LONDON (Alliance News) - Nyota Minerals Ltd Monday reported a wider loss for the first half of its financial year owing to an impairment charge taken on its Northern Blocks property in Ethiopia and said it is undertaking a strategic review of its Ethiopian business.
The miner said it had anticipated the first few months of 2015 would result in the company advancing towards gold production from the Northern Blocks, but the Ethiopian government in January informed the company its alluvial mining licence application had been rejected, along with all other applications for mining activities along that part of the Abay River.
The decision means it is no longer possible for Nyota to become self-sustaining in terms of cashflow in the short-term based on its existing asset portfolio. As a result, it has undertaken a strategic review of its Ethiopian operations.
As a result of the rejection, Nyota booked total exceptional charges in the half year to the end of December of USD1.5 million, pushing its pretax loss to USD2.5 million from USD1.1 million a year earlier.
Shares in Nyota were trading flat at 0.075 pence on Monday.
By Sam Unsted; samunsted@alliancenews.com; @SamUAtAlliance
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