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(Alliance News) - Greatland Gold PLC on Thursday said it accelerated its development of its flagship Havieron project and is entering another joint venture with Newcrest Mining Ltd on a prospective project in the Paterson region.
The London-based development and exploration company said that for the year ended June 30, its pretax loss widened to GBP5.5 million from GBP5.2 million.
Greatland's operating loss widened to GBP5.7 million from GBP5.2 million.
Exploration costs were broadly flat year on year at GBP3.5 million. Administrative expenses rose to GBP2.2 million from GBP1.7 million.
Greatland said it maintains a positive outlook for the price of commodities and gold in particular due to a marked improvement over the last year.
The company also said that it partnered with Australian gold miner Newcrest Mining on its flagship Havieron project, in the Paterson region of Australia.
For the project, the company entered into a USD50 million loan facility with Newcrest to keep up with an expedited development schedule.
Chair Alex Borrelli notes that the Havieron project has seen a "rapid advancement" and that Greatland has several other project prospects.
"The Havieron gold-copper discovery is a world class deposit and continues to deliver excellent results with significant intercepts of high-grade gold and copper outside of the existing resource shell. With over 200,000 metres of drilling now completed, the equivalent distance of London to Sheffield we have significantly enhanced our understanding of the deposit and of the likelihood of continuing to upgrade to the Mineral Resource Estimate in the near-term," Borrelli continued.
Greatland and Newcrest entered a second joint venture on a prospective project in the Paterson region, Australia.
Borrelli continued: "The Juri Joint Venture for the Paterson Range East and Black Hills licences represents an affirmation of Greatland's belief in the potential of these areas, maximising the long-term strategic value of these licences. Subsequent to year end Greatland completed the maiden drill programme at Juri and announced intercepting gold mineralisation from the initial four assayed holes, including first gold identified at the Goliath prospect."
Shares were up 2.9% at 16.57 pence on Thursday in London.
By Abby Amoakuh; abbyamoakuh@alliancenews.com
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