed. The success of this application bears tribute to the undeniable merits of the project.”

Mr. Castle said the project’s key merits include:

·         Chatham holds a strategic, multi-million tonne organic rock phosphate deposit uniquely positioned to access Asian and Australasian fertiliser markets

·         It has a 20 year mining licence

·         It has recently applied for new prospecting licences both east and west of its existing licence areas that could significantly increase the scope of resources.

Chatham is seeking NZ$6 million (net) to fund the environmental consent and corporate costs until Q3, 2014 when the environmental Marine Consent is expected to be granted. 

Edison Research presently values Chatham shares at NZ$2.04 on un-risked basis. 

Wimmer Financial is an international corporate advisory firm based out of London, UK, specialising in natural resources (mining, oil & gas, alternative energy) and real estate, with global reach through a network of close partners and clients all over the world.

Contact Chris Castle on 021 55 81 85 (mobile) or chris@crpl.co.nz

Contact Per Wimmer, CEO of Wimmer Financial LLP on (+44) 207 432 7501 (office) or

(+44) 77 88 75 76 77 (mobile) or Per.Wimmer@WimmerFinancial.com

Wimmer Logo.jpg

June 2011 Update


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In view of the significant level of ongoing activity it’s timely to provide a further project update.

Progress is being made at several levels including the financing of the project, optimising aspects of the resource recovery process, environmental aspects, market development and product enhancement.

Financing

As shareholders will be aware the immediate priority is to ensure that as many option holders as possible take advantage of their opportunity to acquire Chatham Rock Phosphate shares at 10 cents on or before 30 June 2011. At the time of writing it appears that the vast majority of options will be exercised and the funds raised will then ensure that the project retains its present momentum.

At the same time progress continues on the proposed overseas listing and associated initial public offering. The independent technical report required as a pre-requisite for the listing has been completed and drafting of the prospectus is under way. Discussions and the related due diligence process continue with several leading investment banks. We are now timetabling the IPO to take place in mid September after the northern hemisphere summer break.

Recovery Process

Following the selection of Boskalis as our preferred provider of a recovery and separation system for the rock phosphate deposit, we are now negotiating with Boskalis to undertake detailed design, production testing and associated environmental studies.

Environmental

During May 2011 we positioned oceanographic monitoring equipment within our licence area. The instruments are intended to collect information on currents, turbidity, temperature and salinity within the water column.

This data will supplement the significant body of knowledge we already hold concerning the marine environment on the Chatham Rise.  During the last year we have commissioned a number of reports (prepared by NIWA) concerning most aspects of the marine environment and these will be published in due course to facilitate informed discussion about any environmental impacts of the project.

The recent announcement of the outline of an Exclusive Economic Zone and extended Continental Shelf environmental effects bill removes a lot of uncertainty for our project as it means there would be a framework that would allow all of those with an interest to contribute to decisions about how the environmental effects of resources are administered.

Market Development

Discussions continue with a number of potential buyers, both in Australasia and further afield, for our product. We are encouraged by the progress now being made as the potential buyers recognise the merits of our initiative. As concerns grow over the certainty of supply of phosphate rock from the Middle East, its high cadmium levels, and the carbon emissions required to transport to this part of the world, the strategic value of the Chatham Rise rock phosphate resource asset can only continue to rise.

In a related initiative we are investigating the costs of beneficiating our product (a process that increases the level of phosphorous) to increase its marketability, both here and overseas. This initiative is being encouraged by a number of potential stakeholders in the project and may receive financial support from more than one quarter.

All in all, your directors are very pleased with progress.

Chris Castle
Wellington, 20 June 2011

Download this Rock Phosphate June 2011 update

 

What's new as at October 7 2010

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It’s full steam ahead on the Chatham Rise project with project leader Chris Castle coordinating technical advisers who are expanding the knowledge base while he raises the profile of the project both in New Zealand and overseas and continues talking with stakeholders.

Project status: Chris and the project’s principal scientist Dr Robin Falconer are visiting a number of companies in Europe during the first half of October to explore potential extraction techniques and meet with representatives of the German organisations involved in the research undertaken in the early 1980s. Meanwhile the team of experts - technical, environmental, scientific and financial – are all progressing various streams of the project.

Profile raising: Chris is one of more than 30 international speakers, including five from New Zealand at a conference on undersea mining in Russia from 4 to 7 October. Click here to download the presentation he gave. Chris also attended the national oil industry conference in Auckland on 20 September and made contact with a number of industry players.

The six page fold-out marketing brochure we’ve produced can be downloaded here.  We’ve also produced some business cards using the photograph from our website, which is receiving a great reaction because it is something a bit different.  Click here to see a mock-up of the card.

Options issued: The Widespread Energy board has agreed to issue 50c options to the project’s principal scientist Dr Robin Falconer, a marine geophysicist, who worked on an exploration programme of the central Chatham Rise in the early 1980s and who has agreed to provide consultancy services. As an incentive, and to align Dr Falconer’s interests with shareholders, Widespread has allotted 500,000 unlisted 50c options to him. The exercise price is a substantial premium to the prevailing share price, but reflects the significant value of the Chatham Rise resource as demonstrated in the Rockpoint Corporate Finance project valuation, announced to the market in May.

Backgrounder: For an interesting article on the phenomenon known as “peak phosphorus” read: "Landmark: Peak Phosphorus"

 

What's new

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The Chatham Rise rock phosphate project is making significant progress in determining the viability of its undersea reserves.

Project status: The joint venture has established a team of key technical, environmental, financial and other experts to bring together and evaluate existing data who are advancing a number of work streams. A group  of technical advisers and Widespread directors met in Wellington in late July for a two day workshop to share knowledge, identify information gaps and plan the next steps in the years one and two work programmes for the project. Further work is also being undertaken with several undersea mining organisations to evaluate the optimal approach to extraction of our seabed rock phosphate resource. A dialogue has also been initiated with representatives of the German organisations that played a central role in the exploration role in the early 1980s.

Data analysed: The data gathered in the exploration voyages of RV Valdivia and RV Sonne in the late 1970s and early 1980s has been digitised and is now being analysed.  

Profile raising: Chris Castle attended the Australian fertiliser industry annual conference and while there met representatives of a number of  fertiliser manufacturers and users. Click here to find out more about the conference. Chris will also be presenting a paper at a conference on undersea mining in Russia in October. A six page fold-out marketing brochure has been produced and is available to view and download here.

Shareholder presentation: Click here for a link to the presentation Chris Castle gave to Widespread Energy shareholders on 29 June.

Click here to read this article by Australian journalist Robin Bromby on the future of phosphate.