Europa Metals Ltd (AIM:EUZ, JSE:EUZ) chairman and Acting CEO Myles Campion talked with Proactive about the company’s transformative reverse takeover (RTO) deal with Marula Africa.
The transaction is set to give Europa access to a portfolio of producing and near-producing critical minerals projects across Africa, including copper, lithium, tantalum and manganese assets.
Campion described the deal as “transformative” and noted that the company had been actively seeking near-term cashflow opportunities. He highlighted the Kinusi copper mine in Tanzania, which is already in production and yielding high-grade direct shipping ore (DSO), with grades of 20-30% copper.
He also pointed to the Blesberg lithium-tantalum mine in South Africa, which holds a 250,000-tonne surface stockpile grading up to 6% lithium. A processing plant is already in place. Additionally, the Kilifi manganese asset in Kenya is expected to operate as both a processing hub and a producing asset.
Europa intends to return capital to shareholders following the recent $3.20 million sale of its Spanish asset. The AGM, scheduled before year-end, will define the initial capital distribution. Campion said: “So it is pretty transformative… We’ll come out the other side as a completely different company, with some very good cash flows coming through.”
Looking ahead, the company is preparing for due diligence, technical reports and regulatory steps to progress the RTO. It is also exploring a rare earths opportunity as part of the agreement with Marula.
Proactive: Hello you're watching Proactive. I'm joined by Myles Campion, he's Executive Chairman and Acting CEO of Europa Metals Ltd. Myles, very good to speak with you. This deal with Marula Africa would give Europa control of several producing and near-producing mines. How transformative could this be for the company’s cashflow and growth outlook?
Myles Campion: Oh, yeah. Thanks, Stephen. Good morning. Yeah, it is. I think it's a transformative deal all round, really. I think what Europa have been doing over the last 12 to 18 months is looking for some near-term or producing assets to bring into the company to basically change what the company has done.
Obviously, the history we've had over the last three or four years, we’ve sold our asset in Spain. We turned that into an asset, we sold that for $3.2 million. And what we're looking to do, as well as this RTO, is to return capital to shareholders as well. So that's what we're going to do. So it is pretty transformative. And I think bringing in these assets will be a big flip for the company. We're going to have some different management as well. And we’ll be looking hopefully in the next six months to bring all of that together.
Proactive: Myles, you’ve described the Marula assets as “cashflow generative.” Can you give investors a sense of when Europa could start seeing revenue from these operations?
Myles Campion: Yeah. Well one of them is in production already — the Kinusi copper mine in Tanzania. That's producing some high-grade direct shipping ore (DSO) at the moment, and over the next six to 12 months, we're looking to bring that on stream at a bigger rate and put in a processing plant.
Also, all around it is some great exploration. So there's a big exploration target there, and there are some fantastic grades that they’re getting there — 20–30% copper, which is why it's DSO. So that's one of the assets that’s in production at the moment.
I think near-term as well is the Blesberg lithium-tantalum mine in South Africa. That’s got an existing processing plant. It's one of the biggest mineral pegmatites in South Africa. And there’s a stockpile sitting at surface — 250,000 tonnes — which is running up to 6% lithium in spodumene. So we're looking to bring that on stream as well.
Also in Kenya, the Kilifi manganese mine — they’ve had that for some time, and they bought that to be a hub-and-spoke processing plant for some of the smaller producers around them. But they’ve also got their own assets there, and they’re looking to expand that as both a producing asset and a processing plant.
So I think as we bring these things together over the next six months into that RTO process, we’ll come out the other side as a completely different company with some very good cash flows coming through. We’ll inform the market as we go through what those will look like.
Proactive: As you mentioned, the transaction is classed as a reverse takeover. What are the key milestones shareholders should watch for as you move toward completion?
Myles Campion: I think the first thing we’ll be doing is our notice of meeting for our AGM, which is before the end of the year. That will be where we define what we’re giving back to shareholders as a capital distribution — as a first step. So that'll be the first thing to look for.
Then, as we go into the new year, all the hard work starts — CPRs, accountants, lawyers and so on. A lot of that work has already been done. And we’ll be moving through and informing the market as we go.
As production starts in some of these assets, we’ll inform the market. And we’ll be doing roadshows, probably in the first or second quarter of next year.
Proactive: Myles, how do you see Europa positioning itself within Africa’s fast-growing battery and critical minerals sector once the deal goes through?
Myles Campion: Yeah, I think the lithium mine in Blesberg is very key. As I said, it’s got a processing plant already there. It’s a big mineralised system. There are some offtakes in place that we already have.
We’re also looking at a potential project in the rare earths space as well. That’s something for shareholders to look out for. We’re in agreement on that — between ourselves, Marula, and a third party — to bring on board. So that’ll be pretty key, and hopefully that’ll be a very big win for both of us.
Proactive: Myles, I hope you'll continue to give us updates with your progress on that. Thank you very much for taking the time today.