Sovereign Mines of Africa fails to find strategic partner, posts loss

(ShareCast News) - Shares in Sovereign Mines of Africa plunged as it moved to fully impair the value of its exploration assets after failing to sign a strategic partner to fund the advance of the Mandiana Gold Project to a definitive feasibility study.The company booked a full-year pre-tax loss of £1.42m, from a loss of £3.88m in the preceding 12 months. The results included a £1.28m impairment of intangible fixed assets, from £3.7m a year earlier. Sovereign's shares sagged almost 22%.Although talks to find a strategic partner continued through the year, nothing came to fruition, Sovereign said in a statement."The board is still continuing discussions with potential partners but to date no agreement has been concluded. As a result, due to the potential uncertainty your board has considered it prudent to impair the value of the group's exploration assets in full," the company said.Sovereign said that, as a result of its recent fundraising, it had cash resources of about £477,000 at 30 April, which would provide sufficient finance to cover ongoing expenditure for the foreseeable future.