Ferro-Alloy Resources Swings To Profit As Vanadium Output Multiplies

LONDON (Alliance News) - Ferro-Alloy Resources Ltd on Tuesday said swung to a profit in 2018 following a sharp increase in vanadium production.

The vanadium mining company said it swung to a pretax profit of USD3.0 million in 2018 from a USD1.1 million loss a year earlier, as revenue surged to USD4.2 million from USD1.1 million.

Vanadium pentoxide production from the Balasausqandiq deposit in Kyzylordinskaya oblast in the south of Kazakhstan was 125 tonnes in 2018, up from 33 tonnes in 2017.

Production increased to around 12 tonnes per month by the end of the second quarter of 2018 and shipments to customers in the year totalled 130 tonnes compared with 52 tonnes in 2017.

The price of vanadium pentoxide started 2018 at around USD9.75 per pound and at the end was stood at USD15.50 per pound, having reached a high of more than USD28 per pound in November and averaging just over USD18 per pound during the year.

The company noted that since the start of 2019, the price of vanadium pentoxide has been declining, trading at around USD9 per pound as at Tuesday.

"These financial results demonstrate the significant progress achieved at Balasausqandiq in the period. We successfully increased production and subsequently significantly increased our revenue and profit," said Chief Executive Nick Bridgen.

"The Balasausqandiq project is a truly extraordinary project with unparalleled potential," continued Bridgen. "It is extremely profitable even when using a significant discount to the current vanadium price."

Ferro-Alloy shares were trading 0.6% lower on Tuesday at 25.20 pence each.