Aquila Resources has announced plans to issue bonus shares to its shareholders to encourage greater liquidity in the company's shares.
Aquila Resources has announced plans to issue bonus shares to its shareholders to encourage greater liquidity in the company's shares.
In a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange, Aquila said the entitlement will be issued for nil consideration and will be distributed on the pro rata basis of one-for-every-ten ordinary shares held by existing shareholders.
Aquila said the bonus share offer was also being made to recognise the significant progress the company had made in its coal, iron ore and manganese projects over the last 12 months.
Meanwhile, Aquila has also announced it has expanded the scope of its Definitive Feasibility Study for its Washpool hard coking coal project to target 2.6 million tonnes per annum with a mine life of 15 years.
See company statement below:
Aquila Resources Limited (ASX:AQA "the Company" or "Aquila") is pleased to announce that the Company will issue bonus shares to its shareholders, to recognise the significant progress that the Company has made in its coal, iron ore and manganese projects over the last 12 months.
In addition, the free entitlement is intended to encourage greater liquidity in the Company's shares (which in turn, should improve the likelihood of the Company being included in the S&P/ASX100 Index).
The entitlement is to be issued for nil consideration and will be distributed on the pro rata basis of "one for every ten" ordinary shares held by existing shareholders at 5.00pm (WST) at the Record Date of 9 December 2010. The shares will trade on an "ex" entitlement basis from 3 December 2010.
The principal terms and conditions of the bonus issue are as follows:
- Class of security to be issued - ordinary shares
- Number of securities to be issued - up to a maximum of 32,286,218 fully paid ordinary shares
- Issue price of bonus shares - nil consideration
- Date on which the securities will trade on "ex" basis - 3 December 2010
- Record Date to determine entitlement - 9 December 2010
- Despatch Date - 23 December 2010
The terms applicable to unlisted options under issue, are adjusted to automatically reflect the bonus share issue. An Appendix 3B is attached in relation to the bonus issue.
For further information regarding this announcement, please do not hesitate to contact the
undersigned.
See second Aquila statement below:
Aquila Resources Limited (ASX:AQA "the Company" or "Aquila") is pleased to announce that Washpool Coal Pty Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Aquila Resources Limited, has expanded the scope for the Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) to target a 2.6mtpa operation.
The Feasibility Study which was released in July 2010, proposed an open cut operation mining 4Mtpa of ROM coal to produce 1.6Mtpa of high rank hard coking coal over a mine life of 25 years, with the coal to be exported through the proposed Wiggins Island Coal Terminal in Gladstone.
A detailed review of the production and cost options for the Project undertaken in the DFS, has indicated that increasing the annual production to 7mtpa of ROM coal to produce 2.6 Mtpaof hard coking coal product has significant benefits for the Project valuation. As a result the Project Manager has recommended the Project base case be an annual output of 2.6 Mtpa and that the proposed infrastructure be expanded to match. The Board has accepted this recommendation.
Project Update
The Project is located in the Bowen Basin in Central Queensland, approximately 260km West of Rockhampton and 24km North West of Blackwater. It lies to the immediate west of the CurraghMine and to the east of the Ensham Mine. The Project is presently undergoing DFS which is scheduled to be completed in 3Q 2011. The DFS includes approvals, drilling and quality investigations, engineering studies and obtaining the relevant contracts to enable the mine to be constructed and operated. Subject to both owner and statutory approvals and the outcomes of the DFS, construction ofthe mine is scheduled to commence in 2012 with first coal mined early in calendar 2013.
Resource and Reserves Statement
Work completed by Aquila during the Feasibility Study phase which was released in May 2010, resulted in a total Resource being identifiedof 185.5Mt as follows:
Measured
Million Tonnes
Mt Indicated
Mt Total measured and indicated Mt Inferred
Mt Total Measured Indicated & Inferred
Mt
108.8 23.9 132.7 52.7 185.5
The initial Reserves statement complied by Xenith Consulting Pty Ltd which was released at the same time, shows Proved and Probable Reserves as set out in the table below, giving an overall mine life of up to 15years under the expanded scope.
Proved ROM Coal (Kt) Probable ROM Coal (Kt) Total ROM Coal (Kt) Proved Marketable Coal (Kt) Probable Marketable Coal (Kt) Total Marketable Coal (Kt)
94,743 13,517 108,260 34,078 5,000 39,078
An upgrade to these Statements will be released in 2Q 2011 following the completionof drilling and quality analysis being undertaken in the DFS.
Exploration potential still exists in the balance of the Washpool and Mt Crocker Exploration leases surrounding the Project area.
Coal Quality
The Washpool product will be a hard coking coal with very strong coking properties. Typical analysis is as follows:
Parameter Unit Typical
Total Moisture (ar) % 12
Ash % 15
Volatile Matter % 20.5
Total Sulphur % 0.56
Phosphorus % 0.036
CSN >9
Max. Fluidity (average) dd/min 1000
Coke Strength After Reaction (CSR) 63
Coke Reactivity Index (CRI) 26
Gray King Coke Type G9
Romax % 1.35
Total Vitrinite % 84
Regulatory Approvals
Milestones achieved to date include:
Grant of Mineral Development License (MDL) 403
Submission of the Mining Lease application;
Commencing the Environmental Impact Statement, finalising the Terms of Reference, and conducting all the baseline studies; and
Executing and registering a Cultural Heritage Investigation Management Agreement with the endorsed Aboriginal Party, the Kangoulu People.
Completing a Coordinations arrangement with the overlapping petroleumCoordination Arrangement QGC executed in August 2010 with Ministerial consent provided in October 2010.
Project Logistics
Washpool Coal has signed a Capacity Commitment Deed ("CCD") for 1.6Mtpa with Stage 1 of the Wiggins Island Coal Export Terminal Pty Ltd ("WICET"), and is supporting WICET through to the terminal achieving financial close.
Washpool Coal is negotiating for capacity for both above rail and below rail services.
Washpool Coal will now pursue options to obtain logistics capacity to match the expanded production target for the Washpool Project.
Summary of Study Outcomes
The Feasibility Study confirmed the status of the Washpool Hard Coking Coal Project area as a major coking coal resource and provides confirmation that this resource is recoverable with open cut mining methods.
The subsequent studies have indicated stronger economics for an expanded production case of 2.6 Mtpa. Future work will use this scenario as the base case for the DFS.
The information in this announcement that relates to the Resource Statement has been based on information compiled by Mr Rod Doyle, who is a full-time employee of Aquila Resources Limited. He is a qualified geologist (BSc Geology UOW 1978 and MappSc UNSW 1988) with some 30 years' experience in coal geology, coal mining and resource evaluation. He is a member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and qualifies as a Competent Person under the JORC Code. Mr Doyle holds shares in Aquila Resources Limited.
The Reserves Statement was prepared by Mr Ross Haupt who is a director of Xenith Consulting Pty Ltd. He holds a Bachelor Degree in Mining Engineering from the University of Queensland with over 25 years' experience in the open cut coal mining industry and substantial experience in mining operations. Ross Haupt is a Member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and as such qualifies as a Competent Person under the JORC Code.
Mr Doyle and Mr Haupt consent to the inclusion in the announcement of the matters based on their information in the form and context in which it appears.
For further information regarding this announcement, please do not hesitate to contact the undersigned.
