AMN - MOROCCO: Emmerson acquires potash project

Emmerson Plc has been readmitted to the Official List of the UK Listing Authority by way of a Standard Listing after acquiring 100% of Moroccan Salts Limited (MSL). This company owns the Khemisset Potash Project in northern Morocco.

The company has also raised gross proceeds of £6 million by way of a placing of 200 million new shares at a price of 3 pence. The placement was significantly over-subscribed.

As a result of the acquisition, which was originally announced on October 17, 2017, Emmerson now owns 100% of the Khemisset project.

Khemisset has a large JORC-compliant potash resource of 311 million tonnes at 10.2% K20 with significant exploration upside.

There is positive market dynamics for potash due to potassium-based fertilisers being critical to improved crop quality as demand for food increases in correlation with the world population.

Emmerson will focus on an accelerated pathway targeting the development of a low-capex, high-margin mine and aims to deliver a scoping study by the end of the first quarter of 2019.

The project is in one of the fastest growing potash consuming countries worldwide and on the doorstep of European markets.

There is established infrastructure, including a network of toll roads, electricity distribution and deep-water ports.

Emmerson's CEO Hayden Locke said: "Now is the perfect time to be developing what we believe is an outstanding potash project. Food reserves are at a 50-year low and as the world's population continues to rapidly grow, potash fertiliser becomes increasingly critical to increase crop yields and improve the quality of plants.

"It is estimated that by 2050, the world will need to produce 70% more food from ever reducing per capita amounts of arable land, to feed its growing population. Put simply, global food security goals cannot be achieved without the significant use of fertilisers.

"In Khemisset we have a project that ticks all the boxes: a large resource, significant exploration upside, and an outstanding location, with Morocco being named as one of the fastest growing potash consuming countries in the world.

"Coupled with a shallow deposit and excellent local and export infrastructure, we are confident that we have a project which will benefit from low capital and operating costs.

"With £6 million raised in an oversubscribed placing we have the funds in place to deliver our near-term value drivers and, as a result, anticipate being able to hit the ground running with high impact newsflow post-listing as we move towards the delivery of a scoping study by the end of Q1 2019.

"We are delighted to have successfully brought London's newest potash company to the market at a time where there is record potash demand against rebalancing, disciplined, supply.

"With an excellent project and a proven Board and management team in place, we now have the wheels in motion to meet our objectives and move towards becoming a producing potash fertiliser company."

Non-executive chairman Ed McDermott said: "On behalf of the shareholders of Emmerson I am very pleased to welcome Hayden Locke (CEO) and Rob Wrixon (COO) to the Board. 

"We are extremely happy with the acquisition of Moroccan Salts Ltd and look forward to developing the assets further and delivering value to our shareholders."

www.emmersonplc.com