JOHANNESBURG, South
Africa, July 2, 2013 /CNW/ -
The shareholders of Atlatsa Resources Corporation (JSE, TSX,
NYSE:MKT: ATL) confirmed their support for the Company's revised
restructure plan on Friday, 28 June
2013 by approving all resolutions proposed at the Company's
special general meeting.
The key resolutions approved by shareholders
were as follows:
- For the Company to dispose of 31.4 million attributable PGM*
ounces, comprising the eastern section of the Ga-Phasha mineral
property to Anglo American Platinum Corporation (Anglo Platinum)
for ZAR1.7 billion (US$171 million), with the western section of
Ga-Phasha being consolidated into the broader Bokoni mine lease
area, where open cast mining operations on the Merensky reef have
commenced.
- To approve the issue of 125 million new Atlatsa common shares
to Anglo Platinum for an aggregate cash subscription consideration
of ZAR750 million (US$76 million) or ZAR6 per share (US$60 cps).
- For the Company to utilise the proceeds from the asset sale and
new share subscription to reduce its historical debt by 75%. The
Company will have access to a new debt draw-down facility from
Anglo Platinum of up to a maximum aggregate amount of ZAR1.55 billion (US$156
million) at a weighted average effective interest rate of 2%
per annum through to 2020.
Chief Commercial Officer, Joel Kesler, said: "This is an important step
forward for the Company which allows us to significantly reshape
our balance sheet and place us on a sound financial footing to
deliver into our operational strategy through to 2020 on a
fully-financed basis.
*PGM consists of platinum, palladium, rhodium
and gold.
"This, together with continuous operational
improvements at Bokoni Platinum Mine, places us in an advantageous
position to continue reducing unit operating costs and improve both
mine and the Company's financial position and performance going
forward."
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its
Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies
of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the
adequacy or accuracy of this release. The NYSE Amex has neither
approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release.
Cautionary and forward-looking
information
This document contains "forward-looking
statements" that were based on Atlatsa's expectations, estimates
and projections as of the dates as of which those statements were
made, including statements relating to the Bokoni Group restructure
and refinancing and anticipated financial or operational
performance. Generally, these forward-looking statements can be
identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may",
"will", "outlook", "anticipate", "project", "target", "believe",
"estimate", "expect", "intend", "should" and similar
expressions.
Forward-looking statements are subject to known
and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause
the Company's actual results, level of activity, performance or
achievements to be materially different from those expressed or
implied by such forward-looking statements. These include but are
not limited to:
- uncertainties related to the completion of the Bokoni Group
restructure and refinancing;
- uncertainties and costs related to the Company's exploration
and development activities, such as those associated with
determining whether mineral resources or reserves exist on a
property;
- uncertainties related to feasibility studies that provide
estimates of expected or anticipated costs, expenditures and
economic returns from a mining project;
- uncertainties related to expected production rates, timing of
production and the cash and total costs of production and
milling;
- uncertainties related to the ability to obtain necessary
licenses, permits, electricity, surface rights and title for
development projects;
- operating and technical difficulties in connection with mining
development activities;
- uncertainties related to the accuracy of our mineral reserve
and mineral resource estimates and our estimates of future
production and future cash and total costs of production, and the
geotechnical or hydrogeological nature of ore deposits, and
diminishing quantities or grades of mineral reserves;
- uncertainties related to unexpected judicial or regulatory
proceedings;
- changes in, and the effects of, the laws, regulations and
government policies affecting our mining operations, particularly
laws, regulations and policies relating to:
-
- mine expansions, environmental protection and associated
compliance costs arising from exploration, mine development, mine
operations and mine closures;
- expected effective future tax rates in jurisdictions in which
our operations are located;
- the protection of the health and safety of mine workers;
and
- mineral rights ownership in countries where our mineral
deposits are located, including the effect of the Mineral and
Petroleum Resources Development Act (South Africa);
- changes in general economic conditions, the financial markets
and in the demand and market price for gold, copper and other
minerals and commodities, such as diesel fuel, coal, petroleum
coke, steel, concrete, electricity and other forms of energy,
mining equipment, and fluctuations in exchange rates, particularly
with respect to the value of the U.S. dollar, Canadian dollar and
South African rand;
- unusual or unexpected formation, cave-ins, flooding, pressures,
and precious metals losses (and the risk of inadequate insurance or
inability to obtain insurance to cover these risks);
- changes in accounting policies and methods we use to report our
financial condition, including uncertainties associated with
critical accounting assumptions and estimates; environmental issues
and liabilities associated with mining including processing and
stock piling ore;
- geopolitical uncertainty and political and economic instability
in countries which we operate; and
- labour strikes, work stoppages, or other interruptions to, or
difficulties in, the employment of labour in markets in which we
operate mines, or environmental hazards, industrial accidents or
other events or occurrences, including third party interference
that interrupt the production of minerals in our mines.
For further information on Atlatsa, investors
should review the Company's annual Form 40-F filing with the United
States Securities and Exchange Commission www.sec.gov and annual
information form for the year ended December
31, 2012 and other disclosure documents that are available
on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
SOURCE Atlatsa Resources Corporation