Losses narrow at Arian

Mexico-focused miner Arian Silver, the third best performing UK stock of 2010, made a consolidated pre-tax loss in 2010 of $1.7m, an improvement on its $2.1m loss the previous year.As at the end of 2010, the company had total assets of $18.9m, including intangible assets of $1.2m, property, plant and equipment of $5.4m, assets held for sale of $2.9m and cash of $8.3m.The company said that results to date from the drilling programme continue to confirm the presence of significant silver mineralisation and that the company's San Jose vein remains completely open along strike and to depth.Mining and production commenced at San Jose mine in October 2010. The mining operation has produced about 200 tonnes of silver in concentrate with a composite grade of around 550 ounces per tonne.---jh