Exploration 'out of favour' says Botswana Diamonds as losses widen

Botswana Diamonds is struggling to attract investors, the precious minerals explorer said on Monday, depressing both its share price and its ability to raise funds.

Publishing full-year results, the loss-making company said it had made progress “on a number of fronts” during the year, including at its core Thorny River asset in South Africa. Botswana Diamonds has struck a deal with Palaeo Minerals which could see Thorny River become the first of its mines to move into production.

There were also “significant changes” at its Sunland Minerals joint venture in Botswana.

But the company said: “Despite making progress we have struggled to attract investors. We are not alone. The junior exploration sector is out of favour. We believe our share price and those of our peer companies languish at or near the bottom of their price range. This makes funding difficult, expensive and dilutive.”

Shares in Botswana were trading at 0.68p on Monday, down from around 2.00p a year ago and well off peaks of 6.75p in 2011.

Botswana said: “Over decades of experience your directors have had success, providing significant returns to investors.

“We believe that we can reduce the very high risk in exploration by country selection, ground selection and the application of not only the latest exploration technology but also the knowledge, experience and savvy of our prospectors, technicians and management.”

The operating loss for the year to 30 June widened to £556,407 from £310,898 in 2017, because of an impairment change following the relinquishing of some licences at Sunland Minerals. Net assets were £8.2m, against £7.5m a year earlier.