23rd Jan 2015 09:33
LONDON (Alliance News) - Frontier Mining Ltd shares plummeted on Friday after it said lower levels of production in the latter part of 2014 have led to copper sales being "insufficient to cover production costs", as it announced it has closed the Benkala mine for the winter, which will give the company time to hold potential partnership talks.
Frontier shares were down 20% to 0.200 pence per share on Friday morning.
The miner with operations in Kazakhstan said it sold 1,276 tonnes of copper cathode in the year ended December 31, and warned that lower levels of production toward the end of 2014 have meant copper sales have been insufficient to cover its production costs.
The Benkala mine was closed on Sunday for the winter months. The company did not state when the mine would be re-opened, but said the closure will give it time to discuss potential partnership agreements with various parties. Benkala is Frontier's only producing mine.
"The winter closing allows the company, which continues to be cash constrained, to conserve capital as discussions continue with various parties to enter into a partnership agreement with Frontier for its Benkala project," it said.
"During 2015, Frontier plans to restructure its existing debt facilities and secure a new investor to enable the company to increase copper cathode production levels at Benkala," added Frontier.
By Joshua Warner; [email protected]; @JoshAlliance
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