Phoenix Copper Ltd (AIM:PXC, OTCQX:PXCLF) increased its investment in its Empire Mine as drilling continues at the site despite the gloomy wider economy.
“The outlook has deteriorated, at least in the short term. Copper and sterling have both been extremely volatile, and currently sit at around 30% below their highs for the year,” said chairman Marcus Edward-Jones.
“However, this is not necessarily bad news for Phoenix Copper. Our activity in the past six months has focused on two areas: fundraising and optimising our plans to be as robust and profitable as possible,” he added.
Investment in Empire increased to US$29.7mln in the six months to June, from US$18.6mln in the same period last year.
And the USA-focused exploration company added core drilling is ongoing at the copper mine.
Mineralisation was encountered at both its Red Star silver-lead deposit and its Navarre Creek gold project, with further exploratory drilling commencing at Red Star.
Net assets increased to US$38.2mln in the period from US$37.7mln, according to a statement.
However, Phoenix reported a loss of US$1mln “after charging an unrealised foreign exchange loss on sterling-denominated assets.”
Cash balance stood at US$9mln, while loans to operating subsidiaries increased to US$25.5mln from US$16.1mln, it said.