Clontarf Regulatory News (CLON)

20 Sep 2005 07:00

Persian Gold PLC20 September 2005 Persian Gold plc Interim Results for the six months to 30th June 2005 Chairman's Statement This is my first statement to you, the shareholders, since the Company's shareswere admitted to trading on the London AIM market. Persian Gold is the firstindependent European junior exploration company to commence activities in Iran.This country is host to a range of major mineral deposits of gold, copper andzinc including the world class porphyry copper deposit at Sar Chesmeh and majorundeveloped zinc deposits such as Angoran. Iran is considered to be vastlyunder-explored by Western mining standards. This is the opportunity that PersianGold has recognized and seeks to pursue. The initial strategy of Persian Gold is to explore for, and discover, a largeopen pit gold deposit in the northwestern part of Iran. We are focused on goldassociated with alunite. The importance of the mineral alunite is that, in thelast decade, a number of world class gold deposits associated with alunite havebeen discovered primarily in Latin America. An important feature of thesealunite related gold deposits is that they are extremely large in size and veryprofitable. Newmont's Yanacocha gold mine and Barrick's Pierina gold mine, bothof which are alunite associated gold deposits, are two of the lowest costoperations in the world. In early 2004, Persian Gold negotiated a study concession over 1800 sq kms ofground in the Takestan area of Northwestern Iran. The area holds the secondlargest known deposits of alunite in the world; in total about 1 billion tons.The ground was selected using satellite imagery and analysis plus the advice andhelp of the Iranian Geological Survey. The concession area which stretches from120kms Northwest of Tehran toward the Caspian Sea is mainly in the foothills ofthe Alborz mountains though some areas are deep in the mountains. Access isgenerally good. It is possible to work in the field for 10 months of the year.Thick snow covers part of the mountains for February and March. We put together excellent teams of local geologists and field crews and beganour fieldwork in November 2004. Since that time approximately 2,500 rock chipgeochemical samples have been taken over the concession area. These sampleshave been analyzed and a number of gold anomalies have been identified. We have now moved to the second phase of exploration by applying for 8exploration licences covering a total of 320 sq km of ground. Our teams havebeen active on follow-up exploration on two of the identified areas, Twin Hillsnear the town of Takestan and Zehabad a more remote area to the North. Twin Hills is an area of strong alteration containing a broad surface goldgeochemical anomaly covering an area of approximately one square kilometre.Second phase sampling of Twin Hills is now completed with over a hundredadditional surface samples taken. Results of this phase will guide the futuredrill evaluation of the Twin Hills prospect. The Zehabad prospect, the site of a former small silver-zinc-lead mine, hosts aseries of mineralised veins that are currently being re-sampled and mapped indetail. Some of the highest gold values received to date in the first phasesampling program, up to 14 g/t gold, have been found at Zehabad. This is aninteresting high grade target that presents an intriguing opportunity for theCompany. Our activities in Iran have been warmly received by all levels of governmentagencies in that country and we are developing close relationships for futureactivities. We are confident that due to our current exploration activities,new opportunities will be brought to our attention and we will evaluate theseprospects for Persian Gold's mineral portfolio. We raised £1,000,000 prior to listing on AIM so we are well financed for thecurrent exploration programme. This is a good time to be an explorer. Gold andother commodity prices are expected to remain strong for the foreseeable future.There is a feeding frenzy on exploration ground in many parts of the world butnot yet in Iran. We are lucky in that we have been able to put together a teamof skilled technical and financial people in the UK, supported by teams ofhighly skilled locals in Iran. What we now need to do is to spread the good newsto a wider audience. Persian Gold is held by a few hundred shareholders. In thecoming months, as our exploration programme expands, we will be spreading themessage to the wider investment community. Your company is starting out on what I hope will be an exciting road to success. John J. TeelingChairman19 September 2005 Further information Persian GoldJohn Teeling/Jim Finn Tel: +353 1 833 2833 Rowan DartingtonBarry J. Newton Tel:+44 (0) 117 933 0011 Company Profit and Loss Six Months Ended 30 June 2005 30 June 2004 £'000 £'000 Operating loss (116) (58)Investment income 2 0 Loss before taxation (114) (58)Taxation 0 0 Loss for the period (114) (58) Loss per share (0.22p) (0.58p) Company Balance Sheet Six Months Ended 30 June 2005 30 June 2004 £'000 £'000 Fixed assets 164 42 Current assets 1,105 0Current liabilities (53) 0 Current assets less current liabilities 1,052 0 1,216 42 Share capital and reserves 1,216 42 Company Cash Flow Six Months Ended 30 June 2005 30 June 2004 £'000 £'000 Net cash outflow from operating activities (322) (58) Returns on investments and servicing of finance 2 0Capital expenditure (83) (42)Financing - issue of ordinary share capital 1,000 100 597 0 Notes: 1 The figures for the six months to 30 June 2005 and 30 June 2004 are unaudited. The financial information set out above does not constitute full statutory accounts within the meaning of section 240 of the Companies Act 1985. 2 Copies of this announcement will be sent to shareholders and will be available for inspection at the Company's registered office at 20-22 Bedford Row, London, WC1R 4JS. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange