LONDON (Alliance News) - Golden Saint Resources Ltd Tuesday said it remains confident about its operations in Sierra Leone following the Ebola outbreak during 2014 and 2015, and said it is virtually debt free and funded to continue exploration work.
The miner exploring in West Africa, which generates insignificant amounts of revenue, reported a net loss totalling USD2.1 million in 2015 compared to the USD3.7 million loss booked in 2014 following a fall in operating expenses.
Operating expenses comprise mainly exploration expenses and general administrative costs of a corporate and management level. The large reduction in expenses from last year was due primarily to the lower operating activity level resulting from the disruptions and stoppages caused by the outbreak of Ebola in 2014 which continued into 2015.
Golden Saint is currently focusing on the its existing exploration and alluvial mining operations in Baja, Tongo and Moa, all within Sierra Leone, which was one of the worst hit countries by the Ebola outbreak.
Away from the issue of Ebola, miners operating in the country were concerned when numerous companies such as London Mining and African Minerals faced having their mining licenses cancelled, but Golden Saint believes the emphasis on the importance of the mining industry in a post-Ebola Sierra Leone will mean explorers will be "looked upon favourably" by authorities.
Golden Saint has reason to feel confident about the security of its licenses as the Ministry of Mines recently renewed all three of those licenses.
Golden Saint is also "virtually debt free" after exiting from its convertible loan facility during the year and the company raised USD1.5 million in cash after the year-end to keep exploration activity going.
Golden Saint shares were trading up 2.5% on Tuesday at 0.0820 pence per share.
By Joshua Warner; joshuawarner@alliancenews.com; @JoshAlliance
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