(Alliance News) - Shares in Chesterfield Resources PLC soared on Monday as the company reported a narrowed loss in an "active" first half for the minerals exploration firm.
Shares were 22% higher at 3.55 pence each in London on Monday morning.
In the six months ended June 30, Chesterfield posted a pretax loss of GBP303,704, narrowed year-on-year from GBP349,668, solely attributed to a fall in administrative expenses.
During the period, the company amassed "by far the largest license package in Cyprus", totalling 236 square kilometres. Chesterfield said it is undertaking the first "modern large scale and systematic exploration programme" in the country.
Executive Chair Martin French said: "2019 has been a very active year for your company as we look forward to a new drill campaign to search for copper and gold. As good assay results continued arriving at the start of this year, we took the decision to significantly expand our exploration activities in Cyprus."
Looking ahead, Chesterfield said it will postpone its drilling campaign by a "couple of months" in order to assess four new targets it found when analysing areas around the Troodos West permit.
Chesterfield previously said it will focus its drilling efforts on the KinValley and Evlim areas of its Cyprus licence area.
Chair French explained: "Our original plan for this campaign was to focus on drilling these two good quality targets and probably a third as a back-up. However, in the process of analysing various adjacent areas in Troodos West, four new target areas have been identified and are now undergoing more detailed scrutiny.
"It is highly encouraging that our viable target list has built up in this way. This has given us pause for thought. We have decided to push back the drilling by a couple of months to assess these new targets, some of which have now presented themselves priority targets. As a consequence, we may well increase the size of our next drill programme."
By Eric Cunha; ericcunha@alliancenews.com
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Chesterfield R. (CHF)