25 April 2024
Critical
Mineral Resources PLC
('CMR' or
the 'Company')
Directorate Change and Annual
Report and Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December
2023
Critical Mineral Resources
PLC ('CMR' or the 'Company), the exploration and development
company focused on clean energy metals in Morocco, is pleased
to announce the appointment of Dominic Traynor as
Non-Executive Chairman. It also announces its audited Report
and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2023.
Chairman Appointment
Dominic Traynor has been a
Non-Executive Director of the Company for two years. Over the last year he has worked
closely with the management regarding the evolution of the
Company's strategy and its successful transition to an exploration
and development company focused on critical and clean energy metals
in Morocco. He has also been instrumental in enhancing the
Company's corporate governance policies and protocols. As a
partner at City law firm, Druces LLP he brings with him extensive
experience in the public markets and corporate governance with
specialism in natural resources. He was a founding director of
AIM-listed SigmaRoc plc and is currently a director of investment
firm Prism Group AG.
Annual Report and Accounts and General
Meeting
The Report and Accounts are now
available on the website at https://cmrplc.com and
a copy will also shortly be made available on
the FCA's National Storage Mechanism ('NSM') in
electronic format, as required under DTR obligations. The Company
intends to hold a General Meeting in the near future to approve the
Report and Accounts. The Chairman's report is provided
below.
Chairman's Report
2023 was a year of important and
successful transition for the Company, during which it developed a
clear strategy and made strong operational progress. With the
Company's clear focus on taking opportunities to develop
commodities urgently required for Western economies, and reflecting
our progress, it was only appropriate to change the Company name to
Critical Mineral Resources PLC ("CMR"), on 17 August 2023. I am
delighted to have recently taken the position of Chairman following
the year of progress and with so much opportunity ahead.
The sale of the Cyprus assets during
the period marked a significant milestone for the Company and
enabled the leadership team to concentrate on its strategy of
evaluating and acquiring development opportunities in the critical
metals sector.
Mindful of the Company's human and
financial resources, CMR undertook a strategic review analysing
appropriate jurisdictions where the Company could fully focus. This
included analysis of jurisdictions that offer substantial resource
opportunities, are not constrained by geopolitical sensitivities
and have developed downstream and customer markets nearby. As part
of this exercise, CMR also took the difficult decision not to
pursue the opportunity to develop its RIWAQ Al Mawarid for Mining
("RIWAQ") portfolio of exploration licence applications in the
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia due to the large size of the portfolio,
which our Board deemed unfeasible for CMR's current
resources.
Following the completion of the
strategic review in June, the Company entered the Moroccan
market via the 80% acquisition of a local Moroccan exploration
company, Atlantic Research Minerals ("ARM"), led by a highly
regarded Moroccan geologist with a deep understanding of the
region. Morocco is an excellent jurisdiction for upstream and
longer-term midstream battery materials projects. Critically, it
has deposits of copper, manganese, cobalt and other critical metals
and minerals. However, the well-mineralised geology is largely
under-explored. Morocco's main trading partner is
the European Union, and its modern infrastructure, proximity
to Europe, and political stability make it an excellent
country in which CMR can operate. During 2023, Morocco continued to
gain significant recognition from global organisations as a battery
commodity and materials hub, as evidenced by several large-scale
investments from multinational organisations operating in the
battery supply chain.
In the second half of the year, CMR
gained momentum in building an extensive portfolio of projects
proving the geological potential of the Moroccan regions where the
Company is prospecting and the strong know-how of its Moroccan
subsidiary ARM. After extensive exploration during the summer
months, the Company announced it had staked several research
permits, from which it kept the Ighrem Permit. The Ighrem permit is
16km2 and contains high-grade manganese and barite
mineralisation. It is also prospective for copper and silver. At
the same time, CMR announced that it had entered into binding heads
of terms on the Anzar Project, a potentially exciting
high-grade copper-silver project in central Morocco. This
earn-in approach allows CMR to take majority equity stakes for
modest investment sums, and only once CMR has derived confidence
from development studies.
The Company maintained its momentum
and continued to build out its Moroccan incubator portfolio,
ensuring it has a healthy balance of commodities supporting
critical minerals demand and the clean energy transition. In this
regard, CMR increased its exposure to copper, a commodity vital for
electrification, with the announcement in December that the Company
had been granted four new exploration permits in
the Rabat and Beni-Mellal regions. The permitted area
covers an area of approximately 80 km2 in
north Morocco, 80km south of Rabat, and is easily
accessible by roads. Three new permits comprise
the Meseta Project, primarily prospective for copper, though
in a region also renowned for tungsten, tin and lead-zinc
mineralisation.
Post Period
In January 2024, the Company
announced that it had agreed to acquire 26 exploration
permits in central Morocco prospective for copper,
antimony, tungsten, lead-zinc and gold. This acquisition will
transform CMR's incubator portfolio in terms of the Company's
footprint of prospective ground in Morocco and its
exposure to a wide range of critical metals and minerals. The
permits that will be acquired through the issuance of 3.0m CMR
shares are located in the Rabat,
Beni-Mellal, Agadir and Errachidia administrative regions
and cover approximately 400 km2. In addition to
transforming the Company's footprint in Morocco, the transaction
will firmly established CMR as a key player in the Moroccan
commodity development sector. Having only entered the market six
months earlier, this is an excellent achievement and testament to
the strength and experience of the Company's
leadership.
In March 2024, the Company raised
£0.25m before expenses through the sale of new shares and treasury
Shares. The announced net proceeds of the Placing will enable the
Company to advance the Ifri Project ('Ifri'), which the
Company will gain access to as part of the group of exploration
permits to be acquired as mentioned above. Ifri is in the
Anti-Atlas and has delivered very positive initial results.
Prospecting by CMR's geological team demonstrates copper and silver
in multiple quartz vein and shear zone structures, with some zones
assaying for gold. The Ifri Project is located in an
alteration hotspot, and initial channel sampling included an assay
of 3.1% copper and 17 g/t silver.
Outlook
In the last nine months, the Company
has gained significant momentum in Morocco, with an extensive
portfolio that presents exciting opportunities with multiple
commodities critical for western economies and the energy
transition.
In addition to rapid progress we
have made with our existing Moroccan portfolio, we are also
utilising the board's extensive contacts to source larger-scale
projects with or without the support of potential strategic
investors. The Company has ambitions to grow its portfolio of
critical minerals assets and aims to become a producer in the
medium term, sooner if the right opportunity is sourced. As touched
on below this could extend to the wider renewables sector depending
on project availability.
Given the operational traction CMR
has achieved, it has built extensive relationships within the
mining sector at a domestic level. This includes relationships with
clean energy stakeholders evaluating Morocco as a destination for
renewable energy given its excellent solar and wind
characteristics. These relationships may present opportunities for
the Company to produce commodities using renewable energy sources,
in effect producing low carbon, sustainable critical
metals.
This would be a natural extension of
the Company's existing strategy and provide significant appeal to
end customer markets, who are increasingly embedding strategies to
address their scope two and scope three carbon
emissions.
I want to thank the entire CMR team,
who, after the turmoil of 2022, have worked tirelessly during the
last year to reposition the business, establish a clear strategy
and make excellent progress in its execution. I am confident CMR is
now well-positioned to continue operational progress, achieve
growth and deliver value for all
stakeholders.
Dominic Traynor
Chair
24
April 2024
Critical Mineral Resources
PLC
Charles Long, Chief Executive
Officer
|
info@cmrplc.com
|
Novum Securities
Jon Belliss
|
+44 (0) 20 7399 9425
|
Hudson Sandler (Financial
PR)
Charlie Jack
|
+44 (0) 207 796 4133
|
Notes To Editors
Critical Mineral Resources (CMR) PLC
is an exploration and development company focused on developing
assets to produce critical minerals and metals, including those
essential for renewable energy and electrification to support the
clean energy revolution. Many of these commodities are widely
recognised as being at the start of a supply and demand
supercycle.
CMR is building a diversified
portfolio of high-quality metals exploration and development
projects in Morocco, focusing on copper, nickel, manganese, cobalt,
and potentially rare earths. CMR identified Morocco as an ideal
mining-friendly jurisdiction that meets its acquisition and
operational criteria. The country is perfectly located to supply
raw materials to Europe and possesses excellent prospective
geology, infrastructure and attractive permitting, tax and royalty
conditions. In 2023, the Company acquired an 80% stake in leading
Moroccan exploration and geological services company Atlantic
Research Minerals SARL.
Since taking over the CMR in 2022,
the current management has completed a comprehensive strategic
review and restructuring of the business and implemented its clear
strategy to maximise exploration and resource development
opportunities for the benefit of all stakeholders. The Company is
listed on the London Stock Exchange (CMRS.L). More information
regarding the Company can be found at www.cmrplc.com