Base Resources Limited’s (LON:BSE) chairman believes the profitable mineral sands company “is now very well positioned to create further shareholder value.”
At the company’s Annual General Meeting, held today in West Perth, Western Australia, Keith Spence - the AIM-listed firm’s non-executive chairman - said: “We have an outstanding operating asset in our Kwale Operation with strong cash generation and extensional potential, an exciting development opportunity with the World-Class Toliara Project and an outstanding team with a track record of successful mineral sands development.”
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The group, which wholly-owns the Kwale project in Kenya, and is developing the Toliara project in Madagascar, has seen demand for its products continue to improve in the year and this, along with low inventory levels and restricted supply, supported strong price improvement, Spence said, with those dynamics having continued for rutile and zircon post-year end.
The chairman added: “With the Kwale operation running smoothly and with greater flexibility post-Kwale Phase 2, the focus has been squarely on extending the mine life.”
“The focus of drilling activity has now shifted to the northeast sector of the Kwale operations, on the North Dune and Kwale East zones with encouraging indications to date. We are optimistic that further mine life extension will result,“ he continued.
Spence pointed out that, in order to fully capitalise on the company’s organisational capability, business model and financial platform, it had been “seeking the right growth opportunity from which to drive shareholder value”, which led it to acquire the Toliara Project.
The chairman added: “Since completing the acquisition earlier in 2018, a concept study has been completed and a suite of additional test work, building on the sound work already completed, is well advanced. Mineral Technologies and Lycopodium have been engaged to complete the pre-feasibility study which is heading towards completion in the March quarter of 2019. The aim is to bring the Toliara Project into production in late 2021.”