Tiger Resource Regulatory News (TIR)

19 Jun 2009 07:00



TIGER RESOURCE FINANCE PLC ("Tiger" or the "Company")

PRELIMINARY RESULTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER, 2008

OPERATIONS REVIEW

Dear Shareholder,

The year under review has seen Tiger's net asset value decline to 2.99p (5.55p at 31 December 2007) representing a 46% drop in the year. Despite a difficult year, Tiger's performance was superior to the Bloomberg World Mining index which fell by some 61% and the AIM Basic Resource index which declined by almost 73% in the same 12 month period.

During the year, Tiger purchased 2,250,000 of its own ordinary shares for a consideration of £76,740. The total number of treasury shares held by Tiger as at 31st December 2008 was 29.5 million. 

The Company's investment portfolio has increased in value in recent months and its valuation shows a healthy increase compared to valuations at 31 December 2008. 

The factors affecting valuations have been almost entirely outside the control of companies listed in the resource sector with the fall in share price being primarily attributable to the global banking and credit crisis. The economic turbulence and the subsequent recession have resulted in a sharp fall in demand for metals and subsequently a fall in metal and commodity prices. The "knock on" effect was investor illusion that the world would stagnate and exploration for tomorrow's metal was therefore futile.

As a consequence, the junior resource sector has been unable to raise capital for ongoing operations and several companies have limited liquid resources with which to fund ongoing activities. The measures taken by governments to address the crisis have been timeous and extreme with a universal view that a period of high inflation will follow the economic easing measures that are currently in place.

The Tiger Board firmly believes that metal prices will rebound and that the junior mining sector, including commodities such as oil and gas will experience a sustained "bull run". We do not expect to see material change before October 2009 and significant junior share price appreciation before April next year. However, we do expect to see a gradual increase in secondary placings and some IPO activity over the next few months.

The company's strong cash position and the recovery potential of its investment portfolio will give Tiger the opportunity to take early positions prior to full recovery.

We look forward to a productive year showing enhancement to shareholder value.

On behalf of the board

17 June 2009

PORTFOLIO REVIEW

1) On 16 June 2009, the market share price of Ascent Plc ordinary shares was materially lower than the valuation shown at 31 May 2009, following the company's announcement that the Gazzata-1 well reached a total depth of 2,840m and that despite drilling a series of sand and shale sequences, the interpretation of the wireline logs that were run did not indicate the presence of commercial gas reserves.

2) The Minmet Plc and Africa Oil Exploration Plc investments have been impairment to their carrying value at 31 December 2008 which is the same as the market value of the investments on the same date. (see note 6)

3) The Company sold 8,144,207 Vatukoula Gold Mines Plc (previously known as River Diamonds Plc) shares on 15 May 2008 and on the same date exercised 13,333,332 warrants at a cost of 1.5p per warrant. Consequently, the Company currently and on 31 December 2008 held 13,333,332 Vatukoula Gold Mines Plc shares.

4) On 4 January 2008, the Company acquired 625,000 Africa Oil Exploration Plc ordinary shares at a cost of £100,000.

3) On 29 January 2008, the Company acquired 4,166,666 U3O8 shares ordinary shares at a cost of £125,000.

African Eagle Resources plc (AIM - AFE, Altx: AEA) www.africaneagle.co.uk

Tiger holds 1,241,174 shares in African Eagle Resources plc ("African Eagle"). The company listed on the Alternative Exchange of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in August 2007 following a placement of 53,457,310 shares at a price of R1.95 per share raising a total of 104 million SA Rands. African Eagle's advanced projects, the Mkushi Copper Mines in Zambia and the Miyabi gold project in Tanzania are being fast tracked towards production. The excellent local infrastructure, the straightforward mineralogy and the wealth of archive data from past operations make it likely that the Mines can be brought back into production quickly and at relatively modest capital cost. In its Miyabi Gold Project, African Eagle has defined a 520,000 ounce gold mineral resource to JORC standard, of which 71% is in the indicated category. Tiger will be closely monitoring this investment in the coming months.

Ascent Resources plc (AIM - AST) www.ascentresources.co.uk

Tiger holds 24,642,857 shares in Ascent Resources plc ("Ascent") following the disposal of 5 million shares during the year at a profit of £902,703. In November 2007, Ascent placed convertible loan notes with institutional funds managed by CIM Investment Management raising a total £2.5 million. The main purpose for raising funds was to enable Ascent to fast track its Hungarian gas development projects. Ascent entered into a farm-in agreement with Toreador Resources Corporation ("Toreador") to drill two exploratory wells and acquire 170 square kilometres of 3-D seismic in Toreador's Szolnok exploration permit in Central Hungary. Alongside the Bajsca field redevelopment in the south west and the Peneszlek development in the eastern Nyirseg region, the Toreador farm-in provides the company a platform for a third producing area to be established and if successful, could open up yet another cashflow stream for Ascent in 2009. Tiger believes that Ascent will benefit in less adverse share trading conditions and in the short term considers this position as a hold.

Franconia Minerals Corporation (TSX - FRA) www.franconiaminerals.com

Tiger sold 170,100 shares in Franconia Minerals Corporation ("Franconia") during the year for a consideration of £240,949 realising a profit of £211,675 and a return of over 700% compared to original cost. Tiger currently holds a further 475,733 shares in the company. Franconia is a company focused in the exploration of Platinum Group Metals and zinc/copper in the USA. The company's most advanced project is the Birch Lake Platinum-Palladium-Copper-Nickel project, located in the Duluth Complex in north eastern Minnesota. Franconia received the third N1 43-101 technical report raising the underground inferred resource estimated on the Birch Lake, Maturi and Spruce Road properties to a total of 307.9 million tonnes. Franconia continues to execute its plan to begin active mining at the Birch Lake Project by 2012. On 19 November 2007, the company's listing moved from the TSX Venture Exchange to the Toronto Stock Exchange. Tiger believes this investment has solid fundamentals which will release value in the mid-term.

Gold Fields Limited (JSE - GFI) www.goldfields.co.za

Tiger holds 10,500 Gold Fields Limited ("Gold Fields") shares valued at £75,533. Gold Fields is one of the world's largest unhedged gold producers with an annual gold production of approximately 4 million ounces, total ore reserves of 92 million ounces and mineral resources of 252 million ounces. In December 2007, Gold Fields completed the sale of its Venezuelan assets to Rusoro Mining Ltd (Rusoro) for a consideration of approximately US$532 million payable as US$180 million in cash and 140 million newly-issued Rusoro shares representing 37% of the total shares issued in Rusoro. Tiger has held this holding for a few years and will continue to monitor its Gold Fields investment with interest, particularly during a period of bullish precious metal prices.

Minmet plc (AIM - MNT) www.minmet.ie

Tiger currently holds 873,574 shares in Minmet plc ("Minmet"). In October 2007, Minmet plc announced the termination of all arrangements with Gold Oil plc ("Gold Oil") relating to oil and gas interests in Cuba and Latin America, following a re-evaluation of these interests by the company's board. In consideration for the termination, Gold Oil deposited its 8,300,000 ordinary Minmet shares with a broker, with instructions to have the shares placed in the market and the proceeds distributed to the company. Concurrently, Minmet also deposited its 22,950,000 ordinary shares in Gold Oil with a broker, with instructions to have the shares placed in the market and the proceeds distributed to Gold Oil. In December 2007, Gold-Ore Resources Ltd. ("Gold-Ore") completed the exercise of its call option to purchase the Björkdal gold mine in Sweden. Minmet received US$2 million in cash and 4 million Gold-Ore common shares as consideration for the sale of its 100% interest in Björkdalsgruvan AB, the owner of the Björkdal mine. Tiger currently holds a relatively small investment in Minmet having realised good returns in the past.

Pacific North West Capital Corp (TSX - PFN) www.pfncapital.com 

Tiger holds 566,500 shares in Pacific North West Capital Corp ("PFN"), a company focused in PGM and base metal exploration in North America. PFN has joint venture projects with major mining companies such as Anglo Platinum, Stillwater Mining Company, Xstrata Nickel and Soquem. PFN's most active project is the River Valley Project, located near Sudbury, Ontario. This project is joint-ventured 50/50 with Anglo Platinum Limited ("Anglo Platinum"). In November 2007, an additional budget of $525,000 was approved by Anglo Platinum to fast track the exploration programme at River Valley. Further ground sampling, stripping, channelling and continued evaluation on the Interior RV intrusive is currently underway to evaluate the mineral potential of the PGM zones identified in the 2006 mapping and prospecting programs. The objective of the programme is to define new PGM mineralization that could expand the current measured resource of 8.53 million tonnes containing 353,200 ounces of palladium (1.29 g/t), 116,800 ounces of platinum (0.43 g/t) and 20,400 ounces of gold (0.07 g/t). PFN has an interesting portfolio of projects which should increase shareholder value in a strong PGM market.

Pan African Resources plc (AIM - PAF, Altx - PAN) www.panafricanresources.com

Tiger holds 5,098,333 shares in Pan African Resources plc ("Pan African"). In July 2007 Pan African completed the acquisition of Barberton Mines Limited ('Barberton') and the Company's ordinary shares ('Shares') began trading on Altx, the junior market of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. The shares were also re-admitted to trading on AIM following shareholder approval for the acquisition of Barberton, which constituted a reverse takeover under AIM Rules. Pan African is now the largest gold production and exploration company trading on the growing Altx market with in situ mineral reserves at the Barbeton mine of some 359Koz (1.37Mt @ 8,16g/t) producing approximately 95 - 100,000oz per annum over an expected mine life of 10 years. Pan African is considered a good long term investment and Tiger believes that the company's share price has not appreciated significantly due to adverse market conditions.

Nautical Petroleum plc (AIM - NPE) www.nauticalpetroleum.com

Tiger holds 9,000,000 shares in Nautical Petroleum plc ("Nautical"). Nautical is an independent hydrocarbon exploration and development company listed on London's AIM market. The company's mission is to acquire, develop and add value to discovered heavy oil projects, initially on the United Kingdom Continental Shelf ("UKCS").  Nautical currently operates 8 blocks and is an active partner in 7 others in the UKCS and France. The Company continues to follow a conservative policy, focusing on discovered oil with minimal exposure to exploration risk and preferring to retain highest equity shares in Nautical operated Joint Ventures. The Company continues to mitigate risk through farming out to aligned partners at a premium, as evidenced by the participation of new UKCS entrant Canamens Energy Limited and Silverstone Energy Limited in the Mermaid project - both along with Nautical's existing partner, Celtic Oil Limited. The company continues to seek further farmouts, especially on blocks where significant expenditure is required on either new seismic or drilling. Tiger is confident that Nautical's experienced management team will add value to the various projects currently held in the company's portfolio.

Ridge Mining plc (AIM - RDG) www.ridgemining.com

Tiger holds 100,000 shares in Ridge Mining plc ("Ridge Mining"). Ridge Mining is an AIM and PLUS traded company, focused on developing prospective Platinum Group Metal (PGM) projects in the Bushveld Complex of South Africa. The Company's two most advanced PGM projects are the 50% owned Blue Ridge Project on the eastern limb of the Bushveld Complex where development commenced in January 2007 and first production is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2008 and the nearby Sheba's Ridge Project, a joint venture with Anglo Platinum and the Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa where a full feasibility study was completed at the end of 2007. The Sheba's Ridge feasibility study is in the process of an independent technical audit, the results of which are scheduled for release in 2008. Tiger sees Ridge Mining performing well in the bullish PGM sector.

River Diamonds plc (AIM - RVD) www.riverdiamonds.co.uk

Tiger holds 8,144,207 shares in River Diamonds plc ("River Diamonds") at 31 December 2007. Tiger realised a profit of £200,768 in May 2008 through the sale of this holding and exercised its 13,333,332 1.5p warrants at the same time increasing Tiger's holding to the equivalent number of shares.  During 2007, River Diamonds directed its focus to the gold sector and acquired a 100% stake in the Vatukoula Gold Mine in Fiji, a producing gold mine containing 830,000oz of reserves and a 5.15 million oz resource. As part of the planned restart of the mine, substantial development exploration is planned. This programme will initially focus on mineralisation along strike and down dip of the existing ore bodies. On completion of this programme, exploration will begin on the Basala target which is approximately 200 square metres and has an elevated soil gold grade of 0.25 ppm. There is also exploration potential at two further localities around the caldera, the Nasomo magnetic target and the Waikatakata area. River Diamonds believes that there is significant further upside potential for additional resources in the Vatukoula project.

Sunrise Diamonds plc (AIM - SDS) www.sunrisediamonds.com

Tiger holds 665,000 shares in Sunrise Diamonds plc ("Sunrise Diamonds"). The company announced the finding of macro diamonds in drill samples from Kimberlite Pipes 10 and 17 as well as a significant number of larger sized stones and a relatively coarse stone size distribution in the samples from Pipe 17. The diamonds recovered from Pipe 17 have positive value characteristics, most being colourless and of moderate to good quality. Pipe 17 has a surface area of approximately 2 hectares and is being followed up for larger scale sampling. Sunrise Diamonds has continued to leverage on its exclusive licence to use the BHP Billiton diamond exploration database in Finland with the recent agreement with Mantle Diamonds Limited ("Mantle") giving it a 20% joint venture interest and free carry to a mining decision, in two kimberlite targets identified from the database on ground controlled by Mantle. Sunrise Diamonds is continuing its project generative work elsewhere in Finland and overseas and further news is expected in the coming months.

Tertiary Minerals plc (AIM - TYM) www.tertiaryminerals.com

Tiger holds 1,330,000 shares in Tertiary Minerals plc ("Tertiary Minerals"). Tertiary Minerals plc was awarded an exploration licence covering a major deposit of fluorspar near Storuman in the Vasterbotten district of Northern Sweden. The Company has moved quickly to evaluate the Storuman project and recently announced the results of its initial drilling programme where fluorspar mineralisation was intersected in each of 10 holes drilled over a strike length of 2km. Although assay results are awaited, early indications suggest that the Storuman project hosts a large body of fluorspar mineralisation with potential for significant extensions. Tertiary Minerals has provided in full against the Ghurayyah tantalum-niobium-zircon project until such time as a new exploration licence is issued by the ministry of mines and minerals in Saudi Arabia on acceptable terms and conditions. Tiger will closely follow progress of the Storuman project to evaluate potential return from this investment.

  INCOME STATEMENT

YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2008

All profits are derived from continuing operations.

STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITY

YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2008

BALANCE SHEET

AS AT 31 DECEMBER 2008

CASH FLOW STATEMENT

YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2008

Basis of preparation

The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention except for the measurement of certain non-current asset investments at fair value. The measurement bases and principal accounting policies of the group are set out below. The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with /applicable International Financial Reporting Standards as adopted by the EU/and/International Financial Reporting Standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board/ (IFRS). 

Valuation of Investments

Investments are initially measured at fair value plus incidental acquisition costs. Subsequently they are measured at fair value in accordance with IAS 39. This is either the bid price or the last traded price, depending on the convention of the exchange on which the investment is quoted. 

Investments are recognised as available-for-sale financial assets. Gains and losses on measurement are recognised in equity except for impairment losses and foreign exchange gains and losses on monetary items denominated in a foreign currency, until the assets are derecognised, at which time the cumulative gains and losses previously recognised in equity are recognised in the Income Statement. 

In the case of impairment of available-for-sale assets, any loss previously recognised in equity is transferred to the income statement. Impairment losses recognised in the income statement on equity instruments are not reversed through the income statement. Impairment losses recognised previously on debt securities are reversed through the income statement when the increase can be related objectively to an event occurring after the impairment loss was recognised in the income statement. 

An assessment for impairment is undertaken at least at each balance sheet date. 

This preliminary statement is not the Company's statutory accounts. The statutory accounts for the year ended 31 December 2008 have been approved by the directors and have received an audit report which was unqualified and did not contain statements under s237(2) and (3) of the Companies Act 1985. These statutory accounts have not been delivered to the Registrar of Companies and will be sent to shareholders on 24 June 2009.

The statutory accounts for the year ended 31 December 2008 are currently being delivered to the Registrar of Companies and shareholders and have received an audit report which was unqualified and did not contain statements under s237(2) and (3) of the Companies Act 1985.

The Annual General Meeting of the Company will be held on Friday 18 September 2009 at 9.00 am at the Rembrandt Hotel, 11 Thurloe Place, Knightsbridge, London SW7 2RS.  

By order of the Board

19 June 2009

For further information please contact:

Bruce Rowan, Chairman Tel: +0044 (0) 20 7486 3997 Colin Bird, Director Tel: +0044 (0) 20 7581 4477