Beowulf Mining plc (LON:BEM) have told the market that their loss has narrowed across 2019, within an optimistic update for the firm.
The miner also added that it is making progress on its projects in Scandinavia and Kosovo.
Kurt Budge, Chief Executive Officer of Beowulf, commented:
“During 2018, we made significant progress in Kosovo with Vardar. Exploration success, developing our understanding of copper and gold porphyry potential at both the Mitrovica and Viti projects, has provided the basis for continued investment and increased ownership, with Beowulf now owning 42.2 per cent of Vardar.
Porphyry deposits are very large, low grade, polymetallic systems, that typically contain copper along with other metals, such as gold, silver, zinc and lead.
At Mitrovica, located near to the world class Stan Terg lead-zinc-silver mine, potential not only exists for the discovery of additional lead-zinc-silver deposits, but also for the discovery of high-level epithermal gold deposits and for copper-zinc deposits.
Looking at the figures, Beowulf reported a pretax loss of £419,334 for 2019 – this improved on the £1.4 million loss recorded across 2018.
The firm noted that it had secured a £563,431 gain on acquisition in 2019, whilst across 2018 Beowulf saw impairment costs totaling £571,456 from exploration costs.
Notably, the firm added that subsidiary firm Oy Fennoscandian Resources AB saw another strong year, as it reported an 81% surge in contained graphite at Aitolampi project in Finland.
Beowulf also added that they exercised their option in Vardar, to invest a further £115,000 to take the company’s ownership of Vardar from 37.6 per cent to 40.1 per cent. A further investment of £100,000 in November took the Company’s ownership to 41.5 per cent.
Budge added: “Beowulf is in the business of exploring for minerals and developing mining projects, thereby creating shareholder value. We are not interested in fighting legal battles, but if forced to do so to get a fair outcome, we will pursue that course of action with vigour. We have completed the groundwork with our legal advisors, making our case for being awarded the Concession and assessing our legal options should the Swedish Government continue to stall on a decision.
Vardar has been a clear highlight for the period and an exciting addition to Beowulf. Fennoscandian is cementing its position in Finland’s emerging battery sector. When it comes to Kallak, we have been steadfast in our commitment to the project since we were first granted an exploration licence in 2006. We have invested over SEK 80 million.
Most importantly, there is significant local support for Kallak, which we intend to honour by partnering with the community in the development of a modern, sustainable and innovative mining operation, thereby contributing to the resurgence of Jokkmokk; a brighter economic future for the town, one that it deserves.
“We look forward to keeping the market updated on further developments across our business areas.”
Beowulf continue to grow from third quarter
Across the third quarter, Beowulf reported that their loss continued to shrink.
Beowulf enlightened shareholders that they had narrowed their total loss in the third quarter, following a large exploration cost impairment one year ago.
The miner, which is still in its development phase and has yet to generate revenue, reported that pretax loss shrank to £309,344 from £407,287 the previous year.
Share based payment expenses fell from £49,519 to £26,566 whilst administration expenses rose to £283,310 from £211,029.
Shares in Beowulf Mining trade at 4p. 2/3/20 14:14BST.