SIR SAM ESSON JONAH

$1.2 Billion

EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN, JONAH CAPITAL

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Age: 67

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Wealth: SELF MADE, INVESTMENTS

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Education: CAMBORNE SCHOOL OF MINES, ASSOCIATESHIP IN MINING ENGINEERING, IMPERIAL COLLEGE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, MASTER’S DEGREE, MINE MANAGEMENT

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Known For: ANGLOGOLD ASHANTI

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OVERVIEW

Sir Sam Jonah reached the prime of his career when he led the $1.48 billion merger between Ashanti Goldfields and AngloGold in 2004. A lot of mining companies have benefited from Sam Jonah's expertise in the mining industry. Sam's equity fund, Jonah Capital owns 14 mineral resource assets across 10 countries in Africa.

Sam helped Equinox Minerals; a mining exploration company based in Zambia to increase its market share capitalization in 2006 and was sold to the Barrick Gold Corporation for $7.4 million. Moto Goldmines, another mining company which benefited from Jonah's experience in mining, grew from a $50 million market capitalization company and was sold to Randgold Resources and AngloGold Ashanti in October, 2009.

When he became chairman and shareholder of Scharrighuisen (buying in on concessionary terms), Jonah went on to rebrand Scharrighuisen as a new mining services company to be called Sentula Mining. Jonah Capital and Coronation Capital were the two largest shareholders when they sold some of their shares, at around $2.60. The combined sales were reported to amount to $85.4 million.

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NET WORTH SUMMARY

Sam Jonah acquired most of his fortune through Jonah Capital, a holding company and private equity firm that makes investments in the mining sector, real estate, agriculture, construction materials, financial services, oil and gas services. The private equity firm is 78% owned by the Jonah Family and 22% by Standard Bank

Sir Sam Jonah’s family trust, Sttar Trust sold  51% share of its holding stake  in the Metropolitan Insurance Company (Met Insurance), which is the fourth largest Insurance firm in Ghana, for an undisclosed sum to Hollard Insurance Group (comprising the Hollard Insurance Company and Hollard Life Assurance Company), South Africa’s largest privately-owned insurance group. Sttar Trust’s shares have reduced to 35 percent. 

Sam Jonah’s Bayport Management Ltd also holds a 10 percent interest in Bayport, a leading Sub Saharan-African micro-lender with operations in Ghana, Zambia, Tanzania, Uganda and, recently, Colombia where it supplies consumer finance to more than 300,000 clients.

Jonah Capital owns 58.9% of Cape Concentrate (Pty) Ltd, a plant located at the Coega Industrial Development Zone in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, for the processing of tomatoes to produce aseptic tomato paste.

In the agricultural sector, Jonah Capital owns 100 percent of Green Concessions, a large-scale farming venture that holds 10,000ha of agricultural land in Ghana’s maize belt, Nsawkaw, in the Brong-Ahafo region and focus on the cultivation and production of staple foods such as maize, soya and rice.

Jonah Capital has signed a letter of intent with a major international player in the sugar sector to become its local partner in the development of a sugar refinery in West Africa. Under the proposed terms of the Joint Venture, the joint venture partners aim to establish and operate a refinery capable of producing 300,000 tonnes of sugar per annum, at an estimated capital cost of approximately $61 million.

Africa-focused iron-ore mining company Cavalla Resources, which is 100 percent owned by Jonah Capital, has completed a definitive feasibility study (DFS) on its Buchanan iron-ore project, in Buchanan, Liberia. Once operational, will produce 1.2-million tonnes a year of 65% iron concentrate over five years from an iron-ore fines stockpile above surface. In addition to the Buchanan project, Cavalla Resources has six exploration licences in Liberia. The company conducted exploration on two of the licences in joint venture (JV) with iron ore major Kumba Iron Ore and Anglo American, while it is developing the other four sites on its own, such as the Nimba South iron-ore project, in Liberia. The six exploration licences cover more than 4 000 km2. This makes Jonah Capital the largest holder of iron ore exploration properties in Liberia.

Additionally, Jonah Capital owns a 100% share in the Kasempa Copper and Cobalt Project, in north-western Zambia. The project is in its exploration stage.

African Energy Resources (AFR) a company which Jonah Capital owns a 50% stake entered into a binding shareholders agreement with First Quantum Minerals, In June 2010  African Energy Resource discovered the Sese coal deposit in eastern Botswana, and recognized the potential to develop multiple projects from a single, massive resource. Total resources now stand at 2.65 billion tonnes, of which over 625 metric tonnes are in the Measured Resource category, sufficient for projects spanning several decades.

The company acquired the Mmamabula West Coal Project, which is estimated to hold potential coal reserves of 2.4billion tones from Asenjo Energy, Asenjo Energy operates three coal projects in the Southern African nation, which have been estimated to contain coal reserves of about six billion tonnes.

Jonah Capital  owns 50% stake in Indongo Mining Ltd which established the Mulungwa Coal Mining Project at an estimated $10 million, in Mulungwa Basin, Zambia it produces 840 000 tonnes of coal per annum.

In 2009, Gulf Resources completed the acquisition of the Namekara Vermiculite mining operation in east Uganda from Rio Tinto International Holdings Ltd.  The cash consideration component was US$1 million. Jonah Capital then agreed to invest approximately $1.2 million in Gulf Resources.  Jonah Capital currently controls a 41% stake in Gulf Resources.

Jonah Capital has the largest stake in the company, Iron Mineral Benification Services in South Africa and owns 41%; the company holds the patent which is using industry changing technology for processing super scrap, metallic iron, from the waste dump at Phalaborwa Mining Company, in South Africa’s Limpopo Province. The super scrap replaces traditional scrap in steel making. International Iron Benefication Group Ltd an international body owns 22.6%.

Jonah Capital operates its interests in the oil & gas services sector through its wholly owned subsidiary, Gryphon Energy Holdings Ltd, a company incorporated in Mauritius and wholly owned by Jonah Capital Holdings.  A wholly-owned subsidiary incorporated in Ghana is licensed and registered with the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation to provide support services to the upstream oil & gas industry in Ghana and plans are being developed for expansion into other countries in west and central Africa.

Jonah Capital has incorporated Gryphon Infrastructure Ltd in Mauritius, as a wholly owned subsidiary of Jonah Capital Holdings, to hold its investments in the construction materials sector.

Jonah Capital has acquired the lease to a quarry site in Ghana. This quarry is a 36ha granite quarry located in the Shai Hills near Accra.  Jonah Capital is in discussion with a number of potential strategic operating partners to acquire 6 other quarries in Africa.

Mobus Property Holdings Ltd another subsidiary of Jonah Capital is a privately-held Ghanaian property investment, development and management company focusing on commercial and residential property development. Mobus boasts over $100 million worth of property developments in its three to five year development pipeline in Accra. The group has currently 150,000 m² (15 ha) of land under development for residential, commercial and industrial purposes

Jonah Capital has established Mobus Property Holdings Ltd in Mauritius, as a wholly owned subsidiary of Jonah Capital Holdings, to hold the real estate assets. Mobus owns a Portfolio of three development projects in Accra: one commercial, one residential and one retail development.  Jonah Capital owns 100% of the equity in each of the projects and has obtained debt finance to help fund their development.

As Chairman of the board of Moto Goldmine, Sam Jonah was paid an annual retainer of C$100,000 and also had a total entitlement of options to acquire an aggregate of 4,192,100 common shares. As at April 17, 2008 Mr. Jonah also held 2,717,874 common shares in Moto Goldmine. Moto Goldmines was sold to Randgold Resources Ltd /AngloGold Ashanti Ltd for C$546 million in August 2009.

Jonah Capital acquired 6 million shares and 3 million options, representing approximately 3% of the share capital of UraMin Inc., and Sir Sam Jonah was appointed Chairman in January 2006. The company’s shares were admitted to trading on AIM in April 2006, raising $60 million on IPO. UraMin Inc. acquired four uranium exploration assets located in Central African Republic, Namibia, and South Africa. UraMin Inc. was sold to Areva Group for $2.5 billion in July 2007.

According to Vodafone Group Plc’s 2014 Annual Report, Sam Jonah is paid an annual salary of GBP 151,000 and benefits of GBP 160,000 for being a non-executive director at Vodafone Group Plc, his interest in shares also stood at 30,190 shares. He has served a non-executive board member since 2009.

Jonah Capital sold 58% of its holding in Sentula Mining Limited for 21.75 Rand per share in March 2008 a company which had revenues of 2.66 billion Rands and total assets of 4.5 billion Rands.

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Visibility Ratings: A