29th Sep 2015 09:53
LONDON (Alliance News) - Richland Resources Ltd Tuesday said its pretax loss widened in the first half of 2015 as it progresses its sapphire mine in Australia through the pre-production phase.
The gemstone miner reported a USD983,000 pretax loss in the first six months of 2015, widening from the USD458,000 loss a year earlier, as its small amount of revenue fell to USD278,000 from USD306,000. The wider loss was caused by operating expenses rising to USD1.1 million from USD583,000.
Alongside that revenue drop, its gross margin plummeted to 28% to yield a USD78,000 gross profit compared to a 41% margin last year which generated a USD125,000 profit.
At the end of June, Richland had a cash balance of USD3.4 million with no debt.
Richland is currently in the pre-production phase at its Capricorn Sapphire project in Australia, where it produced 3,000 carats in the first half which are being sold by its new online selling platform.
"The period saw Richland undertake an intense period of mine redevelopment at the new Capricorn Sapphire project in Queensland Australia. Pre-production and ramp-up began within months of our team getting on the ground at site with first sapphires now recovered," said Chief executive Bernard Olivier.
"As ramp-up continues our marketing and sales teams have also commenced our sales process and the establishment of our sapphire brand as a reliable source of gemstones with full provenance in terms of both quality and source," he added.
Richland shares were down 6.7% to 3.50 pence per share on Tuesday morning.
By Joshua Warner; [email protected]; @JoshAlliance
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