LONDON (Alliance News) - Georgian Mining Corp on Friday said its loss narrowed considerably in the first half of the year due to foreign exchange gains and a lack of share option expense.
Shares in Georgian Mining were up 7.4% at 9.40 pence on Friday.
For the six months to June 30, the company's pretax loss was GBP655,160. This compares favourably to its GBP1.1 million loss the year before and results primarily from a GBP456,816 gain on foreign exchange versus a GBP223,868 loss the year before.
Other loss-reducing factors for the period included a lack of share option expense, where GBP160,268 was incurred on share options the year before.
Revenue of GBP63,413 was recorded for the period, compared to no revenue at all the prior year.
The miner, which operates in Georgia, has faced hurdles in the development of its Kvemo Bolnisi East gold-copper project. Chief among these has been a delay to its exploration permit. However, this permit is now expected very soon after the company spoke with a government minister on Friday last week, it said.
The company's announcement on Friday, in fact, included a quote from George Kobulia, Georgian Minister of Economy & Sustainable Development, who said that the government has ambitious plans regarding its mineral resources.
"I hope we can respond positively on the company's application in the very near future," Kobulia was quoted as saying.
Georgian Mining Non-Executive Chairman Neil O'Brien expressed satisfaction with the progress of technical work being carried out at Kvemo Bolnisi East, including the start of a feasibility study.
"We are now starting to see what the future Kvemo Bolnisi East operation will actually look like," said O'Brien.
"During this period, and whilst the process to extend the exploration licence has been ongoing, we have reduced expenditure wherever possible to preserve cash," he added.