16th Sep 2019 12:15
(Alliance News) - Phoenix Copper Ltd on Monday said its loss in the first half of 2019 remained broadly unchanged as it continued to make progress on the US copper project.
The precious metals exploration and development company reported a pretax loss of USD666,682 for the six months to the end of June compared will USD679,817 loss a year earlier.
The company did not generate any revenue in either years as it is currently developing Empire copper mine, located in the US state of Idaho. Phoenix said it plans an average annual production of 7,665 tons of copper equivalent over the 11 year life of the mine, with initial production of 8,600 tons per annum.
With an initial estimated capital cost of USD51 million, and a life-of-mine copper equivalent cash cost of USD1.33 per pound in the early years, rising to USD1.72 per pound, the project generates a life of mine earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization of USD202 million, the company noted.
Phoenix said it also has 139,000 ounces of gold and 6 million ounces of silver in the open pit at Empire, which are not included in the projections.
"We believe that the Empire open pit represents the first stage in a potential world class mine, surrounded by significant exploration upside, and offering exposure to high-value metals with compelling demand and supply fundamentals, and a major role to play in a new world order of clean energy and electric vehicles," said Chair Marcus Edwards-Jones.
He added: "We are working closely with our project finance advisers, Medea Natural Resources, on raising the mezzanine and construction finance, predominantly through debt rather than equity, and look forward to updating the market with developments in the coming months."
Phoenix shares were untraded on Monday in London, last closing at 16.25 pence each.
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