EENERGY GROUP PLC — Interim / Quarterly Report 2015

Sep 29, 2015

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RNS Number : 4600A

Alexander Mining PLC

29 September 2015

ALEXANDER MINING PLC

INTERIM REPORT FOR SIX MONTHS ENDED 30 JUNE 2015

Alexander Mining plc ("Alexander" or the "Company"), the AIM quoted mining and mineral processing technologies company, announces its results for the six months ended 30 June 2015.

The Company's objective is to become a low cost, highly profitable and diversified mining technology company.  This will be achieved by the commercialisation of its proprietary mineral processing technologies, partnerships in producing mines and the acquisition of equity positions in advanced projects.

Highlights

·     Potential significant commercialisation opportunity with Compass Resources Limited on Browns Oxide deposit in Australia

·     Definitive licence agreement for the Sivas copper mineral property in Turkey

·     Continuing mining industry interest in using AmmLeach® for base metals' recovery from amenable deposits, especially in Turkey, Mexico and Australia

Chairman's Review

I am pleased to report on behalf of your Board of Directors the Company's results for the six months ended 30 June 2015.

It has been a testing time for the Company, not least because of the deteriorating state of the global mining industry triggered by concerns over the Chinese and other global economies which have resulted in much lower metal prices.  Notwithstanding the difficulties in the sector, some positive progress has been made in our commercialisation efforts as Alexander's technologies are attractive in a low metals' price environment due to the significant potential benefits offered from capital and operating cost savings.

During the period, the Company announced that it had signed a non-binding Heads of Agreement with Compass, an Australian public company for executing a definitive agreement covering an AmmLeach® licence and certain technical management services for Compass in the Northern Territory, Australia.  Inter alia, the final arrangements were dependent upon certain restructuring and other corporate matters with Compass being achieved.  This re-structure was approved in early September and we are currently waiting to be informed of Compass' intentions. 

In April, Alexander reported that it has signed a definitive licence agreement ("Agreement") with Ebullio Resources Fund ("Ebullio") and RCR Quantum Madencilik İthalat İhracat Sanayi ve Ticaret Anonim Şirketi ("RCR Quantum") for the Sivas copper mineral property ("Sivas") in Turkey.  RCR Quantum's main asset is a 75 per cent. joint venture interest in Sivas.

Ebullio hopes to sell a minority stake of at least 20 per cent. of its equity holding in RCR Quantum to a third party consortium (the "RCR Quantum Equity Sale").  Under the terms of the Agreement, which is binding, conditional on completion of the RCR Quantum Equity Sale, Alexander will grant to RCR Quantum a licence to use its proprietary leaching technologies ("Leaching Technologies") on amenable ore sourced from Sivas on the following terms:

I.    Ebullio will pay to Alexander 25 per cent. of the net proceeds received by Ebullio from the RCR Quantum Equity Sale.

II.    On completion a cash payment by RCR Quantum of US$100,000 to Alexander, plus US$100,000 for certain technical consultancy services.

III.   Alexander will receive a royalty of 3.0 per cent. of gross saleable metal products produced using the Leaching Technologies from the potential mine at Sivas.

IV.  Alexander will receive US$10,000 per calendar month until the potential Sivas mine plant commissioning date or such date upon which RCR Quantum notifies Alexander that it has chosen to terminate the project.

Although taking longer than expected, we are informed by Ebullio that it is still in active discussions about the RCR Quantum Equity Sale and we await developments with interest.

The Company's business development activities have continued with progressing several other opportunities with interested third parties in Australia for copper and zinc, in Turkey for zinc and in Mexico for zinc.

Finally, during the period the Company continued to add granted patents to its portfolio of intellectual property as well as make additional applications.

Financial

Consistent with the prevailing circumstances, the Company has been strict in keeping its overheads to the minimum necessary, whilst maintaining required expenditures on business development and intellectual property protection. 

The equity financing announced in February this year was expected to provide the Company with sufficient working capital prior to receiving significant revenue from commercialisation activities, particularly linked to the Compass opportunity.  However, the complexity of that transaction meant that there was a significant delay to the original timing.  Subsequently, post period end the Company found it necessary to undertake an equity financing in August, intending to raise £295,000.  Unfortunately this had to be aborted due to the non-receipt of funds.  As a result, the Company's working capital was inadequate and the Board requested a suspension of the Company's share trading facility on AIM.  Alexander's shares remain suspended until an alternative financing can be arranged and the Company is working tirelessly to rectify the situation.

Outlook

The global economy and stock markets remain volatile, continuing to trend significantly lower since major concerns about China badly knocked confidence in August, leading to a stock market correction.   The outlook remains unsettled.  This has had a negative impact on the mining industry with base metals' prices falling sharply to multi-year lows.  However, every cloud has a silver lining and we continue to promote the benefits of using our cost saving technology which, along with the positive environmental benefits, should become even more compelling to those wishing to add sustainability to their business.

Finally, I would like to thank Alexander's valued shareholders for their continuing support and our employees, directors, consultants and advisers for their commitment during difficult times.  In addition, I would like to thank Emil Morfett who resigned as a Non-executive Director of the Company after several years' service in late September for his valued contribution.

Matt Sutcliffe

Executive Chairman

28 September 2015

For further information please contact: 

Alexander Mining plc

Martin Rosser Chief Executive Officer Mobile: +44 (0) 7770 865 341	Matt Sutcliffe Executive Chairman Mobile: +44 (0) 7887 930 758
Email: [email protected] Website: www.alexandermining.com
Northland Capital Partners Limited Nominated Adviser and Broker Tel: +44 (0) 20 7382 1100 Matthew Johnson / Gerry Beaney (Corporate Finance) John Howes / Abigail Wayne (Corporate Broking)

Consolidated income statement

	Six months ended 30 June 2015	Six months ended 30 June 2014	Year ended 31 December 2014
	£'000	£'000	£'000
Continuing operations
Revenue	8	320	507
Cost of sales	-	-	-
Gross profit	8	320	507
Administrative expenses	(377)	(526)	(989)
Research and development expenses	(151)	(220)	(367)
Operating loss	(520)	(426)	(849)
Finance income	-	1	1
Finance cost	35	(14)	-
Loss before taxation	(485)	(439)	(848)
Income tax expense	-	-	-
Loss for the period from continuing operations	(485)	(439)	(848)
Loss for the period from discontinued operations	-	-	(62)
Loss for the period	(485)	(439)	(910)
Basic and diluted (loss) per share (pence) from continuing operations:	(0.19)p	(0.25)p	(0.48)p
from continuing and discontinued operations	(0.19)p	(0.25)p	(0.52)p
from discontinued operations	-	-	(0.04)p
All components of profit or loss are attributable to equity holders of the parent.

Consolidated statement of comprehensive income

	Six months ended 30 June 2015	Six months ended 30 June 2014	Year ended 31 December 2014
	£'000	£'000	£'000
Loss for the period	(485)	(439)	(910)
Other comprehensive income: Items that will or may be reclassified to profit or loss:
Exchange differences realised on disposal of subsidiary	-	-	61
Total comprehensive loss for the period attributable to equity holders of the parent	(485)	(439)	(849)

Consolidated balance sheet

	As at 30 June 2015	As at 30 June 2014	As at  31 December 2014
	£'000	£'000	£'000
Assets
Property, plant & equipment	-	-	-
Total non-current assets	-	-	-
Trade and other receivables	48	86	67
Cash and cash equivalents	46	285	116
Total current assets	94	371	183
Total assets	94	371	183
Equity attributable to owners of the parent
Issued share capital	13,719	13,638	13,639
Share premium	13,598	13,267	13,298
Translation reserve	-	(61)	-
Accumulated losses	(27,686)	(26,788)	(27,211)
Total equity	(369)	56	(274)
Liabilities
Current liabilities
Trade and other payables	463	315	439
Provisions	-	-	18
Total current liabilities	463	315	457
Total liabilities	463	315	457
Total equity and liabilities	94	371	183

Consolidated statement of cash flows

	Six months ended 30 June 2015	Six months ended 30 June 2014	Year ended 31 December 2014
	£'000	£'000	£'000
Cash flows from operating activities
Operating loss - continuing operations	(520)	(426)	(849)
Operating loss - discontinued operations	-	-	(1)
(Increase) / decrease in trade and other receivables	19	(26)	(7)
Increase / (decrease) in trade and other payables	25	21	150
Increase / (decrease in provisions	(18)	-	18
Shares issued in payment of expenses	51	25	52
Share option charge	10	12	21
Net cash outflow from operating activities	(434)	(394)	(616)
Cash flows from investing activities
Interest received	-	1	1
Net cash inflow from investing activities	-	1	1
Cash flows from financing activities
Proceeds from the issue of share capital	328	232	232
Proceeds from lapsed share issue, net of costs		62	62
Proceeds from issue of share options		-	39
Net cash inflow from financing activities	328	294	333
Net increase / (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents	(105)	(99)	(282)
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period	116	398	398
Exchange differences	35	(14)	-
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	46	285	116

Consolidated statement of changes in equity

	Share capital	Share premium	Shares to be issued	Translation reserve	Accumulated losses	Total equity
	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000
At 1 January 2014	13,633	13,020	-	(61)	(26,423)	169
Accumulated loss for period	-	-	-	-	(439)	(439)
Total comprehensive loss for the period attributable to equity holders of the parent	-	-	-	-	(439)	(439)
Share option costs	-	-	-	-	12	12
Share issue subscription	-	-	100	-	-	100
Cost of share issue subscription	-	-	(38)	-	-	(38)
Share issue lapsed	-	-	(62)	-	62	-
Shares issued	5	247	-	-	-	252
At 30 June 2014	13,638	13,267	-	(61)	(26,788)	56
Accumulated loss for period	-	-	-	-	(471)	(471)
Realisation of foreign exchange losses upon sale of subsidiary	-	-	-	61	-	61
Total comprehensive loss for the period attributable to equity holders of the parent	-	-	-	61	(471)	(212)
Share option costs	-	-	-	-	9	9
Share option issued	-	-	-	-	39	39
Shares issued	1	31	-	-	-	32
At 31 December 2014	13,639	13,298	-	-	(27,211)	(274)
Accumulated loss for period	-	-	-	-	(485)	(485)
Total comprehensive loss for the period attributable to equity holders of the parent	-	-	-	-	(485)	(485)
Share option costs	-	-	-	-	10	10
Shares issued	80	331	-	-		411
Share issue costs		(31)				(31)
At 30 June 2015	13,719	13,598			(27,686)	(369)

Notes to the interim financial information

1. Basis of preparation

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRSs") in force at the reporting date and their interpretations issued by the International Accounting Standards Board ("IASB") as adopted for use within the European Union.  The accounting policies, methods of computation and presentation used in the preparation of the interim financial information are the same as those used in the Group's audited financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2014.

The financial information in this statement does not constitute full statutory accounts within the meaning of Section 434 of the Companies Act 2006.  The financial information for the six months ended 30 June 2015 and 30 June 2014 is unaudited.  The comparative information for the year ended 31 December 2014 was derived from the Group's audited financial statements for that period as filed with the Registrar of Companies.  It does not constitute the financial statements for that period.  Those accounts received an unqualified audit report.

Going Concern

The Company has confirmed its need to raise finance in order to continue its operations and to meet its commitments.  Following the recent failed capital raising due to the default by a subscribing shareholder the Company's shares were suspended on AIM.  The Directors are in negotiations with a number of potential finance providers and are confident that a replacement capital raising will be completed.  On this basis, the Directors have concluded that it is appropriate to draw up these financial statements on the going concern basis.  However there can be no certainty that alternate funding will be secured in the necessary timescales.  This indicates the existence of a material uncertainty that can cast significant doubt on the ability of the company and the group to continue as a going concern and therefore it may be unable to realise its assets and discharge its liabilities in the normal course of business

2. Loss per share

The calculation of loss per share is based on the weighted average number of shares in issue in the six months to 30 June 2015 of 249,945,195 (six months to 30 June 2014: 174,182,339 and year to 31 December 2014: 175,087,554) and computed on the respective loss figures as follows:

	6 months  2015				6 Months 2014			Full year 2014
	£'000		Per share		£'000	Per share		£'000	Per share
(Loss) - continuing operations		(485)		(0.19)p	(439)		(0.25)p	(848)	(0.48)p
(Loss) - discontinued operations		-		-	-		-	(62)	(0.04)p
(Loss) - continuing and discontinued operations		(485)		(0.19)p	(439)		(0.25)p	(910)	(0.52)p

There is no difference between the diluted loss per share and the basic loss per share presented.  Share options granted to employees could potentially dilute basic earnings per share in the future, but were not included in the calculation of diluted earnings per share as they were anti-dilutive for the period presented.

At 30 June 2015 there were 12,900,000 (at 30 June 2014: 12,900,000; at 31 December 2014:  12,900,000) share options in issue that could have a potentially dilutive effect on the basic earnings per share in the future.

3. Share Capital

Changes in issued share capital and share premium during the reporting period occurred as follows:

Ordinary shares	Number of shares	Share	Share
		capital	premium
Balance at 1 January 2015	176,319,379	176,319	13,298,331
13 January - shares issued for cash at 0.5p each	72,000,000	72,000	288,000
13 January - share issue costs charged to share premium	-	-	(31,606)
13 January - shares issued at 0.825p in settlement of expenses	1,090,909	1,091	7,909
13 January - shares issued at 0.8p in settlement of expenses	1,500,000	1,500	10,500
23 February - shares issued at 0.6p in settlement of expenses	5,000,000	5,000	25,000
Balance at 30 June 2015	255,910,288	255,910	13,598,134
Deferred shares	Number of shares	Deferred share capital
Balance at 1 January 2015	135,986,542	13,462,667
Balance at 30 June 2015	135,986,542	13,462,667

4. Share options

All Share Option costs incurred are allocated directly to Accumulated Losses.

The Company has a total of 12,900,000 Share Options in issue (all with exercise prices of 4.92p per share), representing 5.04 per cent of the issued share capital of the Company on a fully diluted basis.  Share option charges for the six months to 30 June 2015 amounted to £9,626 (2014: £11,079).

5. Post balance sheet events:

On 28 August 2015, the Company issued 1,000,000 new ordinary shares of 0.1p each, at a price of 0.6p per share to satisfy an existing creditor.  Following admission of the above shares the Company will have a total of 256,910,288 ordinary shares in issue.

On 03 September 2015, the Company requested the suspension of its ordinary shares from trading on AIM, due to the non-receipt of funds from a subscription to raise £295,000. As a result of the non-receipt of funds the Company has inadequate working capital until an alternative financing can be arranged.

Copies of these announcements are available to view on the Company's website at www.alexandermining.com.

Disclaimers

Neither the contents of the Company's website nor the contents of any website accessible from hyperlinks on the Company's website (or any other website) is incorporated into, or forms part of, this announcement.

This news release contains forward looking or future-oriented financial information, being information which is not historical fact, including, without limitation, statements regarding potential results of metallurgical testwork, anticipated applications for the Company's intellectual property and discussions of future plans and objectives. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected by such information are reasonable, these statements are based on assumptions and factors concerning future events that may prove to be inaccurate. Such statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions based on information available to the Company about itself and the business in which it operates.  Information used in developing forward-looking information has been acquired from various sources including third party consultants, suppliers, regulators and other sources and is subject to numerous risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and future events to differ materially from those anticipated or projected. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations are the continuing availability of capital resources to fund the commercialisation of Alexander's technologies; continued positive results from trials and applications of Alexander's AmmLeach® and HyperLeach® technologies and other factors as disclosed in Company documents filed from time to time. Management uses forward-looking statements because it believes they provide useful information to the shareholders with respect to proposed transactions involving Alexander, and cautions readers that the information may not be appropriate for other purposes and should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results.  The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to revise or update such statements unless required by law.

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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