Antares Reaches Agreement To Acquire 50 Percent Interest in South African Gold Producer.TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 16, 1996--ANTARES MING AND CORP. (TSE See Tokyo Stock Exchange. TSE 1. See Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE). 2. See Toronto Stock Exchange (TSE). :ANZ ANZ Australia and New Zealand ANZ Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited ANZ Air New Zealand (NZ national airline) ) Antares Mining and Exploration Corporation wishes to announce that it has entered into an agreement to purchase 50 percent of the issued shares of RAPPA Holdings (Proprietary) Limited, a privately owned South African based gold producer. Through its subsidiaries 100 percent owned Waste Product Utilization (Proprietary) Limited and 70 percent owned Refractory Gold (Proprietary) Limited, RAPPA is engaged in gold recovery from underground gold-bearing ore, surface dumps and gold-bearing mining by-products. RAPPA also extracts precious metals Precious Metals Valuable metals such as gold, iridium, palladium, platinum, and silver. Notes: Investing in precious metals can be done either by purchasing the physical asset, or by purchasing futures contracts for the particular metal. from material containing platinum group The platinum group (alternatively, the platinum group metals or platinum metals) is a collective name sometimes used for six metallic elements clustered together in the periodic table. metals and gold and silver-bearing electronic scrap. Operations are conducted at two plants located east of Johannesburg. During the year ending February 29, 1996 RAPPA expects to recover over 33,000 ounces of gold from the aforementioned sources compared to 14,022 ounces in the prior year. Gold recovery is projected to increase to 48,000 ounces during the year ended February 28, 1997. RAPPA's competitive advantage lies in its ability to recover gold from gold-bearing ore and other gold-bearing material through well applied technology, a low cost infrastructure, innovative management techniques and a highly motivated and dedicated workforce. During the year ended February 28, 1995, RAPPA's earnings, before provisions and non-recurring items, doubled to approximately $3 million after tax compared with approximately $1.6 million in the prior year. RAPPA has invested $5.6 million in new plant and leading edge technology over the last 5 years. The purchase price to acquire the 50 percent of the issued shares of RAPPA is $5.0 million. Antares will also invest a further $1.5 million in the form of a subordinated debenture subordinated debenture An unsecured bond with a claim to assets that is subordinate to all existing and future debt. Thus, in the event that the issuer encounters financial difficulties and must be liquidated, all other claims must be satisfied before at the operating company operating company A business that engages in transactions with outsiders. level to finance further group expansion. Poised to expand on the basis of present business activities alone, RAPPA has only just begun to exploit the opportunities provided by the structurally changing South African gold mining industry. In 1970, the South African gold mining industry produced approximately 1,000 tonnes of gold, however by 1995 production had almost halved to approximately 525 tonnes. Because of its capability to profitably treat low grade gold- bearing ore and complex gold-bearing material, RAPPA is expected to thrive in the current South African gold mining environment of declining production and mine closures. Antares and RAPPA believe that considerable profit growth potential exists in the application of RAPPA's fluid bed roasting and heavy media separation technology in South Africa South Africa, Afrikaans Suid-Afrika, officially Republic of South Africa, republic (2005 est. pop. 44,344,000), 471,442 sq mi (1,221,037 sq km), S Africa. and other African countries, and through the establishment of an operating base in North America North America, third largest continent (1990 est. pop. 365,000,000), c.9,400,000 sq mi (24,346,000 sq km), the northern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. . Antares also expects that its association with RAPPA will contribute over time to enhanced mill recoveries at Antares' Lady Lina mine in Zimbabwe arising from the application of RAPPA's technology. The proposed transaction is subject to due diligence Research; analysis; your homework. This term has caught on in all industries, because it sounds so "wired." Who would want to do analysis or research when they can do due diligence. See wired. , the receipt of all governmental and regulatory approvals, the conclusion of contracts of employment with key executives and the arrangement of the necessary financing by April 30, 1996. Antares' primary asset at present is the 1,600 hectare Lady Lina gold property in Zimbabwe which is being developed in a joint venture with Forbes & Thompson (Bulawayo) (Pvt.) Ltd., one of Zimbabwe's largest privately owned gold mining groups. Initial production from the Lady Lina mine is expected in March. CONTACT: Antares Mining and Exploration Corporation Dennis Gray Dennis Gray was born 1935 in Yorkshire and started climbing when he was 11, after seeing the great Arthur Dolphin in action at Cow and Calf rocks on Ilkley Moor. He then climbed with a group who called themselves the 'Bradford Lads'. President and Chairman 416/861-9940 416/861-0057 (Fax) |
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