Savannah Resources Plc (LON:SAV) has submitted an application for an additional mining lease in Mozambique while also reporting a narrowed loss in its half-year results.
The AIM-listed miner said its subsidiary Matilda Minerals had applied for a lease over an area of 119 square kilometres, with a defined mineral resource estimate of 65mln tonnes.
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The lease covers an area contiguous to two pending lease applications made by FTSE 100 miner Rio Tinto PLC (LON:RIO) and formed part of a consolidation of mineral sands projects under a consortium agreement between the two companies.
Once granted, the total area of the three leases will cover 399 square kilometres.
The Mozambique government will have six months to respond to the application from the date of submission.
In a separate announcement, Savannah reported a narrowed loss for the first half of its financial year, which stood at a £1.2mln loss compared to a £1.5mln loss a year ago.
The company reported cash and cash equivalents for the period were £786,764, down from £1.3mln in the first half of 2017.
Savannah said its cash position meant it was fully funded to deliver on the feasibility study of mine development and add to the mineral resource inventory via resource drilling at its Mina do Barroso (MdB) lithium project in Portugal.
In its outlook, Savannah’s chairman Matthew King said the firm would finalise key economic studies at MdB in the next six months to make a development decision in the second quarter of 2019, with production to commence in 2020.
King added that the company was completing due diligence “with a view to increasing the project area” via a proposed acquisition of a three-block mining lease near the MdB project.