LONDON (Alliance News) - Minco PLC on Monday said foreign exchange movements caused its loss to widen in the nine months ended September 30 from a year before, though it noted the positive outlook for metal prices.
The miner recorded a loss of USD795,000 for the nine-month period, compared to the USD146,000 loss recorded for the same period the prior year, with the widened loss including a foreign exchange loss of USD128,000 compared to a gain of USD503,000 the prior year. Minco reported no revenue.
Minco said that for the three months ended September 30 its loss widened to USD282,000 from USD225,000 the prior year.
Looking ahead, the miner said the medium- and long-term outlook for lead and zinc remains positive, with the fundamentals for zinc improving and demand for lead continuing to be driven by lead-acid batteries.
More recently, with Donald Trump becoming US president-elect earlier this month, there has been a "dramatic increase in the prices of most metals", Minco said.
The likelihood of a major infrastructure construction programme in the US "would be very significant for base metals, and specifically for zinc, the demand for which is closely linked to steel production", Minco added.
For its central Newfoundland base-metal project, which the group is progressing with Canadian Zinc Corp, Minco said the metallurgical portion of the program is complete. Test results have confirmed selective zinc, lead and copper concentrates at marketable grades can be produced using a common flotation flowsheet, Minco added.
Minco said it was following up the metallurgical portion of the programme with a process simulation and cost assessment model.
Meanwhile at its Lucky Strike mine, also in Newfoundland, Canada, Minco said the programme was ongoing, but added several target areas have already been identified and are under review.
At the Lake Douglas gold project, Minco said it intends to conduct initial reconnaissance work for gold prior to the onset of winter weather. The project also is located in Canada.
Minco added that it was continuing to drill at the Moate zinc-lead project in County Westmeath, Ireland. However, Minco noted that the geological structure there has "proven more complicated than expected" as the Moyvoughly Fault has not yet been intersected in the current drilling programme.
The fault is believed to cross the current exploration area and to have a reversed throw of approximately 150 metres, Minco said.
Shares in Minco were down 5.7% at 1.25 pence on Monday.
By Hannah Boland; hannahboland@alliancenews.com; @Hannaheboland
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