TSTR.L Regulatory News (TSTR)

TRI-STAR RESOURCES PLC

("Tri-Star Resources" or the "Company")

Half Year Results

Tri-Star Resources Plc (formerly Canisp Plc) (AIM: TSTR) is pleased to announce its unaudited results for the six month period ended 30 June 2011.

Chairman's Statement

Introduction

During this period, the strategy of the Company has evolved from that of a mining and exploration company based in Turkey, to one that has the ambition to develop an integrated Antimony production company with upstream mining and exploration assets in Turkey and Canada, along with a downstream value added roaster opportunity in the UAE which will treat not only its own concentrates but third party material as well.

In addition, the 'strategic' nature of the Antimony industry over the past year has evolved. The British Geological Survey published a report in September 2011 that ranked some 52 key elements it assessed as being 'most at risk from supply disruptions' and hence important to the global industries. Antimony metal was ranked at the top of this list as "most at risk", above other minerals such as rare earths, platinum group metals and tungsten. This confirms our belief in the value to shareholders and Antimony consumers of developing Tri-Star as a new and integrated source of Antimony products for western customers.

In the period under review, the Company commenced the second phase of its drilling programme and therefore these results reflect the costs of those operations and related support functions together with the administration costs of the group, whilst it develops its strategy. Accordingly, the Company recorded a loss after tax of £1,062,000 (30 June 2010: loss of £879,000; year ended 31 December 2010: loss of £1,498,000). This includes administrative expenses of £241,000, mining costs of £428,000 and a (non-cash) share based payment charge of £397,000. The board of directors of the Company (the "Board") does not recommend that a dividend is paid at this time.

Capital enhancement

During the period, the Company successfully placed a total of 270,800,000 new ordinary shares in Tri-Star Resources, at a placing price of 1 pence per share, with institutional and professional investors, raising £2.7 million, gross of expenses. These shares ranked pari passu with all existing ordinary shares in the capital of the Company and were admitted to trading on AIM on 6 April 2011. Following this placing, the enlarged issued share capital of the Company is 5,033,347,275 ordinary shares.

Each placing share has a three year half warrant attached to it, exercisable at 2 pence, and a three year half warrant attached to it, exercisable at 3 pence.

Business update

The past six month period has seen further progress on all fronts of the Company, as it moves towards becoming an integrated producer of Antimony metal and its value added products.

World Antimony metal reached lows of US$13,600/tonne during the summer, mostly as a result of European customer factory holidays; however, prices have recently risen to US$15,800/tonne following renewed concerns on deliveries from China, which still accounts for some 90% of world output.

Turkey

At the Company's operations at the Goynuk mine in Turkey, the second phase of drilling commenced in August 2011 to better define the high grade South East extension of the mineralized ore-body discovered by the first round of reconnaissance drilling conducted during 2010. This drilling programme, based on 15m interval drill fences with intervening test holes where deemed appropriate, should enable the Company to produce a maiden resource for this portion of the deposit. To date, approximately 2,600m of a 3,500m programme have been completed. The Company drilled holes GOY11022 to GOY11048, in the south east area, of which 9 had intercepts amounting to 46.8m of mineralization where the crystal structure of stibnite can easily been seen.

Therefore, visible Antimony mineralization has been observed in a significant number of the holes drilled, although complete analysis of the results is dependent on the receipt of assays.

Although the Company's drill programme is significantly advanced, industry-wide backlogs experienced at the Canadian assay laboratories has delayed the timetable for delivery of our assays and, accordingly, the Company will be publishing its drill results as soon as possible, in due course.

The second part of this year's drill programme at Goynuk will be to test the geological structures and emplacement models developed by our technical team and consultants for further mineralization zones and trends near and within the existing old mine workings, as well as some more distant targets. The Company has also acquired the exploration concession immediately to the east of Goynuk encompassing 685.9 Ha of additional ground and has been conducting geological studies on the expanded concession as part of the current work programme.

Preliminary metallurgical test work has been undertaken by both Wardell Armstrong International and Hazen Research Inc and shows that the Antimony ore within Goynuk contains low levels of contaminants, such as arsenic, and only minor traces of lead or mercury, making this a 'clean' ore for concentration and roasting. Initial test work returned a concentrate recovery factor of 90% to produce a +68.6% Sb (stibnite) product. Accordingly, our Turkish subsidiary has applied for all the necessary permits to commence a small scale production processing plant utilizing our high grade surface stockpile material and our dump material to produce a concentrate for sale.

Canada

In Canada, the Company acquired a 17,000 Ha exploration concession near Fredericton, in New Brunswick, containing three substantial basal till anomalies of Antimony (Sb). Work has already commenced in sampling certain areas of immediate interest and assay results are expected as soon as possible, in due course.

On 28 June 2011, Tri-Star Resources entered into a letter of intent with Portage Minerals Inc (CNSX: RKX) in relation to its Bald Hill Antimony deposit and claims to the south of New Brunswick. Following initial due diligence on the property, both parties have extended the timetable for discussions on a proposed joint venture for Bald Hill.

UAE Roaster

On 26 July 2011, the Company entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Union International Holdings Group ("Union Group") to develop a facility to process 20,000 tonne per annum of Antimony metal and tri-oxide products. The site chosen for the project is located in the Al Ghail Industrial Zone owned and operated by the Ras Al Khaimah Investment Authority ("RAKIA"), the Sovereign investment company of Ras Al Khaimah, a member state of the UAE.

The facility, which would be one of the first to be designed and built outside of China for decades, will not only treat the Antimony concentrates from Tri-Star Resources' own operations but will handle third party concentrates containing Antimony and other by-product credits. The Company has already received expressions of interest from a number of international customers seeking supplies of finished Antimony metal once the facility is operational.

As previously announced on 26 July 2011, Tri-Star Resources was in discussions with Union Group with a view to entering into a binding agreement in relation to the project. These discussions remain ongoing and the Board is continuing to explore funding opportunities available to the Company.

Management incentive scheme

In May 2011, the remuneration committee of the Company approved the grant of options over ordinary shares to certain directors of the Company at exercise prices ranging from 1p per share to 3p per share, full details of which are provided in note 5 of this Half Year Report.

In addition, a further 48,000,000 options have been granted to employees and consultants on the same terms.

Tri-Star Resources' team

Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to thank our staff and consultants who have worked diligently over the past few months to bring the Company to the exciting position it is in today.

Adrian Collins

Chairman

30 September 2011

Enquiries:

Brian Spratley, the Company's Chief Executive Officer, has relevant experience within the sector and meets the criteria of a qualified person under the AIM note for mining, oil and gas companies and has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this announcement. 

TRI-STAR RESOURCES PLC (FORMERLY CANISP PLC)

STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME

FOR THE 6 MONTHS ENDED 30 JUNE 2011

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITY

FOR THE 6 MONTHS ENDED 30 JUNE 2011

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION

AS AT 30 JUNE 2011

CONSOLIDATED CASH FLOW STATEMENT

FOR THE 6 MONTHS ENDED 30 JUNE 2011

NOTES TO THE HALF YEAR REPORT

FOR THE PERIOD ENDED 30 JUNE 2011

1. GENERAL INFORMATION

The information for the period ended 30 June 2011 does not constitute statutory accounts, as defined in Section 498 of the Companies Act 2006. The figures for the year ended 31 December 2010 have been extracted from the audited financial statements of Tri-Star Resources plc.

2. ACCOUNTING POLICIES

BASIS OF PREPARATION

The Company's shares are listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange and the Company applies the Companies Act 2006 when preparing its annual financial statements.

The annual financial statements will be prepared under International Financial Reporting Standards as adopted by the European Union (IFRS) and the principal accounting policies adopted remain unchanged from those adopted in preparing its financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2010 except for the adoption of IAS24 Related Party Disclosures (Revised).

·; IAS 24 Related Party Disclosures (Revised)

The Group applied revised IAS 24, Related Party Disclosures, which became effective for annual periods beginning on or after 1 January 2011. The revised standard simplified the definition of a related party, clarifying its intended meaning and eliminated inconsistencies from the definition. It also provides a partial exemption from the disclosure requirements for government-related entities. The adoption of this new and revised standard did not have a significant impact on the Group's financial statements. The adoption of this standard did not result in any change in the measurement of amounts reported for the current financial period.

The accounting policies have been applied consistently throughout the Group for the purposes of preparation of these condensed consolidated Half Year financial statements.

3. SEGMENTAL REPORTING

As defined under International Financial Reporting Standard 8 (IFRS 8) the management have defined that the Group's only material business segment is mining.

4 LOSS PER SHARE

The calculation of the basic loss per share is based on the loss attributable to ordinary shareholders divided by the weighted average number of shares in issue during the period.

5 share based payments

The Group operates share option schemes for certain employees and consultants (including directors). Options are exercisable at the option price agreed at the date of grant. The options are settled in equity once exercised. The expected life of the options varies. If the options remain unexercised after a period of ten years from the date of grant, the options expire.

Details of the number of share options and the weighted average exercise price (WAEP) outstanding during the year are as follows:

The share options outstanding at the end of the period have a weighted average remaining contractual life of 9.72 years (30 September 2010 9.92 years, 31 December 2010 9.65 years) and have the following exercise prices and fair values at the date of grant:

5 share based payments (continued)

The share options can be exercised up to 10 years after the grant date.

The fair values were calculated using the Black-Scholes. The inputs into the model were as follows:

Expected volatility was determined by calculating the historical volatility of Tri-Star Resource Plc's share price over a six month period. The expected life used in the model has been adjusted, based on management's best estimate, for the effects of non-transferability, exercise restrictions and behavioural considerations.

The Group recognised total expenses of £397,000 (30 September 2010: £58,000 and 31 December 2010: £260,000) relating to equity-settled share-based payment transactions during the period.

These recognised expenses are not, and never will be, a cash cost to the Company but are merely an accounting charge to the Income Statement reflecting the theoretical cost to the Company if options are exercised in the future where the receipts from exercise are lower than if the same number of shares had been issued at the then prevailing market value. In many cases, for the theoretical cost to be incurred, the market price of the Company's shares at exercise will need to be a multiple of the current share price.

Warrants issued

Included above are 5,000,000 warrants issued to external consultants for services provided which have been included at fair value in the financial statements.

On 6 April 2011 270,800,000 shares were placed for cash, and in addition, each Placing Share had a three year half warrant attached to it exercisable at 2 pence, and a three year half warrant attached to it exercisable at 3 pence. 

6 SHARE CAPITAL

On 29 March 2011 the Company announced the placement of 270,800,000 ordinary shares of 0.005p for cash raising £2,708,000 before expenses which were admitted to trading on AIM on 6 April 2011. Following this issue there were 5,033,347,275 Ordinary Shares of 0.005 pence each in issue (each of which are voting shares) at 30 June 2011.

The deferred shares have no voting rights and are not eligible for dividend.