1st Mar 2016 16:08
LONDON (Alliance News) - AIM-listed copper miner Weatherly International PLC said Tuesday it has seen "significant progress" despite difficult market conditions in its first half and operations at its Tschudi mine in Namibia exceeded guidance in the first full quarter of commercial production.
For the financial half year to end-December, the company reported a pretax loss of USD11.4 million, widened from a pretax loss of USD5.2 million a year before, as revenue fell to USD15.9 million from USD22.5 million.
Production from Tschudi exceeded the company's guidance of 10,400 tonnes of copper cathode by 2% to reach 10,659 tonnes produced in calendar year 2015, Weatherly said.
However, the price of copper remained under pressure, falling to USD4,701 a tonne at the end of 2015 from USD5,720 per tonne at the beginning of July. Whilst this put pressure on revenue, the depreciation of the South African rand against the dollar helped reduce costs, Weatherly said.
The company said if copper prices remain at their current levels, it is unlikely it will be able to generate sufficient surplus cash to meet all of its loan repayments, and its ability to be a going concern will be dependent on continued support from private equity firm Orion Mine Finance.
"Despite difficult market conditions, this period has been one of significant progress for Weatherly, and I am pleased with the achievements the company has made since July 2015," said Chief Executive Officer Craig Thomas in a statement.
"Operations at the Tschudi mine have exceeded the company's guidance and the first full quarter of commercial production, achieved at the end of last year, was a major milestone. In addition to this production success, Weatherly has also produced a resource, reserve and processing update that increases ore reserves, reduces life of mine C1 costs and identifies expansion opportunities," Thomas added.
Shares in Weatherly were up 9.1% at 0.250 pence Tuesday afternoon.
By Hana Stewart-Smith; [email protected]; @HanaSSAllNews
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