Strategic Minerals : Update on Acquisition of Leigh Creek Copper Mine

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15 January 2018

Strategic Minerals plc

('Strategic Minerals' or 'the Company')

Update on Acquisition of Leigh Creek Copper Mine

Strategic Minerals plc (AIM: SML; USOTC: SMCDY), the diversified mineral development and production company, wishes to inform the market that the exchange of contracts and hence settlement of the acquisition of Leigh Creek Copper Mine has been delayed by a combination of the December holiday period and the need to satisfy a number of conditions precedent associated with the purchase being of an existing company, inclusive of mineral rights. It is anticipated that binding contracts will be exchanged in the coming weeks and settlement will occur once all conditions precedents are met. Notably, while it is intended to undertake the purchase through the Company's 100% owned subsidiary, Ebony Iron Pty Ltd, the transaction will still need to be cleared by the Australian Foreign Investment Review Board.

Management and the Board consider the conditions precedents to be primarily administrative and have been working with the vendors, Resilience Mining Australia, to exchange and complete on the sale and purchase agreement as soon as possible.

Commenting, John Peters, Managing Director of Strategic Minerals, said:

'Time taken to complete necessary legal due diligence and the impact of the Christmas period have combined to delay the exchange of contracts for the acquisition of Leigh Creek Copper Mine. We have no concerns about completing the transaction but want to ensure that all procedures are completed properly to reduce risk to the Company.'

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Notes to Editors Strategic Minerals Plc is an AIM-quoted, diversified mineral development and production company with projects in the United States of America, the UK and Australia. The Company is focused on acquiring and developing cash generative, high quality projects which meet local market demand for commodities and utilising this cash flow to undertake value added exploration. In September 2011, Strategic Minerals purchased its first cash-generating asset; the Cobre magnetite tailings dam project in New Mexico, USA which it brought into production in 2012 and which continues to provide a revenue stream for the Company. The portfolio was expanded in January 2016 with the acquisition of shares in Central Australian Rare Earths Pty Ltd, which holds tenements in Western Australia and the Northern Territory that are prospective for cobalt, gold, nickel sulphides and rare earth elements. The Company has since acquired all shares in Central Australian Rare Earths Pty Ltd. In May 2016, an additional exploration asset was acquired when the Company entered into an agreement with New Age Exploration Limited to acquire up to 50% of the Redmoor Tin/Tungsten project in Cornwall, UK. This 50% acquisition has now been completed and drilling at the project has commenced. The Company is also currently in the process of settling the acquisition of the Leigh Creek Copper Mine situated in the copper rich belt of South Australia.