Chaarat Gold Holdings Limited (LON:CGH) shares rose on Wednesday as the firm hailed a “year of transformation” for 2018 as it kicked off its current year by transforming from a developer to a producer.
Over 2018, the AIM-listed miner said it added over 650,000 ounces of gold to the Measured and Indicated (M&I) Resource at its Tulkubash project in the Kyrgyz Republic, taking the total M&I to more than 1.6mln ounces.
WATCH: Chaarat Gold makes strong start to 2019 exploration programme at Tulkubash
Martin Andersson, executive chairman of Chaarat, said a drilling programme at Tulkubash planned for the current year was expected to have “similar rates of success” to those in 2018.
Chaarat had also secured US$120mln in financing during 2018 and the first half of 2019 with “minimal dilution to shareholders”.
Post-period, the company said its acquisition of the Kapan mine in Armenia had transformed it from a developer to a producer “in a single step”.
Anderson added that an almost 40% year-on-year increase in the gold reserves of Tulkubash had demonstrated “remarkable future growth potential” for the project.
In the figures for 2018, Chaarat reported an operating loss of US$13.7mln, lower than the US$16.6mln loss in the prior year, while it ended the 12 months with a cash balance of £1.17mln.
In afternoon trading, Chaarat shares were 4.6% higher at 29.80p.
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