Tri-Star Resources plc the independent metal processing and technology company, is pleased to announce its financial results for the year ended 31 December 2018. The Company’s principal interest is an antimony and gold production facility being developed in Sohar, Sultanate of Oman by Strategic & Precious Metals Processing LLC, an Omani company in which Tri-Star has a 40% equity interest.
Highlights for TSTR from the year include:
- In January 2018, the Company completed an Open Offer with £4.4m of funds raised through the issue of 44,204,755,697 ordinary shares of 0.005p each at 0.01 pence per share. This offer was oversubscribed and showed strong shareholder support for not only Tri-Star but also the SPMP Project. Strong shareholder support was further illustrated in June 2018 by a second successful fund raising of £13.0m which was achieved through a placing of 30,232,558 ordinary shares of 5 pence each at 43 pence per share.
- Using the proceeds from the fund raisings, TSTR was able to provide additional mezzanine loans of $16.7m (£12.7m) to SPMP to assist in further development of the Project. These loans were issued with identical terms to the existing mezzanine loan Tri-Star invested in SPMP in November 2017 at a compound interest rate of 15% per annum. At the same time, Tri-Star was able to reduce its own debt levels from $6m (£4.3m) to $1.5m (£1.1m).
- In March 2018, Karen O’Mahony, non-executive director at the time, was appointed Acting CEO and CFO of Tri-Star to oversee the restructure and transition of the Company. In parallel, the Board of Tri-Star was streamlined to make it more cost effective and efficient. Lavinia Jessup was appointed as Company Secretary for Tri-Star in October 2018.
- In March 2018, the Board of Tri-Star helped SPMP negotiate a senior debt facility with Alizz Islamic Bank for the amount of Omani Rials 10m (approx. USD $26m) to be used for a combination of project and trade finance.
- In August 2018, Steven Din joined SPMP as CEO to lead the plant through hot commissioning and into commercial production.
- In November 2018, Tri-Star negotiated changes to SPMP’s shareholders agreement which reduced Tri-Star’s potential liability for capex over-run.
- In December 2018, Tri-Star negotiated the successful sale of the non-core asset Göynük mine in Turkey for a total cash consideration of USD $0.5m (of which $0.1m is due on first product sales), and this deal completed in early 2019. The sales agreement neutralised any of Tri-Star’s liabilities associated with the mine whilst also allowing room for SPMP to negotiate an offtake agreement on any future production from the mine. These offtake arrangements are currently being negotiated.
Highlights post year end include:
- In March 2019, Tri-Star aided SPMP in securing a shareholder loan of $35m with no dilution to Tri-Star shareholders. As part of this agreement, the shareholders of SPMP have agreed to explore a full range of liquidity and funding options, and to convert the majority of the existing mezzanine loan to equity or interest free equity debt.
- In April 2019, Karen O’Mahony resigned and was replaced by David Facey as CEO and CFO of the Company. In addition, Mark Wellesley-Wood resigned as a Director and Non-Executive Chairman, and Adrian Collins replaced him as Non-Executive Chairman of the Company.
David Facey, Chief Executive Officer & Chief Financial Officer, said:
“We are pleased that the remedial works to resolve the technical issues announced on 18 February 2019 largely completed, in particular, the installation of a new gas cooling solution and the modifications to the electric furnace successfully have been tested with a variety of calcine inputs. We look forward to SPMP moving to the production phase of processing antimony and gold doré. Financially, we have achieved a healthy reduction in our ongoing running costs, reduced our debt levels and provided financial support to the SPMP Project.”
Notice of Annual General Meeting
The Company also announces that the Annual General Meeting (“AGM”) will be held at the offices of Fladgate LLP, 16 Great Queen Street, London WC2B on 24 July 2019 at 11.00am.
The Notice of AGM will be despatched to shareholders later today and will be available on the Company’s website at www.tri-starresources.com.
The Company’s Annual Report and Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2018 will also be available on the website. tri-star-res