Aldridge Achieves Significant Land Acquisition Milestone
Aldridge Minerals Inc. (TSX-V: AGM) (“Aldridge” or the “Company”) today announced that a key milestone in the ongoing State-led compulsory land acquisition court process has been achieved. At a recent hearing, the Court reached a final land pricing decision on 13 land parcels representing 151,015 square meters. The Court determined a price of Turkish Lira (“TRY”) 6.19 per square meter for irrigated land and TRY3.05 per square meter for non-irrigated land, for an average of approximately TRY4.60 per square meter for this group of parcels. Following the classification of these parcels to Treasury land, Aldridge will have acquired title to or have right to access approximately 93.0% of the Yenipazar project area.
The Court determined price is significantly lower than the Company’s voluntary offer of TRY5.1 per square meter upon land title transfer plus an additional deferred payment of US$1.35 per square meter. At the current exchange rate of USD/TRY 3.70, the Company’s total offer amounts to approximately TRY10.1 per square meter.
The Company believes that this decision sets a precedent for upcoming hearings related to the remaining 613,089 square meters of land and supports the Company’s expectation that the land acquisition will be completed in 2017, subject to available funds.
The Company will fund the State’s purchase of the applicable parcels within 15 days of the hearing. On March 30, 2017, the Company expects the Court to notify the Land Office to classify the land as Treasury land. Aldridge will then have full access rights in accordance with Turkish mining law.
About Aldridge
Aldridge is a development-stage mining company focused on its wholly owned and permitted Yenipazar polymetallic VMS Project (Gold, Silver, Copper, Lead, Zinc) in Turkey. Aldridge completed the Yenipazar Optimization Study and filed the related NI 43-101 compliant technical report in May 2014, which updated the original May 2013 Feasibility Study. The Optimization Study demonstrated that the Yenipazar Project is highly robust with an after-tax NPV of US$330 million at a 7% discount rate and an after-tax IRR of 32%. The Company is currently advancing the Yenipazar Project on key aspects including land acquisition and interim and project financing.
Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Information
This news release includes certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results, performance, prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed in such forward-looking statements. When used in this press release, words such as “proposed”, “may”, “would”, “could”, “will”, “expect”, “anticipate”, “estimate”, “believe”, “intend”, “plan”, and other similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such risks, uncertainties and factors, include, but are not limited to, the ability of the Company to fund the purchase of the remaining land required to develop the Company’s Yenipazar Project, its ability to complete the land acquisition in 2017, and its ability to otherwise advance the development of the Project; the ability of the Company to raise additional debt or equity financing on acceptable terms or at all; economic performance; mineral prices; the future plans and objectives of the Company; and the other factors discussed under the heading “Risk Factors” in the Company’s Management’s Discussion and Analysis for the year ended December 31, 2015 and in other continuous disclosure filings made by the Company with Canadian securities regulatory authorities and available at www.sedar.com. Any number of important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements as well as future results.
Forward-looking information is based on a number of factors and assumptions which have been used to develop such information but which may prove to be incorrect, including, but not limited to, assumptions in connection with the continuance of Aldridge and its subsidiaries as a going concern, general economic, political and market conditions, mineral prices, and the accuracy of mineral resource estimates. Although Aldridge believes that the assumptions and factors used in making the forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on these statements, which only apply as of the date of this news release, and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed time frames or at all. Aldridge disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise unless required by law.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.
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Contact
Aldridge Minerals Inc.
Han Ilhan, 416-477-6988
President & CEO
or
David Carew, 416-477-6984
Director of Investor Relations