Last checked at 28 Sep 2016 07:00
28 September 2016
Orogen Gold plc
("Orogen" or the "Company")
Interim Results for the six months ended 30 June 2016
Orogen Gold plc (AIM: ORE), the AIM quoted gold exploration company, announces its interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2016.
Enquiries:
Orogen Gold plc Colin Bird, CEO Alan Mooney, FD | C/o Walbrook PR |
Cairn Financial Advisers LLP (Nominated Adviser) Liam Murray / Sandy Jamieson | +44 (0) 20 7148 7900 |
Beaufort Securities Limited (Broker) Jon Belliss | +44 (0) 20 7382 8300 |
Walbrook PR (Public Relations and Investor Relations) Paul Cornelius / Gary Middleton | +44 (0) 20 7933 8780 |
About Orogen Gold
Orogen Gold plc is a UK public company quoted on the London Stock Exchange AIM market (ticker: ORE). The Company is focused on gold exploration and is currently operating two gold exploration projects: a) at Mutsk in Armenia and b) at Silverton in Nevada, USA. The Mutsk gold project in Armenia was optioned by Orogen early in 2013 to follow-up reports of a new epithermal discovery within an established gold district. In Nevada, an earn-in agreement was recently announced covering the Silverton gold-silver prospect, giving Orogen the right to earn in to an initial 51% interest in the property. Anomalous gold values are recorded from bedrock across much of the property, but previous drilling is not considered to have adequately tested the potential gold sources.
Chairman's statement
The period under review showed slightly improving metal prices with a more favourable sentiment towards natural resource companies. The major mining companies in general showed significant gains whilst junior mining companies with good projects were able to access funds for development, although still limited.
On 27 June 2016 the Company announced the signing of an earn-in agreement over the Silverton gold and silver property in Nevada, USA. This agreement provides exploration rights on a highly prospective gold/silver project, which has good technical history. The Company will commence drilling operations early in the fourth quarter 2016.
Towards the end of July, the Company raised £350,000 in an equity funding which was implemented to enable the final stage of earn-in at the Mutsk property in Armenia. On 31 August 2016 we advised our partners on the project that the US$2.5 million earn-in had been completed and requested that our 80% interest be registered.
The Company recently announced that our drilling on the Mutsk property had been successful and the "size footprint" of the property had been doubled. The exploration area is open to the north and south and extension possibilities exist to the east.
Financial and Corporate Review
At 30 June 2016 cash stood at £652,000 (31 December 2015: £921,000). The loss for the period amounted to £171,000 (6 months to 30 June 2015: £181,000).
The Group seeks to maintain a low cost structure and actively manages the corporate overhead to reflect our activity levels and the broader difficult funding environment for junior exploration companies.
Outlook
The Company has two large gold projects in two different geological environments on two continents and is well placed to take advantage of the renewed investor interest. Both of our properties exhibit potential to be significant open pit mines and as such we expect to receive corporate interest as they progress.
At Mutsk we are currently modelling all of our results to sharpen our understanding of the nature of the mineralisation and its structural placement. This is a relatively low cost exercise, which will improve our drill targeting in the future. On completion of the modelling we plan to carry out further drilling to extend the limits of the gold deposit and progress on to in-fill drilling to define a resource. With 80% of the Mutsk project now earned, Orogen will be driving the project forward with input from the former Georaid CJSC principles who will continue to assist us with managing logistics and local relations on the ground and have an option to maintain their 20% interest in the project by contributing pro-rata to future work programs. We are conscious to minimise our operational cost base particularly when there is less field activity during the winter period but will use this time productively collating all the information from the drilling to date.
At Silverton we intend to carry out a small reconnaissance programme directed towards testing the highly prospective north south shear zone and surrounding areas. The results of this programme should allow us to test the drivers for gold mineralisation as well as testing the potential for a deeper situated gold feeder system.
ADAM REYNOLDS
Non-Executive Chairman
27 September 2016
Consolidated statement of profit or loss and other comprehensive income
For the six months ended 30 June 2016
Unaudited 6 months to 30 June 2016 | Unaudited 6 months to 30 June 2015 | Audited 12 months to 31 December 2015 | |
£'000 | £'000 | £'000 | |
General and administrative | (154) | (184) | (356) |
Impairment of exploration and evaluation assets | (9) | - | (534) |
Share based payments | (10) | - | (5) |
Group operating loss | (173) | (184) | (895) |
Interest received | 2 | 3 | 5 |
Loss on ordinary activities before taxation | (171) | (181) | (890) |
Tax on loss on ordinary activities | - | - | - |
Loss for the year from continuing operations | (171) | (181) | (890) |
Attributable to: | |||
Equity holders of the parent | (171) | (181) | (677) |
Non-controlling interests | - | - | (213) |
Group loss for the period | (171) | (181) | (890) |
Exchange translation differences | - | (1) | (2) |
Total comprehensive loss for the period | (171) | (182) | (892) |
Attributable to: | |||
Owners of the parent | (171) | (182) | (679) |
Non-controlling interests | - | - | (213) |
(171) | (182) | (892) | |
Loss per share: | |||
Loss per share - basic and diluted, attributable to ordinary equity holders of the parent (pence) | (0.003) | (0.005) | (0.02) |
Consolidated statement of financial position
As at 30 June 2016
Unaudited 30 June 2016 | Unaudited 30 June 2015 | Audited 31 December 2015 | |
£'000 | £'000 | £'000 | |
Assets | |||
Non-current assets | |||
Exploration and evaluation assets | 1,670 | 1,926 | 1,577 |
Property, plant and equipment | 2 | 2 | 2 |
Total non-current assets | 1,672 | 1,928 | 1,579 |
Current assets | |||
Trade and other receivables | 27 | 27 | 22 |
Cash and cash equivalents | 652 | 851 | 921 |
Total current assets | 679 | 878 | 943 |
Total assets | 2,351 | 2,806 | 2,522 |
Equity and liabilities | |||
Equity | |||
Share capital | 4,418 | 4,237 | 4,418 |
Share premium | 12,181 | 11,950 | 12,181 |
Other reserves | 635 | 621 | 625 |
Retained earnings | (14,936) | (14,269) | (14,765) |
Equity attributable to owners of the parent | 2,298 | 2,539 | 2,459 |
Non-controlling interests | - | 210 | - |
Total equity | 2,298 | 2,749 | 2,459 |
Current liabilities | |||
Trade and other payables | 53 | 57 | 63 |
Total current liabilities | 53 | 57 | 63 |
Total liabilities | 53 | 57 | 63 |
Total equity and liabilities | 2,351 | 2,806 | 2,522 |
Consolidated cash flow statement
For the six months ended 30 June 2016
Unaudited 6 months to 30 June 2016 | Unaudited 6 months to 30 June 2015 | Audited 12 months to 31 December 2015 | |
£'000 | £'000 | £'000 | |
Cash flows from operating activities | |||
Group operating loss | (173) | (184) | (895) |
Share based payments | 10 | - | 5 |
(Increase)/decrease in trade and other receivables | (5) | 31 | 36 |
Decrease in trade and other payables | (10) | (12) | (4) |
Impairment of exploration and evaluation assets | 9 | - | 534 |
Net cash flow from operating activities | (169) | (165) | (324) |
Cash flow from investing activities | |||
Expenditure on exploration and evaluation assets and project earn-ins | (102) | (106) | (292) |
Interest received | 2 | 3 | 5 |
Net cash flow from investing activities | (100) | (103) | (287) |
Cash flow from financing activities | |||
Net proceeds from issue of equity instruments | - | - | 411 |
Net cash flow from financing activities | - | - | 411 |
Net change in cash and cash equivalents | (269) | (268) | (200) |
Net foreign exchange difference | - | 1 | 3 |
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period | 921 | 1,118 | 1,118 |
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period | 652 | 851 | 921 |
Consolidated statement of changes in equity
For the six months ended 30 June 2016
Share capital |
Share premium |
Share based payment reserve |
Shares to be issued |
Retained earnings |
Foreign currency translation reserve |
Total |
Non-controlling interests |
Total equity | |
£'000 | £'000 | £'000 | £'000 | £'000 | £'000 | £'000 | £'000 | £'000 | |
Balance at 1 January 2015 | 4,222 | 11,827 | 592 | 138 | (14,088) | 30 | 2,721 | 200 | 2,921 |
Loss for the period | - | - | - | - | (181) | - | (181) | - | (181) |
Issue of share capital | 15 | 123 | - | - | - | - | 138 | - | 138 |
Shares to be issued | - | - | - | (138) | - | - | (138) | - | (138) |
Other reserve movements | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 10 | 10 |
Foreign exchange translation reserve | - | - | - | - | - | (1) | (1) | - | (1) |
Balance at 30 June 2015 | 4,237 | 11,950 | 592 | - | (14,269) | 29 | 2,539 | 210 | 2,749 |
Balance at 1 July 2015 | 4,237 | 11,950 | 592 | - | (14,269) | 29 | 2,539 | 210 | 2,749 |
Loss for the period | - | - | - | - | (496) | - | (496) | (210) | (706) |
Issue of share capital | 181 | 231 | - | - | - | - | 412 | - | 412 |
Foreign exchange translation reserve | - | - | - | - | - | (1) | (1) | - | (1) |
Share based payments | - | - | 5 | - | - | - | 5 | - | 5 |
Balance at 31 December 2015 | 4,418 | 12,181 | 597 | - | (14,765) | 28 | 2,459 | - | 2,459 |
Balance at 1 January 2016 | 4,418 | 12,181 | 597 | - | (14,765) | 28 | 2,459 | - | 2,459 |
Loss for the period | - | - | - | - | (171) | - | (171) | - | (171) |
Share based payments | - | - | 10 | - | - | - | 10 | - | 10 |
Balance at 30 June 2016 | 4,418 | 12,181 | 607 | - | (14,936) | 28 | 2,298 | - | 2,298 |
Notes to the Interim Report
1 General information
Orogen Gold plc is a company incorporated and domiciled in England and Wales. Details of the registered office, the officers and advisers to the Company are presented on the Company information page at the end of this report. The Company's offices are in London and Dublin. The Company is quoted on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange (ticker: ORE.L). The company's investment strategy is focused on mineral exploration in Europe and Nevada, USA.
The Mutsk gold exploration project in Armenia is the Company's main operational project and the Silverton project in Nevada, USA was added to the exploration portfolio in April 2016.
2 Basis of preparation
The financial information for the six months ended 30 June 2016 and 30 June 2015 is unaudited.
The Interim Report has been prepared using the same accounting policies as were applied in the Group's audited financial statements to 31 December 2015, which were prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS"). As is permitted by the AIM rules the Directors have not adopted the requirements of IAS34 "Interim Financial Reporting" in preparing the financial statements. Accordingly, the financial statements are not in full compliance with IFRS and have neither been audited nor reviewed pursuant to guidance issued by the Auditing Practices Board. The Directors consider that the financial information presented in this Interim Report represents fairly the financial position, operations and cash flows for the period, in conformity with IFRS. The Interim Report for the six months ended 30 June 2016 was approved by the Directors on 27 September 2016.
The financial information presented for the period ended 31 December 2015 is an extraction from the Group's audited accounts on which the auditors issued an unqualified report. The information presented does not constitute full accounts for that period.
3 Loss per share
Basic loss per share is calculated by dividing the loss attributable to equity shareholders by the weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue during the period:
Unaudited 30 June 2016 | Unaudited 30 June 2015 | Audited 31 December 2015 | |
£'000 | £'000 | £'000 | |
Loss after tax attributable to equity holders of the parent | (171) | (181) | (677) |
Weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue (millions) | 5,508 | 3,691 | 4,002 |
Basic and diluted loss per share (pence) | (0.003) | (0.005) | (0.02) |
Basic and diluted earnings per share are the same, since where a loss is incurred the effect of outstanding share options and warrants is considered anti-dilutive and is ignored for the purpose of the loss per share calculation. The share options outstanding as at 30 June 2016 totalled 380,000,000 (30 June 2015: 225,000,000, 31 December 2015: 380,000,000) and are potentially dilutive.
4 Exploration and evaluation assets
Armenia |
Silverton |
Serbia |
Total | |
£'000 | £'000 | £'000 | £'000 | |
Cost | ||||
At 1 January 2015 | 1,311 | - | 5,520 | 6,831 |
Additions | 90 | - | 25 | 115 |
At 30 June 2015 | 1,401 | - | 5,545 | 6,946 |
Impairment | ||||
At 1 January 2015 | - | - | 5,020 | 5,020 |
Impairment charge | - | - | - | - |
At 30 June 2015 | - | - | 5,020 | 5,020 |
Carrying value 30 June 2015 | 1,401 | - | 525 | 1,926 |
Cost | ||||
At 1 July 2015 | 1,401 | - | 5,545 | 6,946 |
Additions | 176 | - | 9 | 185 |
At 31 December 2015 | 1,577 | - | 5,554 | 7,131 |
Impairment | ||||
At 1 July 2015 | - | - | 5,020 | 5,020 |
Impairment charge | - | - | 534 | 534 |
At 31 December 2015 | - | - | 5,554 | 5,554 |
Carrying value 31 December 2015 | 1,577 | - | - | 1,577 |
Cost | ||||
At 1 January 2016 | 1,577 | - | 5,554 | 7,131 |
Additions | 87 | 6 | 9 | 102 |
At 30 June 2016 | 1,664 | 6 | 5,563 | 7,233 |
Impairment | ||||
At 1 January 2016 | - | - | 5,554 | 5,554 |
Impairment charge | - | - | 9 | 9 |
At 30 June 2016 | - | - | 5,563 | 5,563 |
Carrying value 30 June 2016 | 1,664 | 6 | - | 1,670 |
5 Cash and cash equivalents
Unaudited 30 June 2016 | Unaudited 30 June 2015 | Audited 31 December 2015 | |
£'000 | £'000 | £'000 | |
Cash at bank | 652 | 851 | 921 |
Cash and cash equivalents | 652 | 851 | 921 |
6 Share capital
Details of ordinary and deferred shares issued are in the table below:
|
| ||||||||
Ordinary Shares (£0.0001) | Deferred Shares (£0.009) | ||||||||
Date | Details | Number of shares | Issue Price £ | Number of shares | Issue Price £ | ||||
At 1 Jan 2015 | Opening Balance | 3,560,432,183 | 429,643,035 | ||||||
27 Jan 2015 | Mutsk continuation notice | 110,886,804 | 0.000597 | ||||||
25 Mar 2015 | Drill for equity agreement | 36,350,350 | 0.002 | ||||||
30 Oct 2015 | Share placing - £450,000 (before costs) | 1,800,000,000 | 0.00025 | ||||||
At 30 June 2016 | Closing Balance | 5,507,669,337 | 429,643,035 | ||||||
7 Subsequent events
On 26 July 2016, Orogen announced that it raised £350,000 before expenses through a share placing of 2,333,333,333 new Ordinary Shares of 0.01p each in the capital of the Company with investors at 0.015p per share. Following the completion of the placing, the total issued ordinary share capital of the Company comprised 7,841,002,670 shares.
On 31 August 2016, Orogen announced that it had completed US$2.5m exploration expenditures on the Mutsk property and exercised its option to acquire an 80% interest in Georaid CJSC, the Armenian registered company that holds the exploration licence covering the Mutsk property. The completion of the earn-in has been acknowledged by Orogen's partners on the project and the process to register the Company's interest has commenced.
8 Copy of the Interim Report
Copies of the Interim Report are available to download from the Company's website at www.orogengold.com.