Aberdeen Announces Intention to Make a Normal Course Issuer Bid and Provides Update
February 12, 2015AFRICAN THUNDER Announces ACQUISITION AND Restart of THE Smokey Hills PGM Mine
March 26, 2015TORONTO, ONTARIO–(Marketwired – Feb. 17, 2015) –
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ABERDEEN INTERNATIONAL INC. (“Aberdeen”, or the “Company”) (TSX:AAB). This press release is being disseminated pursuant to National Instrument 62-103 – The Early Warning System and Related Take Over Bid and Insider Reporting Issues in connection with the filing of an early warning report (the “Early Warning Report”) regarding the acquisition of securities of Kombat Copper Inc. (“Kombat”) issued pursuant to a private placement financing. Aberdeen has acquired 10,000,000 units of Kombat, which forms part of a larger financing of 26,000,000 units at a purchase price of $0.05 per unit. Each unit is comprised of one common share of Kombat and one common share purchase warrant entitling the holder to acquire a common share of Kombat for a period of two years from the date of issue at an exercise price of $0.10. The warrants are subject to an acceleration provision whereby in the event that at any time after the expiry of the regulatory hold period, the Kombat common shares trade at $0.15 or higher on the TSX Venture Exchange, on a volume weighted average basis for a period of 30 consecutive days, Kombat will have the right to accelerate the expiry date of the warrants to the date that is 30 days after Kombat issues a news release announcing that it has elected to exercise the acceleration right.
Kombat owns an 80% interest in the Kombat Copper Mine in Namibia, a past producing high-grade underground copper mine that ceased production most recently in 2008.
As set out in its NI 43-101 compliant technical report, entitled, “Technical Report and Resource Estimate on the Kombat Copper Project, Grootfontein District, Otjozondjupa region, Namibia”, prepared for Kombat by Eugene Puritch, P.Eng., Richard Routledge, P.Geo., Richard Sutcliffe, P.Geo.,Ph.D.,David Burga, P.Geo., and Alfred Hayden, P.Eng., dated May 20, 2014 (the “Kombat Technical Report”), Kombat is a karst hosted copper mine which has produced in excess of 12.46 million tonnes grading 2.62% Cu, 1.55% Pb and 18 g/t Ag between 1962 and 2008. All production was from underground. The mine complex, including 3 production shafts, 3 ramps and a 1,100 tpd mill is covered by a valid mining license. Several ore bodies have been mined historically over a strike length of 4.1 kilometers. Over 50% of the ore was mined from a limited area with a strike length of less than 1 kilometer. For more information on Kombat including the Kombat Technical Report, please visit the SEDAR profile of Kombat at www.sedar.com and www.kombatcopper.com.
Aberdeen also entered into an agreement with Kombat to review financing alternatives for a potential mine restart, including the establishment of a silver stream financing to monetize the silver by-product that typically accompanies the copper ore in the region.
Aberdeen views this investment as an initial position upon which it can further evaluate the resource growth and opportunity to restart production with the potential to invest additional equity capital or other alternative financing arrangements.
With respect to this new investment, David Stein, President and CEO stated, “Kombat appears to fit our investment criteria, with the potential for near-term low-cost production in a safe jurisdiction. It has many similarities to our recent African Thunder investment, in particular the ability to leverage off of tens of millions spent on fixed assets by the previous operators. However, it is at an earlier stage of development and engineering, and this 2015 drill program should help establish the optimal scale for production as well as the opportunity to mine near surface material in an open pit – which would be a new and exciting opportunity for this long-standing operation.”
“We look forward to working closely with Kombat Copper going forward as a major shareholder and advisor and will work with the Company to ensure all strategic and financing options are considered.”
Kombat is part of the Forbes & Manhattan Group of Companies and pays Forbes & Manhattan Inc. (“Forbes”) a monthly services fee relating to various administrative, financial and IT services provided by Forbes. The Company considered the monthly fee in its analysis of the merits of the investment.
Upon completion of the private placement financing, Aberdeen has acquired 10,000,000 common shares of Kombat and 10,000,000 common share purchase warrants, representing a 7.04% interest on an undiluted basis and a 14.08% interest in Kombat on a partially diluted basis. The Common Shares were acquired for investment purposes. Aberdeen may increase or decrease its beneficial ownership or control of the Kombat common shares depending on market or other conditions. The common shares and shares underlying the warrants are subject to statutory resale restrictions which expire on June 14, 2015.
In connection with this news release, the Early Warning Report has been filed in accordance with applicable securities laws. A copy of the Early Warning Report will be available for review under Kombat’s profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
The scientific and technical information set out in this release is based upon the information prepared by or under the supervision of the authors of the Kombat Technical Report, who are qualified persons as such term is defined in NI 43-101.
About Aberdeen International Inc:
Aberdeen is a publicly traded global investment and merchant banking company focused on small cap companies in the resource sector. Aberdeen will seek to acquire significant equity participation in pre-IPO and/or early stage public resource companies with undeveloped or undervalued high-quality resources. Aberdeen will focus on companies that: (i) are in need of managerial, technical and financial resources to realize their full potential; (ii) are undervalued in foreign capital markets; and/or (iii) operate in jurisdictions with moderate local political risk. Aberdeen will seek to provide value-added managerial and board advisory services to companies. The Corporation’s intention will be to optimize the return on its investment over an 24 to 36 month investment time frame.
For additional information, please visit our website at www.aberdeeninternational.ca and follow us on Facebook and Twitter: AberdeenAAB.
Cautionary Note
Except for statements of historical fact contained herein, the information in this press release constitutes “forward-looking information” within the meaning of Canadian securities law. Such forward-looking information may be identified by words such as “plans”, “proposes”, “estimates”, “intends”, “expects”, “believes”, “may”, “will” and include without limitation, statements regarding past success as an indicator of future success; net asset value of the Company; the potential of the Kombat investment, the investee companies and the appreciation of their share price; the Company’s plan of business operations; and anticipated returns. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate; actual results and future events could differ materially from such statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include, among others, metal prices, competition, financing risks, acquisition risks, risks inherent in the mining industry, and regulatory risks. Most of these factors are outside the control of the Company. Investors are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking information. Except as otherwise required by applicable securities statutes or regulation, the Company expressly disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.Contact Information:
Aberdeen International Inc.
David Stein
President and Chief Executive Officer
+1 416-861-5812
dstein@aberdeeninternational.ca