Altona Energy Plc - Business Update

Altona Energy Plc - Business Update

PR Newswire

London, September 4

4 September 2020

ALTONA ENERGY PLC

("Altona" or "the Company")

BUSINESS UPDATE

Altona (AQSE: ANR.PL), a mining exploration company with a focus on Rare Earth Element ("REE") mining projects in Africa, announces that it is moving forward on all fronts with regards to its new business strategy.

In Malawi, the Company signed, on 1 September, Heads of Agreement with Akatswiri Mineral Resources Pvt Ltd, to acquire up to 75% of the Chambe Rare Earth project in Southern Malawi. The Heads of Agreement are not legally binding but form the basis of progressing towards a legally binding agreement if certain conditions are fulfilling by both parties. These conditions include a successful fund raise by Altona and the completion of due diligence by Altona on Akatswiri Mineral Resources Pvt Ltd.

Following the recent general election in Malawi and a change in law regarding the naming of mineral licences, which has caused a back-log of permit approvals, the Company is waiting on the granting of Exploration Licence, APL 0153, which it hopes will happen in the coming weeks, when the Malawian Mining Department holds its next formal meeting.

The Company's partner in Malawi, Akatswiri Mineral Resources, has been working closely with the government and local communities since March and, we understand, has now filed all the reports necessary to demonstrate the joint venture's ability to develop the project in a timely and sensitive manner, once the permit has been issued. These reports include, Environmental Social Management Plan, Exploration Plan and Budget, as well as conducting ongoing stakeholder consultation meetings with the Community and District Council of Mulanje.

The formalisation of Hilton Banda's appointment to the board of Altona is ongoing and it is expected that Mr Banda will become a director of the Company in conjunction with the granting of the Exploration Licence for Chambe. Mr Banda is Chief Executive Officer of Akatswiri Mineral Resources and a highly experienced qualified geologist.

The Company is now in advanced discussions with two other REE projects in different stable African jurisdictions, and the board is confident that it will sign Heads of Agreement with at least one of these companies within the next 30 days. These projects are both Carbonatite bearing REE deposits which have had extensive exploration work including diamond drilling carried out over the past 20 years by previous owners which warrants further exploration.

Finally, the proposed capital raise, as announced on 17 July, will be launched via the NR Private Market investor platform (www.NRPrivateMarket.com), once the Exploration Licence has been granted in Malawi, or the Company signs Heads of Agreement with one of the other companies it is negotiating with.

The Company will apply to AQSE to restore trading in the shares following a successful fund raise.

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For further information, please visit www.altonaenergy.com or contact:

Altona Energy plc Christian Taylor-Wilkinson, Interim CEO Philip Sutherland, Non-Executive Director	[phone] [phone]
Alfred Henry Corporate Finance Ltd (Aquis Corporate Adviser) Jon Isaacs / Nick Michaels	[phone]
Leander (Financial PR)	[phone]

Company Information

Altona is a mining exploration company focused on the evaluation, development and extraction of Rare Earth Element (REE) metals.

The Company was admitted to trading on AIM on 10 March 2005 and was subsequently admitted to Aquis Stock Exchange (previously NEX) on 1 February 2019. A copy of its Admission documents dated 4 March 2005 can be accessed on its website, www.altonaenergy.com. This website is where items can be inspected under Rule 75 of the Aquis Rules for Issuers, from 1 February 2019.

Information on the Chambe Rare Earth Project

Chambe is a large, ionic adsorption clay-hosted Rare Earth Elements ("REE") project bearing appreciable quantities of critical heavy and light REEs, particularly Ytterbium, Dysprosium, Yttrium, Neodymium and Praseodymium. Extensive exploration work has been carried out on the site since September 2010, suggesting the presence of mineralised Rare Earth Oxide clays, similar to many of the larger REE mines in China. The benefits of extracting REE from ionic clay deposits include lower operating and capital costs, as well as shorter times for development.

Information on Minexia and NR Private Market

Minexia is a fin-tech business which has been in development for c.4years and launched its investment platform, NR Private Market in Q1 2019, which allows private investors ('Sophisticated' or 'High Net Worth') to access a pipeline of high quality, pre-screened, advanced exploration and or early stage development mining projects. The platform has successfully closed six deals (total value c. £10M) to date and has secured a dozen platform partners and 6,000+ active platform users.