16th Mar 2015 08:01
LONDON (Alliance News) - Ferrum Crescent Ltd Monday said its pretax loss narrowed in the first half of the financial year and said it has restarted the process of securing a bankable feasibility study for the Moonlight project in South Africa.
The iron ore developer, which is based in South Africa and generates little in revenue, reported a AUD433,153 pretax loss for the six months ended December 31, narrower than the AUD1.7 million loss reported in the same period a year earlier.
The loss narrowed after Ferrum recorded a AUD327,961 gain on financial instruments during the period, compared to a similar AUD642,742 loss in the first half of the last fiscal year. Ferrum said it swung to a gain due to the movement in the underlying company share price and the exchange rate between the Australian dollar and the South African rand.
Ferrum also reported reductions in expenses and share-based payments alongside doubling its foreign exchange gain to AUD107,897 from AUD47,802. This was partially offset by a rise in exploration expenditure to AUD204,194 for the first half from AUD142,310 a year earlier.
At the end of December, Ferrum reported a cash balance of AUD1.1 million.
The company is focused on its sole project, the Moonlight iron ore mine. The company is currently analysing drill core samples and said the results are expected before the end of the first quarter of 2015. Ferrum will then analyse the bulk samples to complete all mining cost components of the project in order to move toward securing a bankable feasibility study, it said.
"The recommencement of the Moonlight bankable feasibility study at the end of the period should allow us to start the process of completing final mine design costings. My belief is that while public markets and commodity markets are still very challenging we have made the right decision in progressing our high-grade iron resource at this time," said Managing Director Tom Revy.
Ferrum is also conducting site visits with potential investors, working on the first stage of a domestic supply model with South African steel producers and updating its corporate social responsibility report, which will allow it to secure funding with partners it is currently talking to, it said.
By Joshua Warner; [email protected]; @JoshAlliance
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