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19 July 2019
VI Mining Plc
(the "Company" or "VI Mining"; NEX: VIM)
Corporate and Funding Update
The Board is pleased to provide an update on the group's refinancing and relationship with the vendors of Minaspampa and Rosario.
Funding Update
The company has been funded through a combination of debt instruments and equity raised in the NEX initial public offering on 2 March 2018.
David Sumner debt facilities
David Sumner, the CEO has historically been the sole funder to the group with two debt financing facilities: a $10 million term loan facility; and a £39 million (circa $53 million) term loan facility.
At 19 July 2019, the $10 million facility was fully drawn down, and a further $3.0 million ($2.4 million since 1 January 2019) has been drawn down against the £39 million facility.
Sumner Group Holdings Security Token Offering Funding
In March 2019, Sumner Group Holdings Limited ("SGH"), the majority shareholder of VI Mining plc, of which David Sumner is CEO, announced that it commenced a security token offering ("STO") private placement ahead of a planned listing on the .
SGH has informed the Company that the STO private placement is expected to complete its first round close in Summer 2019 with completion scheduled for Autumn 2019. Subject to SGH board and VI Mining board approvals, a proportion of the proceeds from the STO private placement will be used to re-finance VI Mining through a new SGH debt facility replacing the current David Sumner loan facilities.
Tassili short term funding update
As previously announced, the Company entered into a loan agreement with Tassili Jewellery LLC ("Tassili") for $2,500,000, which was drawn down in full. The initial repayment date, together with a programme to deliver gold at pre‐agreed rates, was subsequently renegotiated. A total of $1.3 million has been repaid as of 18 July 2019 ($550,000 has been repaid during 2019). It has been agreed that the balance of $1.2 million still owed will be refinanced from the proposed SGH replacement debt facility.
Minaspampa and Rosario consideration payment terms
On 2 February 2018, VI Mining entered into an agreement to acquire the Minaspampa and Rosario projects (both located in the La Libertad region in the northwest of Peru) for an aggregate cash consideration of $51.3 million and equity consideration of 2,000,000 ordinary shares of the Company.
In the period up to 18 July 2019 a total of $9.1 million has been paid in cash to the vendors. The Company and the vendors are in regular discussions on the structure and timing of the remaining $42.2m consideration payments for these projects. The relationship with the Vendors continues to be strong and supportive. Following receipt of the new funding expected from the SGH STO private placement, the Company expects to finalise the contract revision with the Vendors.
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Contact:
VI Mining
David Sumner (CEO)
David.Sumner@vimining.com
+971 4 244 3730
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VSA Capital Limited
NEX Corporate Adviser
Andrew Raca, Pascal Wiese
+44 (0)20 3005 5000
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