VAST Resources PLC (LON:VAST) is aiming to re-open its Baita Plai Polymetallic mine in Romania in the middle of 2018, it said, posting full year results for the year to end March during which output rose at its two existing mine.
The group passed a major hurdle last month, when it received the right to mine at Baita Plai in Romania, where the firm also has the Manaila mine.
READ: Vast Resources arranges bridge loan ahead of completion of Baita Plai deal
For Baita Plai, the firm forecasts start-up capital expenditure of $1.2mln to make the mine operational.
To complement expected production from Baita Plai and improved output at Manaila, Vast will, with planned additional funding, construct a new metallurgical complex adjacent to the Manaila open cut mine, it said.
There was a 230% increase in revenue for the year to March 30 to US$23.8mln, while the group reduced the loss from continuing operations by 72% to US$2,4mln.
But it said delays to operational improvements at the mines and overheads continues to weigh on profitability.
READ: VAST Resources set for another big step forward after Baita Plai selection
The firm had cash at the end of the period of $1.326 million, compared to US$0.831 million at the same time in 2016.
Among the operational highlights of the fiscal year gone, was a maiden JORC Resource estimate published at Manaila, which increased the previously estimated open-pit resources by around eight times'.
Elsewhere, construction of a sulphide processing plant at the Pickstone -Peerless gold mine in Zimbabwe started in the first quarter of calendar 2017.
"The short to medium term objective of Vast is to have two cash generating mines in both Romania and Zimbabwe, whilst seeking additional and potentially larger mining operations in both countries," the firm concluded.