Strip Tinning Share News (STG)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Stellar Resources PLC Thursday said its pretax loss widened in 2014 on the back of higher administrative costs.

The gold miner, which is also invested in the potential oil discovery at the Horse Hill license near Gatwick Airport, reported a GBP560,000 pretax loss in 2014, widening from a GBP478,000 loss in 2013, after administrative costs rose to GBP465,000 from GBP394,000.

Earlier Thursday, Stellar and the rest of the Horse Hill companies said they have received a significantly improved independent estimate for the amount of oil in place, to over 9.0 billion barrels of oil in place, but the amount that can be recovered is still unclear.

Away from oil, the company also holds a 49% stake in Gold Mines of Wales Ltd, which is focused on the Clogau mine in South Wales. Planning has been undertaken as to the best options and approaches for re-evaluation of the mine and near-mine targets.

Stellar also holds a 20% stake in Boletus Resources Ltd, a special purpose company for developing the Bengkulu coal project in Indonesia.

"Your board is confident that the investments made by the company since it changed its investment strategy are both encouraging and potentially very rewarding. We will look to realise this potential over the future years in addition to continuing to review further investment opportunities," said Stellar Chairman Donald Strang.

Stellar Resource shares were up 2.9% to 0.540 pence per share on Thursday afternoon.

By Joshua Warner; joshuawarner@alliancenews.com; @JoshAlliance

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