Xtract Resources plc (former names: Resmex plc and Xtract Energy plc) is a diversified metals and minerals producer based in London, United Kingdom. The company's shares are traded on London Stock Exchange Alternative Investment Market.[1] Its CEO is Colin Bird.[1][2] The primary focus of the company is gold and copper exploration and mining. The company's main assets are located in Chile, Mozambique, and South Africa.

Xtract Resources plc
Company typePublic
AIM: XTR
IndustryMining
PredecessorResmex plc
Xtract Energy plc
Founded2004 (2004)
Headquarters
London
,
United Kingdom
Area served
Chile
South Africa
Mozambique
Key people
Colin Bird, CEO
Fiona J Henderson, Board member and Shareholder
Revenue$24.7 million
Websitextractresources.com

History

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The company was established in October 2004 as Resmex plc. In March 2005, its shares were listed on London Stock Exchange Alternative Investment Market.

In August 2005, Resmex acquired Sermines de Mexico S.A. de C.V., which owned mineral exploration and development rights in three concessions in the California–Sonora Gold Belt in Mexico.[3] In 2006, it acquired Xtract Oil Limited, an Australian oil shale company developing the Julia Creek oil shale deposit, from Intermin Resources Limited. To finance this deal, it issued new shares to Cambrian Mining, which became the major shareholder of Resmex.[4] Correspondingly, the company changed its name to Xtract Energy, starting from 2 May 2006.

In October 2006, Xtract Energy purchased 19.5% of Wasabi Energy Ltd, 18.6% of Aviva Corporation (not affiliated with Aviva Energy Corp.) and 28.2% of Cambrian Oil & Gas from Cambrian Mining. Later, Cambrian Oil & Gas merged to Xtract through which Xtract got shareholdings in MEO Australia Ltd and Elko Energy, and ownership of Zhibek Resources, a company involved in oil and gas activities in Kyrgyzstan.[5] In August 2007, Xtract sold its interests in Aviva Corporation to Wasabi Energy in exchange for new shares and warrants in Wasabi. The shareholding in Wasabi was sold in 2009.[6] At the same year, the shareholding in MEO Australia was sold.[7]

In 2008, Xtract together with Merty Energy, Petroleum Exploration, Education and Services Inc established a joint venture Extrem Energy A.S. for oil exploration and production activities in Turkey.[8]

In May 2012, Xtract transferred its holdings in Zhibek Resources to Caspian Oil & Gas (now: Equus Mining Limited) in exchange of a minority shareholding in that company, and exit from Kyrgyzstan.[9]

In December 2012, Xtract Energy disposed its oil shale interests by transferring 100% stake in Xtract Oil Limitedand 70% stake in Xtract Energy (Oil Shale) Morocco S.A. to Global Oil Shale Group Limited in exchange of the strategic stake in that company.[10][11]

On 25 June 2013, the company changed its name to Xtract Resources. It was refocused into a mining industry.[2]

In 2014, Xtract bought the Chepica gold and copper mine in Chile.[12] The deal included also the acquisition of the Mejillones phosphate deposit;[12] however, that deposit was resold to Mines Global later at the same year.[13] In 2015, Xtract bought the Manica gold mining project in Mozambique.[14]

Operations

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Gold mining

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In Chile, Xtract develops the Chépica gold and copper mine. As of November 2015, gold reefs have been discovered at Salvadori and Colin prospects, while the development of the Chepica prospect had reached a depth of 90 metres (300 ft).[15] The full ownership of the project would transferred to Xtract by December 2016.[16] Together with Mineral Technologies International, Xtract develops the Fair Bride open pit project, a part of the Manica gold licence in Mozambiue.[14][17]

Copper mining

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In South Africa, Xtract has exclusive rights to acquire the O'Kiep and Carolusberg copper sulphide dump projects.[16] Located within 30 kilometres (19 mi) of Springbok, Northern Cape, with 33.8 million tonnes of sulphide copper tailings material on surface, the priority is to carry out drilling, sampling and metallurgical work in order to commission a feasibility report. According to the agreement with a copper producer Shirley Hayes IPK Pty Ltd, Xtract has rights to evaluate the Concordia project copper dumps in Southn Africa, including of 182,000 tonnes of copper oxide material on surface.[18]

Past activities

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Conventional oil and gas

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Elko Energy Inc, a wholly owned by Xtract Energy, is a Canadian registered oil and gas exploration company which had exploration and production activities in North Sea.[19][20] The company owned a 33% stake in license for the North Sea blocks 1/11 and 02/05 (Luna probe), other partners being Noreco and the Danish North Sea Fund.[21] The license was relinquished the attempt to find petroleum was unsuccessful.[22] In the Dutch sector of the North Sea, the company had rights for 5% of royalties from the Chevron-operated block P2-10.[23]

Through Zhibek Resources, Xtract was involved in oil and gas activities in Kyrgyzstan, including an exploration of the Tash Kumyr licence area and development of the Beshkent–Togap oil field.[9][24][25] Through the shareholding in MEO Australia Ltd, Xtract was involved in Tassie Shoal Methanol Project and Timor Sea LNG and GTL projects.[5] Through Extrem Energy, it was engaged in the development of the offshore fields at the Gulf of Çandarlı and the Sea of Marmara, and onshore fields of Edirne, Siraseki, and Alasehir/Sarakiz in Turkey.[26]

Oil shale

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Through Xtract Oil, the company developed the 709-square-kilometre (274 sq mi) Julia Creek oil shale concession area in Queensland, and oil shale deposits in New Zealand. In 2013, Xtract Oil was transferred to the Global Oil Shale Group.[10][27] To extract oil from the Julia Creek oil shale resource, the Galoter process was proposed.[27] At the same time, Xtract Technologies, a subsidiary of Xtract Oil, developed a supercritical solvent shale oil extraction technology which is a type of the donor solvent technology. In this process, oil shale would be processed in enclosed vessels in the presence of hydrogen solvents. The company claimed that the process would be carried out at moderate temperatures that do not liberate carbon dioxide.[28] Through a 70% stake in Xtract Energy (Oil Shale) Morocco SA, a joint venture with Alraed of Saudi Arabia, Xtract Energy evaluated an oil shale deposit near Tarfaya, Morocco.[29]

Other activities

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Xtract Energy had 19.4% in Wasabi Energy, which through its subsidiaries was involved in uranium, geothermal and coal activities.[19]

References

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  1. ^ a b Dick, Warren (2015-10-19). "Interview: Xtract Resources CEO Jan Nelson". Mineweb. Moneyweb Holdings Ltd. Archived from the original on 2015-10-20. Retrieved 2015-12-27.
  2. ^ a b Williams, Lawrie (2015-07-17). "The rise and rise of Jan Nelson (and Xtract)". Mineweb. Moneyweb Holdings Ltd. Archived from the original on 2020-01-28. Retrieved 2015-12-27.
  3. ^ "Resmex plc - Amended: acquisition" (Press release). Resmex plc. 2005-08-08. Retrieved 2015-12-23.
  4. ^ "Resmex plc - Investments and equity issue" (Press release). Resmex plc. 2005-10-19. Retrieved 2015-12-23.
  5. ^ a b Griggs, Tom (2007-02-13). "Cambrian agrees Xtract takeover". Financial Times. Retrieved 2015-12-27.
  6. ^ "Xtract Energy sells remaining stake in Wasabi Energy, raises Elko Energy holding" (Press release). Xtract Energy. 2009-09-24. Retrieved 2015-12-23.
  7. ^ "Xtract Energy sells remainder of MEO Australia shares" (Press release). Xtract Energy. 2009-08-17. Retrieved 2015-12-27.
  8. ^ "Xtract Energy in Talks with Merty Energy on Future Ventures" (Press release). Xtract Energy. 2008-07-16. Archived from the original on 2013-07-03. Retrieved 2008-08-18.
  9. ^ a b Lamberti, Andre (2012-05-04). "Xtract Energy exits Kyrgyzstan joint venture". Proactive Investors. Retrieved 2015-12-27.
  10. ^ a b "Global Oil Shale completes Julia Creek (Australia) 2.18 billion barrel oil shale resource acquisition from Xtract Energy plc" (Press release). Global Oil Shale Group. 2012-12-17. Retrieved 2015-12-23.
  11. ^ "Company Overview of Xtract Oil Limited". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on 2017-07-01. Retrieved 2015-12-23.
  12. ^ a b "Polar Star Mining Completes Sale of Chepica Mine" (Press release). Polar Star Mining Corporation. 2014-03-04. Retrieved 2015-12-27.
  13. ^ "Sale of 100% of Mejillones Phosphate Deposit" (Press release). Xtract Resources. 2014-10-02. Retrieved 2015-12-27.
  14. ^ a b Whiterow, Philip (29 June 2015). "Xtract Resources buys Mozambique prospect for US$12.5mln". Proactive Investors. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
  15. ^ Whiterow, Philip (30 November 2015). "Xtract Resources makes good progress with Chepica development". Proactive Investors. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
  16. ^ a b Whiterow, Philip (12 November 2015). "Xtract Resources negotiates extensions at Chepica and O'Kiep". Proactive Investors. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
  17. ^ Ford, Alaistar (20 October 2015). "Xtract Resources signs deal for alluvial gold production at Manica". Proactive Investors. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
  18. ^ "Xtract Resources Signs Terms For Concordia Copper Dumps (ALLISS)". Alliance News. 2015-04-23. Retrieved 2015-12-27.
  19. ^ a b "Xtract Energy plc - Result of EGM" (Press release). Xtract Energy. 2008-01-15. Archived from the original on 2013-02-01. Retrieved 2008-08-18.
  20. ^ Arora, Juhi (2011-06-21). "Xtract Energy to buy out Elko for 9.4 mln stg". Reuters. Archived from the original on July 1, 2018. Retrieved 2012-06-30.
  21. ^ Marshall, Steve (2012-06-27). "Xtract in cash squeeze after Luna claim". Upstream Online. NHST Media Group. Retrieved 2015-12-27.
  22. ^ Lehane, Bill (2013-11-26). "Nordic Energy renews data off Denmark". Upstream Online. NHST Media Group. Retrieved 2015-12-27.
  23. ^ "Xtract Energy: P2-10 Well Operations Frustrated by Weather". Natural Gas Europe. 2011-12-13. Retrieved 2015-12-27.
  24. ^ "Santos to Farm-In to Xtract's Kyrgyz Exploration Program" (Press release). Xtract Energy. 2008-10-22. Retrieved 2015-12-27.
  25. ^ "Xtract Energy's Kyrgyz JV gets approval to drill exploration well". Interactive Investors. 2010-05-11. Retrieved 2015-12-27.
  26. ^ "SXtract Energy and Merty Energy update on JV plans in Turkey". Scandinavian Oil-Gas Magazine. 2008-10-03. Retrieved 2015-12-27.
  27. ^ a b Marshall, Steve (2012-06-28). "Xtract partner pact on Julia Creek". Upstream Online. NHST Media Group. Retrieved 2015-12-27.
  28. ^ Wilkinson, Rick (2006-05-29). "New technology raises oil shale hopes in Qld". Petroleum News. Archived from the original on 2006-08-19. Retrieved 2008-08-18.
  29. ^ United States Geological Survey (2010). Minerals Yearbook, 2008, V. 3, Area Reports, International, Africa and the Middle East. United States Government Publishing Office. p. 30.3. ISBN 9781411329652.
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