Alecto Minerals shares plummet despite board confidence

Africa-focused gold and base metal exploration and development company Alecto Minerals announced its unaudited interim results for the six months to 30 June on Friday, with revenue rising to £0.11m, from £0.04m year-on-year.

Its operating loss widened as a result of higher administration expenses, however, to £0.29m from £0.26m.

The AIM-traded firm said progress was made during the period, towards becoming an African focused gold producer.

A feasibility study was delivered at Matala Gold Project in Zambia, with additional gold ounces identified and a Design, Build and Operate contract secured.

It confirmed that joint venture agreements had been entered into on three Malian gold exploration projects, providing it exposure to value upside at a low cost.

Randgold has a 65% interest in Kossanto West and is funding all costs up to and including the completion of a pre-feasibility study, and a joint venture had been established with Kola Gold solely funding all costs to complete a scoping study to earn an interest of 65% of Karan Gold Project in Mali.

Letter of intent was also in place with Ashanti Gold, for Ashanti to earn an interest in the company's Kossanto East Gold Project.

“We have delivered on a number of our stated objectives for our African gold portfolio during the period,” said chairman Gerald Chapman.

“Our activities at Matala in Zambia have both created value and validated our production strategy.

“We are close to securing vendor finance to cover the very low capex required to deliver gold production and with an NPV of $35.2m and an Internal Rate of Return of 66%, it is clear that this project has robust economics.”

Chapman said for a company of Alecto’s size, the board believes that asset provides the firm with an “excellent opportunity” to generate cash flow and prove production capabilities.

“We are also evaluating larger projects with a view to building Alecto to become a profitable African metals producer.

“We are also pleased to have secured value accretive paths for the rest of our portfolio via joint ventures. I believe that Alecto is now poised for significant growth in the next 12 months.”

At 1236 BST, shares in Alecto Minerals were down 23.81% at 0.08p.