Premier African Minerals Ltd (LON:PREM) has reassured investors that trading in its shares should not remain suspended for long.
The company failed to post results for 2016 within six months of the end of the reporting period so under Aim rules its listing has been temporarily suspended, but the company said it is close to being able to publish the figures.
Publication was delayed by technical complexities surrounding certain valuations, in particular the Darwin loan notes and the integration and consolidation of the acquisition of Mozambique-based TCT Industrias Florestais (as announced on 31 October 2016).
The Darwin loan notes have all been fully converted this year but the company, somewhat to its surprise, still needed to formally provide a snapshot of the valuation for the purposes of the 2016 results.
“The delay in filing financial statements for the period ending 31 December 2016 is not expected to be protracted and Premier believes that the technical valuation issues that caused the delay have been addressed,” the company said in a stock market statement.
In the meantime, the company has released some excerpts from the chairman’s statement that will be included in the results statement when it is released.
RHA tungsten mine in Zimbabwe expected to turn cash flow positive later this year
Chief executive officer and executive chairman George Roach highlighted that the RHA tungsten mine in Zimbabwe has demonstrated the capability to operate at profitable production levels on an instantaneous basis.
Development in the open pit mining operation has now progressed to the point where Premier is able to identify and track grade from the pit, through the run-of-mine pad and into the plant - described by Roach as “a most significant development”.
“Equally pleasing is that grade in the pit in these identifiable areas, is running at 1.9 kg per ton, which is higher than the projected grade of 1.5 kg per ton,” Roach revealed.
Certain issues have been identified during the optimisation phase and these are in the process of being attended to. Given that, by Roach’s own admission, RHA has been a drain on the company’s cash resources, shareholders might be perturbed by news of further issues, but Roach gave assurances that, in his view, the operation is at a turning point and should turn positive in cash flow terms later this year.
Drilling at the Zulu lithium project continues to produce encouraging results
Premier said it is pleased by metallurgical test results from the Zulu lithium project, while ongoing drilling at Zulu has yielded “most encouraging mineralisation in the core”.
READ Premier African Minerals bolstered by 'excellent' initial Zulu test results
"Premier is involved in evaluation of proposals for the future development of Zulu and expects to conclude the negotiations during July 2017. Zulu already ranks in the top 12 lithium pegmatite explorations and we confidently expect this region to challenge the largest deposits of this nature in the world as exploration progresses,” Roach said.
“In regard to RHA, it is important to note that the plant is running and production continues,” he added.
The company recently acquired a 52% controlling stake in Mozambique-based TCT Industrias Florestais Limitada, which owns a substantial limestone deposit and forestry business located on rail in the Sofala Province of Mozambique.
“In Mozambique, it is pleasing to note that whilst TCT is self-sustaining, the issue of cutting licences to registered concession holders following a period of national suspension should see exports accelerate and profits in line thereof. I have also noted that with the group developing as it is, future financings would focus on non-dilutive debt transactions as far as possible," Roach concluded.