Gulf signs land lease for smelting hub, finalizes fund raising
Friday, June 2 2017 - 03:17 AM WIB
ASX-listed Gulf Manganese Corporation Limited said that its wholly-owned Indonesia subsidiary PT Gulf Manganese Grup has signed a binding land lease agreement with the administration of East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) Province for the construction of a manganese smelting hub in the Bolok Industrial Estate in Kupang, the capital of NTT.
Gulf said in a statement Thursday the Bolok Industrial Estate is the original location selected by Gulf for the construction of the Kupang smelting hub facility, with the land lease agreement outlining the specific coordinates of the initial 10 hectares where construction activities will take place.
Gulf said it is also finalizing a capital raising with sophisticated investors to raise A$12 million through lead broker Triple C Consulting. Gulf will issue up to 800,000,000 new shares at a price of 1.5 cents per share with three new free attaching listed options (GMCO) for every two new shares acquired, exercisable at $0.005 and expiring April 21, 2019. This funding proposal was approved by shareholders on May 22, 2017.
Upon completion, the A$12 million raising will provide Gulf with the requisite capital to complete the purchase of the company?s first two furnaces from Transalloys in South Africa, as well as commencing the refurbishment and shipment of the furnaces to Kupang. Importantly, the funding will also allow Gulf to commence its civil works program at the Kupang site ahead of the proposed commencement of construction in the fourth quarter of 2017.
?Construction preparation activities at Kupang, including the clearing of land, site fencing, preparation of foundations, construction of factory buildings, can now commence at the project site. This work will commence following the receipt of funds, as approved at the recent shareholder meeting,? Gulf said in the statement.
Gulf?s Managing Director, Hamish Bohannan, commented; ?The signing of the land lease agreement for the land in the Bolok Industrial Estate is a significant step forward for the company, as it enables construction activities at the Kupang site to commence very shortly.
?Importantly, the site is directly adjacent to the government owned power station which has recently been upgraded with a second 32MW generator and 120MW floating power plant, providing more than enough generation capacity for the current and future needs of the Kupang Smelting Hub,? he added.
?We are also very pleased to have secured significant funding support from a number of strategic investors who have demonstrated their unwavering support for the development of the Kupang Smelting Hub Project. This round of funding provides the business with the necessary flexibility to purchase and ship to site our first two smelting furnaces, in conjunction with completing a comprehensive civil works program ahead of the commencement of construction later this year.?
Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak