LONDON (Alliance News) - Molybdenum and tungsten exploration firm Kemin Resources PLC saw its shares sink on Friday after it said it has suspended further exploration work until it has secured extension for both of its licences in Kazakhstan.
Shares in the firm were down 26% to 1.20 pence on Friday morning.
Kemin said its licence for the Smirnovskoye deposit has been extended to August 2018, but the licence extension application for the Drozhilovskoye deposit is still awaiting approval.
The company said it expects the contract extension to be granted in the second half of 2016 but, until this happens, it has suspended its work programme until it has approval for both licences.
Once it has secured both approvals, it will agree exploration programmes for both deposits with Kazakh authorities.
"At the current time the management have decided to suspend further exploration work until both licences have been renewed and the work programmes have been agreed with the Kazakh authorities going forward," said Kemin Chief Executive Sanzhar Assaubayev.
"The board members are firmly of the opinion that the timing of development is key to maximising the returns to shareholders, and this opinion is shared by the major shareholder that remains committed to project development," he added.
Kemin said its pretax loss for the half to the end of June was GBP238,000, narrowed from GBP431,000 a year earlier due to lower administrative and financing costs. Kemin does not generate any revenue.
By Sam Unsted; samunsted@alliancenews.com; @SamUAtAlliance
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