Mine Waste Reprocessing Agreement 5.21.07
Further to its announcement on 8 December 2006 Applied Intellectual Capital
("AIC") (AIM: AINC) is delighted to announce that EverClear Solutions Inc.,
("EverClear"), in which AIC holds rights to a 60% stake, has entered into an
agreement with Weatherly International (AIM: WTI "Weatherly") to form a Joint
Venture ("JV") to recover copper, zinc, lead and silver from Weatherly's Tsumeb
mine tailings dam in Namibia. EverClear owns the exclusive rights to novel
electrochemical metals recovery technologies developed by AIC.
Under the terms of the agreement with Weatherly, EverClear will pay US$4.6
million for a 50% interest in the right to process the 15,000,000 tonnes of
Tsumeb mine tailings. EverClear will receive a 50% share of the net proceeds
from the sale of recovered metals.
EverClear will make an initial payment of US$920,000 followed by the balance of
US$3,680,000 consisting of a bankable feasibility study, including an on-site
pilot plant and cash. EverClear and Weatherly will provide further funding to
the JV to support operations. All capital costs for the JV are expected to be
provided by third party financing.
The tailings contain unrefined copper, zinc, lead and silver ore. At today's
LME prices, data from publicly available sources indicate that the combined
value of copper, zinc, lead and silver in the Tsumeb tailings is approximately
US$1 billion.
As announced in January AIC has successfully completed laboratory trials, on
behalf of EverClear, using samples provided by Weatherly from its Tsumeb dam.
This has demonstrated yields in the range of 75-85% of refined high purity
metals. Work is currently underway to establish the duration, capital cost and
operating cost for full scale operation. Early indications are that on-site
metals recovery and refining could take between 5 and 10 years. Provision has
been made to terminate the JV should field pilot testing prove unsuccessful.
AIC
AIC is an AIM listed company that funds, develops, patents and commercializes
electrochemical and advanced separations technologies in clean energy,
electricity storage, water treatment, metals recovery and other emerging
markets. AIC currently holds 35% of EverClear with an option to obtain a
further 25%.
Dr Stephen Clarke, CEO of AIC, commented:
"This demonstrates that EverClear's metals recovery process offers the potential
to recover significant value from mine waste. Given the difficulty of
processing this material using conventional technologies, any level of success
at Tsumeb opens the door for EverClear to position its technology as a cost
effective alternative to conventional primary recovery technologies in highly
buffered ores."
21 May 2007
Applied Intellectual Capital: Dr. Stephen Clarke Tel. +1 925 639 9399
Pelham Public Relations : Archie Berens / Tel. +44 (0)207 743 6672
Charles Vivian
Nabarro Wells: Marc Cramsie/ John Wilkes Tel. +44 (0)207 710 7400
About Applied Intellectual Capital
Applied Intellectual Capital funds, develops, patents and commercializes
electrochemical and advanced separations technologies in clean energy,
electricity storage, water treatment, metals recovery and other emerging
markets. It is, in essence, a technology incubator fund. However, unlike other
incubator funds, its unique business model enables AIC to move technologies from
idea to market rapidly - often in less than two years.
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