LONDON (Alliance News) - Bacanora Minerals Ltd Monday said it swung to a profit in the third quarter of the financial year on the back of a foreign exchange gain, but its loss for the first three quarters of the year still widened on the back of higher costs.
The Mexico-focused lithium miner reported a USD98,296 net profit in the third quarter ended March 31, swinging from a USD179,372 loss a year earlier. For the full first nine months of the financial year, however, Bacanora posted a USD1.2 million net loss, widening from a USD833,921 loss.
The nine-month loss widened due to administrative costs rising to USD1.6 million from only USD370,034, partially offset by a USD554,386 foreign exchange gain compared to a USD84,509 loss.
The swing to profit in the third quarter of 2015 was also mainly due to a foreign exchange gain of USD697,194 from a USD19,902 loss.
Bacanora is focused on the Sonora lithium project in northern Mexico, which has a indicated resource of 1.1 million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent contained within 95 million tonnes of clay, at a lithium grade of 2,200 parts per million. The inferred resource stands at 6.3 million tonnes of lithium carbonate in 500 million tonnes of clay at a grade of 2,300 parts per million.
"We believe we are in the right commodity at the right time, with the increased interest and usage of lithium particularly in new battery technology, as highlighted by the electric vehicle trends. We are therefore excited about the future and look forward to reporting on our continued development in the coming months," said Chairman Colin Orr-Ewing.
Bacanora shares fell 2.5% to 84.30 pence per share on Monday morning. Rare Earth Minerals PLC, which holds a 15.4% stake in partner Bacanora, was up 1.4% at 0.943p.
By Joshua Warner; joshuawarner@alliancenews.com; @JoshAlliance
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