Leadership Changes and Commissioning Update
GRAND BAIE, Mauritius, Aug. 12, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The board of Alphamin is pleased to announce a change of leadership at Alphamin which is precipitated by the company completing the “project build” phase and migrating to that of a steady state mining operation.
Mr Boris Kamstra will step down as CEO with immediate effect. Boris has led the Alphamin team through its development and mine build phase and has done an extraordinary job in extraordinary conditions. Some of the team accomplishments under Mr Kamstra’s leadership include:
- Negotiating and implementing Agreements with all local stakeholders resulting in a constructive working relationship and “licence to operate” with the local communities and Democratic Republic of the Congo (“DRC”) representatives, both local and national.
- Ensuring that artisanal miners vacated the mining site by mutual agreement.
- Building road access to the mining site through nearly 40km of deep jungle.
- Raising the funds needed to develop the Bisie mine.
- Building and constructing the mine, processing plant and related infrastructure on site.
- Building a team that is progressing mine commissioning.
The board is delighted to report that Mr Kamstra will continue to serve as an executive director of Alphamin with responsibilities that include Investor relations, tin marketing and special value-add projects.
Mr Maritz Smith has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of Alphamin. Maritz has 18 years of experience with all aspects of directing mining operations and is well suited to guide Alphamin through its next phase of operations and corporate objectives.
Maritz holds a B-Com Hons degree and is a Chartered Account. Following the completion of his degree, he joined the mining industry 18 years ago as a financial controller in Metorex (Pty) Limited which later listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. Metorex was a mid-tier multi commodity mining group that owned and managed mining operations in South Africa, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
His involvement included participating actively with the technical executives, both at head office and on-mine, with primary focus on the financial aspects of the operations.
He was a member of the EXCO team of Metorex and prior to his resignation to join Pangea he held the office of CFO/Financial Director which included him in decision making on capital projects, the mining company operations and corporate management and listed company reports and presentations.
On leaving Metorex he was offered the position of Chief Operating Officer of Pangea (Pty) Limited where he was able to apply his technical and financial experience gained in Metorex to a more general management role in evaluation and proposing to investors projects of potential interest. Alphamin was one of these projects that has evolved from this evaluation, financing and development stages to the current operational mining company producing a quality tin product to the international market.
Maritz progressed to the position of Chief Executive of Pangea prior to accepting the position of Chief Executive of Alphamin to take the company forward from the construction and development phase to an income producing profitable mining company
Mr Needham, Chairman of Alphamin, stated that, “This planned change in leadership personnel at Alphamin takes place as the mine completes its commissioning and starts to take its place as a significant and responsible producer of tin to the world. We are indeed fortunate in having such outstanding personnel as Boris and Maritz ready to lead Alphamin at each stage in the development of this mine.”
It is also pleasing to report that the plant commissioning at Bisie is progressing along a positive trend line and production metrics have improved over the last 3 months.
| May | June | July | |
| Plant feed (t) | 12,459 | 20,588 | 33,609 |
| Feed grade (%Sn) | 5% | 4.4% | 5.3% |
| Overall Plant Recovery (%) | 26% | 50% | 42% |
| Tin in concentrate (t) | 162 | 452 | 744 |
| Concentrate bagged (t) | 261 | 707 | 1,220 |
Notes:
- The figures are unaudited
- Recoveries during the first week of August 2019 averaged 62%. Whilst the plant is reporting steadily increasing and improved recoveries, further metallurgical balancing is required before the nameplate recoveries are achieved.
- The nameplate recoveries are expected to be ~72% and targeted monthly plant feed to the end of the current year is expected to average 24,000tpm.
The Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) has now contributed its pro rata share of the previous equity raises, being US$4,6million.
Further information will be supplied in the scheduled quarterly report at end of August.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Charles Needham
Chairman
Alphamin Resources Corp.
Tel: +230 269 4166
E-mail: charles.needham@alphaminresources.com
Grand Baie, Mauritius
CAUTION REGARDING FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS
Information in this news release that is not a statement of historical fact constitutes forward-looking information. Forward-looking statements contained herein include, without limitation, statements relating to the terms and intended completion of the Private Placement, the anticipated use of funds from the Private Placement, the anticipated additional debt drawdown, the participation of the IDC and other stakeholders, costs of production, success of mining operations, the ranking of the project in terms of cash cost and production, economic return estimates, social, community and environmental impacts, and continued positive discussions and relationships with local communities and stakeholders. Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions management believes to be reasonable at the time such statements are made. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Although Alphamin has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from expected results described in forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: Alphamin’s ability to secure sufficient financing to advance and complete the Project, uncertainties associated with Alphamin’s resource and reserve estimates, uncertainties regarding global supply and demand for tin and market and sales prices, uncertainties associated with securing off-take agreements and customer contracts, uncertainties with respect to social, community and environmental impacts, adverse political events, uncertainties with respect to optimization opportunities for the Project, as well as those risk factors set out in the Company’s Management Discussion and Analysis and other disclosure documents available under the Company’s profile at www.sedar.com. Forward-looking statements contained herein are made as of the date of this news release and Alphamin disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws.
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