Losses widen at Frontier Mining

AIM-listed gold, silver and copper miner Frontier Mining saw revenue almost double in the year ended 31 December, but pre-tax losses widened slightly as a result of a one-off charge and rising costs.Sales revenue rose to $5.7m, from $2.9m, which consisted of 4,180 ounces of gold sold at an average price of $1,288 an ounce, and11,300 ounces of silver at an average price of $24 per ounce.However, pre-tax losses totalled $31.14m, up from $30.33m.An exceptional impairment charge of $16.5m was realised during the period, relating the Naimanjal mine which was suspended the year before on the basis of ore recoveries and operating conditions.Also, selling, general and administrative expenses totalled $3.1m (2009:$1.9m), driven by the ramp-up in activity at both the Benkala and Koskuduk projects.Loss per share fell from $0.08 to $0.03, as the average number of common shares rose to nearly 900m, from around 380m in 2009.BC