Weatherly extends Berg Aukas stake to 90%

By Business Reporter
WEATHERLY International has entered into a binding agree­ment to increase its ownership of private Namibian company China Af­rica Resources Namibia (CARN) from 25 percent to 90 percent.
CARN, which owns 100 percent of the high-grade Berg Aukas underground zinc, lead, vanadium project near Grootfontein, in Namibia, was previously 100 percent owned by former Aim-listed China Africa Resources (CAR), which is now known as the LSE-listed Pembridge Resources.
In December 2016, 100 percent of the shares in CARN were distributed through a dividend to existing shareholders of CAR. The two largest shareholders of CAR, at the time, were Weatherly with 25 percent and Hong Kong East China Non-Ferrous Mineral Resources (ECE) with 65 percent.
As a result, Weatherly owns 25 percent of CARN, ECE owns 65 percent of CARN, and the remaining 10 percent of CARN is held by the remaining minority sharehold­ers of CAR at the time of the dividend.
Weatherly and ECE have now entered into a binding agreement whereby Weath­erly will buy all of ECE’s shares in CARN for US$600 000.
The transaction is subject to regulatory approval in Namibia, following which the full consideration will be paid to ECE im­mediately. The company expects to fund the transaction through operating cash flow but in the event that it cannot, Weath­erly has obtained a waiver from Orion Mine Finance to use part of the uncom­mitted US$10-million loan announced on July 28 last year to fund the transaction.