30 May 2024
Tribe
Technology PLC
("Tribe
Tech", the "Company" or the "Group")
Operational update and proposed CFO appointment
Tribe Technology PLC (AIM: TRYB), a
disruptive developer and manufacturer of autonomous drilling
equipment for the mining industry, provides the following updates
in relation to the Company's reverse circulation ("RC") drilling
cyclone and sample splitting system, the Company's first TTDS GC
700 drill rig and progress in relation to appointing a new Chief
Financial Officer ("CFO").
RC drilling cyclone and sample
splitting system
The Company is pleased to report the
sale and shipment of its first patent pending RC drilling cyclone
and sample splitting system (the "System"). The System was
purchased by Anglo American plc ("Anglo American") on 21 May 2024
and is being shipped from Perth to Johannesburg, South Africa. The
System will be used by Master Drilling (www.masterdrilling.com),
a drilling contractor to Anglo American, in grade control
application.
The System has been developed,
built, and tested by the Tribe Tech team in Perth, Western
Australia. It is designed to deliver superior sample quality
compared to existing RC sample systems on the market and can be
used with the TTDS GC 700 drill rig or as a retrofit to drill rigs
from other manufacturers. While the resultant revenues from the
sale of the System to Anglo American is anticipated not to be
substantial to the Group, the first sale and shipment of the System
represents a pivotal milestone for the Group and provides
confidence in the Group's go to market strategy to commercialise
both of these product lines.
Consumables shipment
Separate to the above, Tribe Tech
has also shipped the first batch of Tribe Tech drill rods and
accessories to McKay Drilling in Perth, Western Australia. The
6-metre-long drill rods and accessories incorporates the
proprietary Tribe Tech ACK3 thread design. This product has been
specifically designed for autonomous rod threading and unthreading
during drilling operations and will be used with the TTDS GC 700
drill rig.
McKay Drilling
(www.mckaydrilling.com.au)
is a subsidiary of Major Drilling International and has purchased
the Company's first TTDS GC 700 drill rig.
TTDS GC 700 autonomous drill rig
update
The Company has made significant
progress in relation to the testing and commissioning of the TTDS
GC 700 drill rig which is being done in collaboration with the
customer, McKay Drilling. We expect to finalise this phase at our
manufacturing site in Belfast in July 2024 and envisage that the
drill rig will be ready for dispatch for shipment to Australia by
the end of July 2024, expected to arrive in Australia by the end of
September 2024. Following arrival of the rig in Australia, the
Company plans to recognise the relevant revenues according to the
commercial contract with the client. This includes additional
product validation at our manufacturing site in Belfast in order to
shorten the cycle time for factory acceptance testing (FAT) and
field commissioning at customer site in Australia.
The delivery represents a delay from
the Company's March 2024 announcement. This is primarily due to
additional specifications and test compliance parameters which have
led to iterations of the control software to provide robust
performance and high degree of confidence of operation of the drill
rig in the field for our first Tier 1 customer.
Proposed CFO appointment
Further to the Company's
announcement on 10 January 2024, the Company is pleased to report
that it intends to appoint Kirsty McShane as CFO. It is anticipated
that she will commence her role in June 2024.
Kirsty is ACA qualified and has a
degree in law and finance as well as a Master in Corporate
Governance and Policy. Kirsty commenced her training and career at
PwC Belfast in the corporate finance team. Kirsty has worked as a
Finance Director for Bamford Bus Company and separately as Group
Finance Director at Wright Group Ltd. Kirsty brings a wealth of
financial, management and operational scaling
experience.
The Board would like to sincerely
thank Eric Hampel, our current CFO, for his contributions to the
business, including most notably through the foundational and IPO
phase and we wish him every success in his new role.
The proposed appointment of Kirsty
McShane as CFO remains subject to approval from the Company's
nominated adviser and completion of the customary due diligence to
satisfy itself as to board composition and the suitability of the
proposed director for the purpose of the AIM Rules for Nominated
Advisers.
A further announcement will be made
at the appropriate time with regards to the proposed CFO
appointment.
Charlie King, Chief Executive
Officer at Tribe Tech, commented:
"We are delighted with this
significant milestone of the shipment of our first sample system
products to our valued clients. These products have been undergoing
trials in Western Australia for some time - at a mine site in the
Pilbara region and at our test facility in the Australian
Automation & Robotics Precinct near Perth.
Whilst we have experienced some
delays with the delivery of the first drill rig, however we are
confident that the product will achieve best in class performance
in the industry and provide increasing Safety, Productivity &
Reliability in the field.
Lastly, we are very excited to
announce the proposed appointment of Kirsty as CFO within our team.
Her wealth of expertise within manufacturing industries, financial
planning and scaling businesses will be essential in the growth
phase of the company."
-END-
For further information, please
visit www.tribetechgroup.com or
contact:
Tribe Technology PLC
|
via
Tavistock
|
Charlie King, Chief Executive
Officer
Eric Hampel, Chief Financial
Officer
|
|
|
|
Allenby Capital Limited (Nominated Adviser and
Broker)
|
+44 20
3328 5656
|
John Depasquale / Vivek Bhardwaj /
Lauren Wright (Corporate Finance)
Tony Quirke / Joscelin Pinnington
(Sales & Corporate Broking)
|
info@allenbycapital.com
|
|
|
Tavistock (Financial
PR)
|
+44
20 7920 3150
|
Rebecca Hislaire /
Saskia Sizen
|
tribetech@tavistock.co.uk
|
About Tribe Tech
Established in 2019, the Group was
founded to create a safer, more efficient work environment through
the development of fully autonomous reverse circulation drill rigs
in the mining industry. The Group's core activities are the
development, in-house manufacturing, and sale of its autonomous RC
Drill Rigs incorporating its core proprietary intellectual
property, the Tribe Technology Drilling System ("TTDS").