17th Jun 2019 15:56
(Alliance News) - Starvest PLC said Monday it swung to a profit in the first half of its financial year due to strong performances within its portfolio of London-listed miners.
The mineral exploration-focused investment company reported a pretax profit of GBP640,451 for the six months to the end of March, compared to a loss of GBP512,673 the year before.
Starvest made a revenue of GBP27,165, whereas it had made none in the prior year.
Net asset value at March 31 was 4.15 pence per share, up 24% from 3.33p at September 30.
Within Starvest's portfolio, Greatland Gold continued exploration activities on its Paterson area licences as well as reporting strong results from drilling at Haverion, both in Australia.
Ariana Resources PLC continued to report good production results from its Kiziltepe mine in Turkey, with 7,296 ounces of gold extracted in the first quarter of 2019, and exceeding quarterly guidance by 17%.
Also, Cora Gold PLC continued exploration activities on its Sanankoro project in Mali, identifying zones of gold mineralisation within a 14 kilometres long structural corridor yet to be fully tested.
Independent consultants have calculated an initial exploration target of between 30 to 50 million tonnes of ore, at an average grade of 1.0 to 1.3 grams per tonne for 1.0 to 2.0 million ounces of gold.
"Whilst the commodities market remains flat the board of Starvest believes the company is well positioned when the sector enters its next upcycle. We continue to expect robust demand for energy and metals over the medium and long term and look forward to providing further updates to investors and the market," said Chair and CEO Callum Baxter.
Shares in Starvest were up 2.7% at 1.90 pence on Monday.
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