TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwire) -- 09/28/11 -- AXMIN Inc. (TSX VENTURE: AXM) ("AXMIN" or the "Company") is pleased to announce today that it has closed the sale of a 51% of the shares of its subsidiary which holds the Company's Sierra Leone assets to Polo Resources Limited (TSX: POL)(AIM: POL) ("Polo") for a cash consideration of US$7.5 million. The Agreement pertains to the Company's subsidiary, Nimini Holdings Limited ("Nimini"), which holds the Nimini East, Nimini West and Matotoka exploration licences in Sierra Leone (collectively the "Project").
After the closing, Polo and AXMIN will hold a 51% and 49% interest, respectively, in Nimini, a private British Virgin Island company, which holds a 100% interest in the Project licences. Under terms of the Shareholder Agreement, pertaining to Nimini, Polo is to solely fund the first US$2 million of the Project exploration expenditures, following which both parties are to jointly fund exploration expenditures on a pro rata basis. Parties who elect not to participate will face dilution of their respective interest in Nimini. The board of directors of Nimini shall comprise two nominees of AXMIN and three nominees of Polo.
The Project is situated in the central-west Kono region of Sierra Leone, some 330 km east of the capital Freetown. AXMIN's principal asset is the Komahun Gold Project which is located within the wholly-owned Nimini Hills West Licence. Komahun has an Indicated Mineral Resource of 370,000 tonnes grading 9.1 g/t Au (110,000 ounces) and an Inferred Mineral Resource of 3.1 million tonnes grading 4.3 g/t Au (435,000 ounces). The remaining licences in Sierra Leone, being Nimini Hills East and Matotoka each are at an early stage of exploration.
The next phase of drilling, planned to re-start this quarter, will focus on depth extensions at Komahun Main Zone, potentially further defining the Western Zone and exploring the large Sendekor prospect. The Sendekor prospect, located 4 km to the southwest of Main Zone is defined by a banded iron stone formation, elongated geochemical anomaly (+60 ppb) and pitting over a 2.8 km length.
President and CEO of AXMIN, Mr. George Roach, comments, "The funds AXMIN will receive from this partial divestiture will greatly benefit the Company as we continue to direct the focus of our resources towards exploration and the finalization of the debt facility negotiations for the Passendro Gold Project in the Central African Republic. We look forward to the results of the next phase of drilling which will continue to explore the open-pit potential at the Komahun Main Zone and further define the project upside at both the Western Extension and Sendekor prospects. It is expected that Nimini will be in a position to update and increase the resources at Komahun after this next phase of drilling."
This press release has been reviewed by an in-house qualified person, Francois Auclair, M.Sc., AXMIN VP Exploration, Member of the Ordre des Geologues du Quebec and Fellow of the Geological Association of Canada, Qualified Person under the National Instrument 43-101.
About Polo
Polo is natural resource Investment Company focused on investing in undervalued companies and projects with strong fundamentals and attractive growth prospects. For complete details on Polo: www.poloresources.com.
About AXMIN
AXMIN is a Canadian exploration and development company with a strong focus on central and West Africa. AXMIN is positioned to grow in value as it progresses its Passendro Gold Project towards development and builds on its project pipeline focusing on transitioning from an explorer to producer. For more information regarding AXMIN visit our website at www.axmininc.com.
This press release includes certain "Forward-Looking Statements." All statements, other than statements of historical fact included herein, including without limitation, statements regarding future plans and objectives of AXMIN; and statements regarding the ability to develop and achieve production at Passendro, to revalidate the BFS and to satisfy the terms of the Mining Licence as negotiated, are forward-looking statements that involve various risks and uncertainties.
There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from AXMIN's expectations have been disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in AXMIN's documents filed from time-to-time with the TSX Venture Exchange and other regulatory authorities. AXMIN disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether resulting from new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Contacts:
AXMIN Inc.
George Roach
President & CEO
+44 779 626 3999
AXMIN Inc.
Judy Webster
Manager Investor Relations
416 368 0993 ext 221
ir@axmininc.com
www.axmininc.com