(VAST) Vast Share Chat

18 May 2022

Vast Resources plc
(“Vast” or the “Company”)

Atlas Special Opportunities LLC

Vast Resources plc, the AIM-listed producing mining company, announces, that further to the announcement made on 16 May 2022 regarding the issued conversion notice by Atlas Special Opportunties LLC (“Atlas”), that notwithstanding the full repayment of the Bond, Atlas has responded claiming that the Conversion Notice for $800,000 (“Notice”) issued on 16 May 2022 is valid. For the avoidance of doubt, the $800,000 was part of the repayment to Atlas instructed as of Friday 13 May 2022 but for which a SWIFT confirmation was only received on 16 May 2022.

Accordingly, the Company is taking legal advice in relation to the circumstances of the Notice and will report again to the market as soon as is possible.

In the meantime, the Company has taken no action in relation to the Notice including not making application for any shares in relation thereto to be admitted to trading on AIM.

 

24 May 2022

Vast Resources plc
(“Vast” or the “Company”)

Update regarding Atlas Special Opportunities LLC

Vast Resources plc, the AIM-listed producing mining company, announces, that further to the announcements made on 16 & 18 May 2022 regarding the issued conversion notice by Atlas Special Opportunties LLC (“Atlas”) of USD 800,000, that notwithstanding the full repayment of the Bond being made by the Company on 16th May 2022, the Company after seeking legal advice has executed a Deed of Settlement (‘Settlement Agreement’) with Atlas Special Opportunties LLC.

As part of the Settlement Agreement the Company can confirm that it will satisfy the exercise of the Conversion Rights through the issue of 241,799,020 ordinary shares of 0.1 pence each in the Company (‘Ordinary Shares’) at a price of 0.27 pence per Ordinary Share, subject to the following substantive conditions being met by Atlas:

• Atlas irrevocably agrees that they will not deliver any further Conversion Notices, or seek any further conversion of Bonds to shares of the Company.
• Atlas shall immediately repay USD 800,000 to Vast to cover the overpayment in lieu of the USD 800,000 conversion notice.
• Atlas shall release all securities in relation to the Bond Issuance Deed and confirm release of all obligations owed by the Company in relation to the intercreditor and Standstill Deed dated 29 January 2020.
• Atlas agrees in respect of the targeted General Meeting on 10 June 2022, that they shall appoint Brian Moritz, Chairman of Vast Resources PLC, as their proxy or corporate representative with repect to all shares held by them to vote at the Chairman’s discretion in respect of any vote to be held at the General Meeting.
• Atlas agrees to release all and any shares belonging to Andrew Prelea, Roy Tucker, Brian Moritz, Paul Fletcher and Craig Harvey (or procure the release from the Security Trustee where applicable), and provide all relevant confirmation of such release, which are currently held subject to the Escrow Agreement dated 29 January 2020 between Vast Resources PLC, Atlas Special Opportunities LLC, and Roy Tucker, Andrew Prelea, Brian Moritz, Paul Fletcher and Craig Harvey, announced on 31 January 2020; and the Escrow Agreement dated 28 January 2022 between Vast Resources PLC, Atlas Special Opportunities LLC, and Andrew Prelea, announced 31 January 2022.
  

Application will be made to the London Stock Exchange for 241,799,020 new Ordinary Shares to be admitted to trading on the AIM Market with admission expected to occur when the Company has received USD 800,000 from Atlas Special Opportunites LLC that was part of the full repayment made by the Company (‘Admission’).

The Company will update the market on the Admission details upon return of the monies as referred to above.

 

24 May 2022

Vast Resources plc
(‘Vast’ or the ‘Company’)

Company Update – Tajikistan

Vast Resources plc, the AIM-listed mining company, is pleased to announce that further to the announcement made on 3 May 2022 regarding its acquired interest in a joint venture company which provides exposure to a near term revenue opportunity from the Takob Mine processing facility in Tajikistan (“Takob”), the Company has executed a Memorandum of Understanding (“MoU”) linked to processing the tailings produced at Takob. The MoU, agreed between the Company’s Tajikistan focused Joint Venture subsidiary, and Open Joint Stock Company “Talco” is a separate and additional project to the Takob Joint Venture Project announced on 3 May 2022.

The Company can announce that as part of this project, its joint venture partner, Formin TJK (“Formin”), has commenced surveying, soil sampling and preliminary drilling on site at the tailings facility and the results will be announced upon receipt from ALS Romania. Formin reported visible signs of lead, zinc and precious metals, including gold, silver & platinum group metals, in the tailings facility. Initial surface survey results compiled by Formin show that there is a minimum of 1 million tonnes and up to 3.3 million tonnes of tailings. The depth of the tailings is to be determined once drilling is completed.

The funding for this project, which may be up to U$20 million, will be provided by Central Asia Minerals and Metals Ore Trading FZCO (“CAMM”) on the same or similar terms as the Company’s existing Takob Joint Venture Project announced on 3 May 2022.

Andrew Prelea, Chief Executive Officer of Vast Resources PLC, commented:

“On behalf of the Company I wish to again thank the Minister of Industry and New Technologies of the Republic of Tajikistan, together with the Chairman and Executive Team of Open Joint Stock Company TALCO for providing us with a further joint venture opportunity.

“I would also like to thank our strategic joint venture partners in Central Asia Minerals and Metals Ore Trading FZCO, namely Formin TJK and Mr Abdul Jabbar Gargash, for their continued support and giving the opportunity to further grow our strategic partnership in Tajikistan.”

 

26 May 2022

Vast Resources plc
(“Vast” or the “Company”)

Notice of General Meeting

Vast Resources plc, the AIM-listed mining company, is pleased to announce that a general meeting (‘GM’) of the Company will be held at the offices of Shakespeare Martineau LLP, 6th Floor, 60 Gracechurch Street, London EC3V 0HR at 2:00pm on 10 June 2022. A copy of the Notice of GM, associated proxy form and a letter from the Chairman was posted to shareholders yesterday, and copies can be found on the Company’s website at: www.vastplc.com.

The relevant text included in the letter from the Chairman is appended below.


APPENDIX

TEXT OF THE LETTER FROM THE CHAIRMAN OF THE COMPANY

Notice of General Meeting at 2.00pm on Friday 10 June 2022

1. Introduction

As you may have seen from the Company’s RNS published on 16 May 2022 we are pleased to have repaid our Bond to Atlas, who now no longer have any conversion rights and also reduce our outstanding debt to Mercuria Energy Trading SA (‘Mercuria’), our concentrate offtaker at Baita Plai Polymetallic Mine (‘Baita Plai’). This has been achieved through a new US$4 million secured loan facility from A&T Investments Sarl (‘Alpha’) with no conversion rights attached (the ‘Alpha Loan’), together with a contribution from an advance payment (‘Advance Payment’) of US$1,090,000 (£888,925) towards a subscription for new ordinary shares in the Company conditional upon Shareholder approval and as more fully explained below.

2. Transactions and equity funding agreement

In order to draw down the Alpha Loan it was necessary for the Company to obtain the consent of Mercuria to whom the Company had an indebtedness of approximately US$5,000,000. Mercuria have given that consent, but in order to secure this the Company has entered a legally binding heads of terms (‘Heads of Terms’) for a new intercreditor agreement with Mercuria and Alpha in order to govern the future relationship of the parties, and under which, inter alia, the Company has agreed to repay Mercuria US$500,000 contemporaneously with the repayment of Atlas and a further US$500,000 out of an issue of new ordinary shares.

In order to make up the balance of the Atlas repayment, to provide for the US$500,000 second payment to Mercuria, to pay costs of the Alpha transaction and to support the continued optimisation of the performance of Baita Plai and for general working capital, the Company has raised in aggregate £3,243,325 before costs through a subscription and placing of 463,332,161 new ordinary shares at a price of 0.7p per share conditional upon receipt of Shareholder approval for the relevant authorities to issue the new ordinary shares (the ‘Subscription and Placing’). The sum conditionally raised of £3,243,325 includes the Advance Payment of £888,925 referred to above. The Advance Payment was made ahead of Shareholder approval on the basis of certain guarantees provided by Andrew Prelea and other members of the Prelea family secured against existing shares held by the family.

Shore Capital, the Company’s joint broker, participated in the Subscription and the Placing was arranged by Axis Capital Markets, the Company’s joint broker.

More details of the Alpha Loan and of the Heads of Terms are given in the Appendix to this letter.

It should be noted that the amount raised was completed without the knowledge of the subsequent $800,000 conversion by Atlas resulting in a return of $800,000 from the amount repaid to Atlas by the Company and the Company is under an obligation to honour the amounts raised via the subscription and placing. The additional money will be used for the Company’s obligations made to Mercuria which requires the Company to make a payment of $1,000,000 at the end of July 2022 should other debt reduction plans not materialise.

3. £420,000 Placing announced on 12 April 2022

On 12 April 2022 the Company announced a placing for £420,000 priced at a 60% premium to the closing share price on 11 April 2022 on the basis of the issuing of 160,000,000 warrants to subscribers for new ordinary shares in the Company (’Warrant Shares’) at the 11 April 2022 closing share price of 0.525p. The exercise of the warrants was conditional on the Company passing the necessary resolutions at a General Meeting of the Company to authorise the issue of the Warrant Shares.

4. Mercuria

The Company has thanked Mercuria for its continued support for the Company, and the Company has agreed a long term equity option, unconnected with the existing debt to Mercuria, for Mercuria to subscribe up to £3,250,000 for new ordinary shares in the Company at a price set against a 10% discount to the mid closing price on the previous trading day to exercising the option. Further details of this option are given in the Appendix.

Resolutions are being proposed to grant authority to issue shares to Mercuria so that it can subscribe for shares in the Company under its option rights. For this purpose the Company has assumed that the share price at the time of exercise of this option would not be less than 2.78p, which after applying the 10% discount contained in the option agreement would equate to the grant of authorities to issue approximately 130,000,000 shares.

5. Authorities requested

As stated by Andrew Prelea in the Company’s RNS announcement of 16 May, we believe that the repayment of Atlas marks a definitive turning point for the Company, and the Board believes that this should restore a fair value in the Company’s share price. The investment and development work now being undertaken at Baita Plai, together with the new revenue streams being introduced as a result of the Company’s interest in Tajikistan, are already reshaping our financial performance.

The receipt of the funds from the Subscription and Placing was and is essential for Mercuria’s consent and continued consent for the refinancing, and also for the Company’s continued investment and development work at Baita Plai. Accordingly, authorities are required to fulfil the conditions of the Subscription and Placing (authority to issue 463,332,161 new ordinary shares or shares to a nominal value of £463,332.16).

Authorities are also requested for the issue of the Warrant Shares for the 12 April 2022 placing (authority to issue 160,000,000 new ordinary shares or shares to a nominal value of £160,000) and for a modest buffer for future requirements and for contingencies (authority to issue a further 50,000,000 new ordinary shares or shares to a nominal value of £50,000). In addition, the Board seeks discrete authorities to issue shares to satisfy Mercuria’s purchase option right (authority to issue 130,000,000 new ordinary shares or shares to a nominal value of £130,000) which authorities are requested in separate resolutions limited to this purchase option agreement.

Accordingly, the Company is seeking authority at the forthcoming General Meeting for the issue of shares up to an aggregate nominal amount of £673,332.16 and for shares up to an aggregate nominal amount of £130,000 nominal value for Mercuria.

The total authorities being sought represent 47.38% of the Company’s new enlarged shares in issue. It should be noted however that this figure is based on the scenario that Mercuria exercises their option in full and the Company using all of the additional general headroom. At this point in time it is not known when Mercuria will exercise their option and whether the Company will need to utilise the additional general headroom.

General Meeting and Action to be taken by Shareholders

A Notice has been sent to shareholders convening the General Meeting at 2.00pm on 10 June 2022 at which Ordinary Resolutions are proposed to authorise the Directors to allot ordinary shares of 0.1p each up to an aggregate nominal value of £673,332.16 and separate £130,000 for Mercuria and Special Resolutions are proposed to disapply statutory pre-emption rights in respect of the shares so allotted.

Shareholders have been sent a Form of Proxy for use at the General Meeting. Shareholders are requested to complete and return the Form of Proxy in accordance with the instructions printed thereon. To be valid, completed Forms of Proxy must be received by the Registrar as soon as possible, and in any event not later than 2.00pm Wednesday 8 June 2022.

The Board understands that the General Meeting also serves as a forum for Shareholders to raise questions and comments. If Shareholders who are unable to attend the meeting and question the Directors in person have any questions or comments relating to the business of the meeting that they would like to ask the Board, they are asked to submit those questions in writing via email to shareholderenquiries@stbridespartners.co.uk by no later than 6.00pm on 8 June 2022. These questions will be posed to the Board and an audio recording of the conversation will be uploaded to the website at www.vastplc.com later on the day of the General Meeting.

6. Recommendation

The Directors believe the passing of the Resolutions is essential for the Company to continue as a going concern and is accordingly in the best interests of the Company and of the Shareholders as a whole.

The Directors unanimously recommend the Shareholders to vote in favour of the Resolutions to be posed at the General Meeting as they intend to do in respect of their own beneficial holdings amounting in aggregate to 20,138,435 ordinary shares representing approximately 2.00% of the ordinary shares of the Company expected to be in issue on 10 June 2022.

Brian Moritz
Chairman
24 May 2022

 

26 May 2022

Vast Resources plc
(“Vast” or the “Company”)

Successful Underground Drill Testing of Mantis CMR4 Production Rig

Vast Resources plc, the AIM-listed producing mining company, is pleased to announce an update from its producing Baita Plai Polymetallic Mine in Romania (“Baita Plai”).

• First of two Mantis CMR4 production drilling rigs has successfully completed functional drill testing underground.
• Drilling with a Doofor DF530S hydraulic drifter resulted in penetration rates of up to 1.05 metres per minute which significantly outperforms the standard pneumatic rock drills which typically achieve penetration rates of up to 0.3 metres per minute.
• The use of the Mantis drilling rig will result in drilling efficiency improvements of up to 3.5 times with a reduction of labour at the drilling face, thereby allowing additional faces to be worked.
• Formal operator training is underway and the preparation of the area on 17 level for initial Long Hole Stoping ahead of production in this area in June 2022.
• The second of the two Mantis rigs is expected within the next week and will be put into service to develop infrastructure from below 18 level on the Antonio Skarn, to a planned 21 level elevation.
• With the two new Mantis drills and the transition to mechanised mining, together with the implementation of long hole stope mining, significantly increased production output is expected from the end of Q2 onwards.

Andrew Prelea, Chief Executive Officer of Vast Resources PLC, commented:

“Our planned ramp up at Baita Plai is now on course. The implementation of long hole stope mining is expected to deliver a significant increase in production volumes, and together with our additional operational improvements, including the introduction of of molybdenum flotation circuit, Vast is in a strong position to lift production, output and revenues from the end of Q2 and into Q3. I look forward to sharing more operational developments in the coming weeks as the additional elements of our mechanisation and optimisation plan at Baita Plai are rolled out.

“In the meantime, we will share pictures and video on our social channels to keep investors updated with our progress.”

Competent Person

The forward-looking technical views made in this announcement is based on information interpreted by Mr Craig Harvey, the Group Geologist and Chief Operating Officer for Vast and a full-time employee of the company. Mr Harvey is a Competent Person who is a Member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists and of the Geological Society of South Africa, a Recognised Professional Organisation included in a list that is posted on the ASX website from time to time.

Mr Harvey has sufficient experience that is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity being undertaken to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2012 Edition of the 'Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves'.

 

31 May 2022

Vast Resources plc

("Vast" or the "Company")


Investor Update and Q&A Session


Vast Resources plc, the AIM-listed producing mining company, is pleased to announce that Andrew Prelea (CEO) and Andrew Hall (CCO) will provide a live investor update and Q&A session via the Investor Meet Company platform on Monday 6 June 2022 at 2:00pm BST.

The presentation is open to all existing and potential shareholders. Questions can be submitted pre-event via your Investor Meet Company dashboard up until 9am the day before the meeting or at any time during the live presentation.

Investors can sign up to Investor Meet Company for free and add to meet Vast via:

https://www.investormeetcompany.com/vast-resources-plc/register-investor

Investors who already follow Vast on the Investor Meet Company platform will automatically be invited.

 

13 June 2022

Vast Resources plc

("Vast" or the "Company")


Presentation and Q&A Session


Vast Resources plc, the AIM-listed producing mining company, is pleased to announce that the Company Update and Q&A session which was recently delivered via the Investor Meet Company platform is now available to download from the Company's website at https://www.vastplc.com/investor-information/document-downloads/.

The Company would also like to advise shareholders that it has uploaded a presentation on Open Joint Stock Company "TALCO", which wholly owns Open Joint Stock Company Korkhonai Boygardonii Takob, the Company's joint venture partner in Tajikistan. The Open Joint Stock Company "TALCO" presentation can be found here: https://www.vastplc.com/investor-information/document-downloads/.

The Company would also like to announce that work on the TAKOB plant is progressing and commissioning is underway ahead of commercial processing of the stockpiled ore in early Q3 2022. The Company looks forward to updating the market on progress and the commencement of operations.

 

Second Mantis Jumbo Drill Rig on-site at Baita Plai #VAST @vast_resources https://www.voxmarkets.co.uk/rns/announcement/a02335d0-e353-4246-a74e-f28a0aa5441f

 

27 June 2022

Vast Resources plc
(‘Vast’ or the ‘Company’)

Second Milling Circuit Completed at Baita Plai Polymetallic Mine

Vast Resources plc, the AIM-listed mining company, is pleased to announce that the second milling circuit in the processing plant at the Baita Plai Polymetallic Mine (“Baita Plai”) has been completed six weeks ahead of schedule.

The second milling circuit further optimises the operations at Baita Plai and doubles milling capacity at the plant. With two milling circuits fully functioning the two mills combined are capable of processing 14,000 tonnes per month.

Andrew Prelea, Chief Executive Officer of Vast Resources PLC, commented:

“Our mining volumes are steadily increasing, and are expected to increase dramatically with the implementation and ramp up of long hole stope mining commencing from next month. The commissioning of this second milling circuit – achieved six weeks ahead of schedule – will support increased concentrate production moving forward. Our operations at Baita Plai are ramping up encouragingly and I am confident that this will be reflected in our future production and sales reports.”

 

https://twitter.com/vast_resources/status/1541323197693542400?t=zey3rah8Frp2D_rgh3hTPQ&s=19

 

30 June 2022

Vast Resources plc
(‘Vast’ or the ‘Company’)

Takob Projects Update

Vast Resources plc, the AIM-listed mining company, is pleased to announce an update regarding its Takob joint venture projects at the Takob Mine in Tajikistan, namely the “Takob Processing Project” and the “Takob Tailings Project” with Open Joint Stock Company Korkhanai Boygardonii Takob ("Takob") and which were announced on 3 and 24 May 2022.

Takob Processing Project

Highlights:

• Processing of two months worth of stockpiled ore commencing in July 2022
• Refurbishment of the Takob processing plant nearing completion
• New equipment on site and in the process of being commissioned
• Vast will receive a participation equivalent to a 12.25 percent royalty over all sales of non-ferrous concentrate and any other metals produced from the Takob Processing Project
• The royalty equivalent revenue from the Takob Processing Project will supplement the Company’s revenue from concentrate sales from the Company’s 100% owned Baita Plai Polymetallic Mine in Romania
  

Further information

The new equipment now on site, including Surge Tank, Filter Press and Mixing Tanks, will facilitate the commencement of the first phase of plant production under the Master Agreement between Central Asia Minerals and Metals Ore Trading FZCO and Takob. The equipment planned for the second phase of plant production is focused on improvements in quality and the separation of metals including the non-ferrous concentrates has already been ordered and is expected to arrive on site in Q3 2022.

Takob Tailings Project

The Company continues to make good progress alongside our joint venture partner Formin TJK. The Company will report on the surveying, soil sampling and preliminary drilling work being conducted on the Takob Tailing Project in due course.

Andrew Prelea, Chief Executive Officer of Vast Resources, commented:

“The Takob processing plant is in the final stages of refurbishment, with all major equipment on site ahead of planned commissioning by the end of July. We have two months of stockpiled ore ready to be processed now, and the intention is to blend this with fresh ore over the coming months.

“It is very encouraging to see this ambitious development schedule being met, with the potential for material revenue to be generated for the Company in a matter of weeks.

“With the potential to produce royalty equivalent revenues in the short term, and the prospect of large scale tailings processing in the medium term, all delivered through a financing structure which insulates Vast shareholders from dilution, I am confident that our activities in Tajikistan will prove to be very rewarding for the Company.”

For further details on the Takob Processing and the Takob Tailings Projects, see the announcements made on 3 and 24 May 2022 via the Company’s website - https://www.vastplc.com/news/