Savannah Resources (LON:SAV) boss David Archer reckons 2016 will be a "transformational" year for the firm, as it targets commercial copper production in Oman later in the following year.
The miner reported an increased loss before tax in the year to end 2015 to £3.1mln from £1.9mln in 2014 due to a £0.7mln loss on the disposal of its listed interests and a £1mln associated impairment.
It has a solid cash position of £2mln following the investment from private investment trust Al Marjan, which recently backed the firm in a £1.75mln placing.
Highlights of the year gone included defining an exploration target of between 150,000 and 700,000 tonnes of contained copper estimated for Block 4 and 5 in Oman, and an agreement inked with titan Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) to combine Rio's Mutamba Project and Savannah's adjacent Jangamo project in a joint venture located in a world-class heavy mineral sands (HMS) province in Mozambique.
Archer said: "With defined development strategies in place targeting commercial copper production in late 2017, and a planned fast paced, staged evaluation of Mutamba/Jangamo I believe 2016 will be a transformational year for the company."
He added: "Key milestones to look out for in Oman include an increase in the current copper Mineral Resource in addition to improved confidence in the gold potential.
"We will also continue to assess a number of potential production routes relating to the establishment of a central copper concentrate production facility. In Mozambique, our key focus is on obtaining the Government's approval for Joint Venture agreement with Rio Tinto and improving the resource confidence by not only increasing the heavy mineral sands resource currently defined but also completing a scoping study in order to help define likely production plans and targets."
House broker Northland said: "In Oman, 2016 is expected to see the expansion of the mineral resource estimate with the continued assessment of a number of potential production routes, while in Mozambique the focus will be on an updated mineral resource estimate alongside a scoping study and pilot plant test work for a dry mining operation."
Savannah shares were unchanged at 2.025p.