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PAN AFRICAN RESOURCES PLC - Announcement regarding South African 21-Day Lockdown and suspension of 2020 Production Guidance

Release Date: 24/03/2020 09:28
Code(s): PAN     PDF:  
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Announcement regarding South African 21-Day Lockdown and suspension of 2020 Production Guidance

Pan African Resources PLC
(Incorporated and registered in England and Wales
under Companies Act 1985 with registered number
3937466 on 25 February 2000)
Share code on AIM: PAF
Share code on JSE: PAN
ISIN: GB0004300496
(“Pan African Resources” or “the Company” or “the Group”)



ANNOUNCEMENT REGARDING SOUTH AFRICAN 21-DAY LOCKDOWN AND SUSPENSION OF 2020 PRODUCTION GUIDANCE


    Shareholders are referred to the South African Government directive of Monday evening, 23
    March 2020, enacted in terms of the South African Disaster Management Act (the “Order”), which
    requires a 21-day national lockdown, effective midnight 26 March 2020 to midnight 16 April 2020
    (the “National Lockdown”), in order to contain the spread of the COVID-19 (coronavirus)
    pandemic.       The     full   Government      announcement      can     be     found      at
    http://www.thepresidency.gov.za.

    The National Lockdown requires all non-essential businesses and activities to be suspended,
    with people confined to their homes. The lockdown will therefore impact all South African mining
    operations, including the operations of Pan African Resources. Under the Order, “companies
    whose operations require continuous processes such as furnaces or underground mine
    operations will be required to make arrangements for care and maintenance to avoid damage to
    their continuous operations”.

    The health and safety of its employees and communities are of paramount importance to Pan
    African and the Group has already implemented a number of measures to mitigate the risk of the
    Covid-19 virus spreading at its operations. The Group is implementing contingency plans to
    ensure that all operations are safeguarded and secured during the National Lockdown period.
    The Group is also engaging with all stakeholders, including the South African Government, to
    obtain further detail on permitted activities during the National Lockdown.

    The Group’s liquidity position is robust, with immediately available facilities of U$20m. In addition,
    Rand Merchant Bank has already agreed, subject to final credit approval, to defer the last three
    tranches of the existing gold loan’s redemption, constituting 5000 ounces (U$7.8m), to the first
    quarter of the 2021 financial year. Furthermore, the Group has access to an additional gold loan
    facilities of approximately U$11m, should it be required. In the event that the National Lockdown
    is extended for a prolonged period, the Company will look to reschedule its short term senior debt
    obligations. The Company’s banking Consortium has also confirmed its support for the Group
    should further liquidity be required during this period.

    In consideration of the National Lockdown and its impact on the Group’s operations, FY2020
    production guidance is suspended until the Company is in a better position to quantify the full
    impact of the lockdown. The Company will continue to monitor the situation, and will inform
    shareholders as new information becomes available.

    Cobus Loots, CEO of Pan African Resources, commented: “Pan African supports all measures
    to limit the impact of COVID-19 on the people of South Africa. Even though the National
    Lockdown will impact negatively on our operational performance in the short term, our Group is
    well positioned and our operations robust. In South African Rand terms, the gold price is now at
    a record level, and we look forward to resuming full-scale operations to the benefit of all of our
    stakeholders as soon as it is possible and safe to do so”.

Rosebank
24 March 2020



For further information on Pan African, please visit the Company’s website at
www.panafricanresources.com
Contact information
Corporate Office                                 Registered Office
The Firs Office Building                         Suite 31
2nd Floor, Office 204                            Second Floor
Cnr. Cradock and Biermann Avenues                107 Cheapside
Rosebank, Johannesburg                           London
South Africa                                     EC2V 6DN
Office: + 27 (0)11 243 2900                      United Kingdom
info@paf.co.za                                   Office: + 44 (0)20 7796 8644
Cobus Loots                                      Deon Louw
Pan African Resources PLC                        Pan African Resources PLC
Chief Executive Officer                          Financial Director
Office: + 27 (0)11 243 2900                      Office: + 27 (0)11 243 2900
Phil Dexter/Jane Kirton                          John Prior
St James's Corporate Services Limited            Numis Securities Limited
Company Secretary                                Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker
Office: + 44 (0)20 7796 8644                     Office: +44 (0)20 7260 1000
Ciska Kloppers                                   Ross Allister/David McKeown
Questco Corporate Advisory Proprietary Limited   Peel Hunt LLP
JSE Sponsor                                      Joint Broker
Office: + 27 (0)11 011 9200                      Office: +44 (0)20 7418 8900
Julian Gwillim                                   Thomas Rider/Neil Elliot
Aprio Strategic Communications                   BMO Capital Markets Limited
Public & Investor Relations SA                   Joint Broker
Office: +27 (0)11 880 0037                       Office: +44 (0)20 7236 1010
Website: www.panafricanresources.com

Date: 24-03-2020 09:28:00
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