🕐26.03.10 - 09:46 Uhr
ITOCHU acquires a 15% interest in Kalahari Minerals plc
Kalahari Minerals plc / Ticker: KAH / Index: AIM / Sector: Mining &
Exploration
26 March 2010
Kalahari Minerals plc (Kalahari or the Company)
ITOCHU agrees to acquire a 15% interest in Kalahari
Kalahari Minerals plc, the AIM listed resource company, was notified on
25 March 2010 that ITOCHU Corporation (ITOCHU), a major Japanese
trading house, has agreed to acquire a 15% interest in the issued share
capital of the Company through its wholly owned subsidiary Nippon
Uranium Resources (Australia) Pty Ltd.
The board of Kalahari welcomes
ITOCHU to its share register and has requested ITOCHU to nominate a
director to its board to ensure this strategic relationship is maximised
to the benefit of all stake holders.
Kalaharis Executive Chairman, Mark Hohnen, said, "This is yet another
transformational step for Kalahari, and we welcome ITOCHUs
participation on our register, which significantly solidifies and
strengthens our shareholder base.
ITOCHU is a 150 year old major
Japanese trading house with a long history in the uranium market as well
as operating in Namibia, where it has an interest in the offshore Kudu
gas field.
Indeed, it has been actively involved in the trading of
uranium since 1998 and has delivered over 4,000 tonnes of uranium to the
market in 2009, as one of the biggest uranium traders in the world.
It
has invested in various uranium projects worldwide and has also arranged
finance and off-take agreements.
In addition, ITOCHU has a strong
relationship with the Japanese government, and we look forward to
receiving support from the Japanese government through ITOCHU.
"We look forward to further developing our business plan and enhancing
our assets with ITOCHU as a welcome new stake holder in Kalahari."
* * ENDS * *
For further information please visit www.kalahari-minerals.com or
contact:
Mark Hohnen
Kalahari Minerals plc
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7292 9110
Simon Raggett
Strand Hanson Limited
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7409 3494
Stuart Faulkner
Strand Hanson Limited
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7409 3494
Rory Murphy
Strand Hanson Limited
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7409 3494
Richard Chase
Ambrian Partners Ltd
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7634 4700
Rory Scott
Mirabaud Securities LLP
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7878 3360
Hugo de Salis
St Brides Media & Finance Ltd
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7236 1177
Susie Callear
St Brides Media & Finance Ltd
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7236 1177
Notes to Editors:
Kalahari Minerals plc is an AIM and NSX listed resource company with
uranium, gold and base metal interests in Namibia.
Its key investment
is its 40.4% holding in ASX, TSX and NSX listed Extract Resources
Limited (www.extractresources.com), which is developing the Husab
Uranium Project, strategically located directly south of Rio Tintos
producing Rossing Mine.
Work is focussing on three main prospects
within the project area, Rossing South, Ida Dome and Hildenhof, and
results continue to underpin the prospectivity of the region,
particularly following the world class Rossing South discovery.
Extract
has reported a JORC compliant combined Husab Resource (Global Resource)
in excess of 292 M lbs U3O8 at a grade of 439 ppm of which 267 M lbs
U3O8 at a grade of 487 ppm is from the two zones at Rossing South at 100
ppm U3O8 cut-off.
Importantly, these are both open ended at depth and
along strike.
Kalahari believes Extract has the ground and potential to
deliver on Kalaharis estimates of a resource in the region of 500 M lbs
U3O8.
Kalaharis other key investment is its circa 44.9% holding in North
River Resources plc, an AIM listed emerging southern African focussed
multi commodity resource development company.
ITOCHU Corporation
The history of ITOCHU Corporation dates back to 1858 when its founder,
Chubei Itoh, commenced linen trading operations.
Since then, ITOCHU now
has 150 overseas bases in 75 countries engaged in the domestic trading,
import/export, and overseas trading of various products such as textile,
machinery, information and communications technology, aerospace,
electronics, energy, metals, minerals, chemicals, forest products,
general merchandise, food, finance, realty, insurance, and logistics
services, as well as business investment in Japan and overseas.
ITOCHU Announcement:
ITOCHU Corporation ("ITOCHU") has agreed to acquire a 15% share of
Kalahari Minerals plc ("Kalahari") through Nippon Uranium Resources
(Australia) Pty Ltd, a wholly-owned Australian subsidiary.
ITOCHU
becomes the largest shareholder of Kalahari, and will be involved in its
management.
Kalahari, holding an approximately 40% stake, is the biggest shareholder
of Extract Resources Limited ("Extract"), which owns 100% of the Rossing
South uranium deposit in Namibia.
Rossing South is positioned to become
one of the leading uranium mines in the world, and is currently under a
feasibility study for first production in 2013.
Uranium demand is expected to increase due to the necessity of
greenhouse gas emission reduction and the expansion of global nuclear
power generation.
ITOCHU, delivering approximately 4,000 tU of uranium
per year (as of 2009), will remain committed to an aggressive approach
in its uranium business as a leading uranium trader in the world.
ITOCHU
envisions contributing greatly to the stable supply of uranium to Japan.
This project is one of the largest uranium projects in the world, and is
expected to receive full support from the Japanese government [Agency
for Natural Resources and Energy / Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National
Corporation (JOGMEC)].
Susie Callear
St Brides Media & Finance Ltd
Chaucer House
38 Bow Lane
London EC4M 9AY
T: +44 (0) 207 236 1177 | M: +44 (0) 7976 749 561 | F: +44 (0) 207 236
1188 | www.sbmf.co.uk
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