WRES.L Regulatory News (WRES)

1 June 2020

W Resources Plc 

("W" or the "Company")

Final Results for the Year Ended 31 December 2019

W Resources Plc (AIM:WRES), the tungsten, tin and gold mining company with assets in Spain and Portugal, announces its audited financial results for the year ended 31 December 2019.

HIGHLIGHTS

La Parrilla, Tungsten and Tin, Spain

· Construction completed on this world class tungsten and tin project in September 2019.

· Initial production of the T2 stage production commenced in November 2019.

· Production in Q4 2019 built at a slower pace than anticipated due to early stage plant challenges, which continue to be resolved.

· Production in Q1 2020 was reported on 17 April 2020, recording an increase in tungsten metal production to 45.2 tonnes (combined tungsten and tin).

· Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the timing of the €5.3m Grant from the Junta de Extremadura is to be confirmed with the local Government needing to prioritise resources in response to the ongoing pandemic.

Régua Tungsten Project, Portugal

· Régua has significant synergies with La Parrilla as it has materially lower capital costs and will increase La Parrilla's final concentrate production.

· Mining operations commenced in March 2020 and is currently paused due to the challenges presented by COVID-19.

COVID-19

The recent COVID-19 pandemic has meant that 2020 thus far has been a very challenging time for Spain and Portugal as it has for the rest of the world. Our priority has remained the health and safety of our personnel and we continued to work hard at both our operational sites in Spain and Portugal to review and maintain our priorities on this matter in relation to our staff and contractors.

In order to mitigate against risk of further impacts on production as a result of this pandemic, W has secured additional funding to ensure the Company has a strong buffer in these unprecedented times.

Chairman of W, Michael Masterman commented: "Whilst 2019 was a very challenging year with the core priority being completion of the La Parrilla plant and commencement of production and ramp-up, La Parrilla is in operation and is starting to reap the benefits from the substantial plant improvement programme executed over the last 3 months. The bulk of the operational plant improvements have been installed and are now operational. We are of the view that the plant can progressively increase both recoveries and utilisation to increase production to design capacity."

Enquiries:

APPENDIX 1 - JORC COMPLIANT MINERAL RESOURCE ESTIMATES

La Parrilla Proven and Probable Mineral Reserves - JORC 2012

Note: The La Parrilla mine reserves are set out in the following table based on the optimal LOM Pit. Estimate for La Parrilla Deposit using a 330 ppm WO3 Cut-Off Grade and 5% dilution. All tonnes quoted are dry tonnes. Differences in the addition of tonnes to the total displayed is due to rounding.

The La Parrilla JORC-compliant mineral reserves update was fully disclosed, with JORC Table 1 in a Company news release on 14 June 2017. Mr Adén Muñoz of AYMA Mining Solutions SL, a Spanish Mining Engineering company based in Seville was the Competent Person responsible for the La Parrilla Proven and Probable Mineral Reserves. The mineral reserves are based on indicated and measured resources prepared by Golder Associated in March 2017 (RNS, 11 May 2017).

Mineral Resources for La Parrilla Deposit Using a 400 ppm WO3 Cut-Off Grade within Mineralised Domains - JORC 2012

The La Parrilla JORC-compliant mineral resource update was fully disclosed, with JORC Table 1 in a Company news release on 11 May 2017. Mr Andrew Weeks (Golder Associates Pty Ltd) was the Competent Person responsible for the Mineral Resource Estimate for the La Parrilla deposit.

Régua JORC Compliant Mineral Resource Estimate reported at a 0.1% WO3 cut-off grade

The Régua JORC compliant mineral resource update was fully disclosed, with JORC Table 1 in a Company news release on 5 February 2020. Mr Andrew Weeks (Golder Associates Pty Ltd) was the Competent Person responsible for the Mineral Resource Estimate for the Régua deposit.

São Martinho Maiden JORC Compliant Mineral Resource Estimate

The São Martinho maiden JORC-compliant mineral resource update was fully disclosed, with JORC Table 1 in a W Resources Plc RNS announcement on 8 June 2016. Mr Jorge Peres (Golder Associates Pty Ltd) was the Competent Person responsible for the Mineral Resource Estimate for the São Martinho deposit.

W RESOURCES PLC

CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2019

W Resources' focus for 2019 was to complete the construction of its world class La Parrilla Tungsten and Tin Project in Spain, which at full production will deliver 2,500tpa of tungsten and is anticipated that this will deliver EBITDA of c.US$20.0m per annum (T2 stage). Construction of the La Parrilla plant was completed in September 2019 and production commenced in late November 2019. La Parrilla, with its large-scale production capacity and low-cost structure will form the base of our cash generation and expansion in the year ahead.

Building a mine of this scale comes with its challenges and whilst the timeline to achieve this was delayed in 2019, the team has worked tirelessly to ensure the best outcome in each phase of development. This is now gaining traction for 2020 as we build towards reaching target production and delivering improved EBITDA in the year ahead.

In this environment of unprecedented market uncertainty, our main priorities in 2020 are to take La Parrilla to design capacity by the end of 2020 and to add an initial stream of tungsten production from our newly opened Régua trial mine to the La Parrilla core production base.

Planning is in place to install ore sorters at La Parrilla to effect an increase in production capacity of the current T2 - 2 million tonne per annum plant. We will gradually take the expansion to T3.5, demonstrating commercial operations in incremental steps prior to substantially expanding production capacity.

COVID-19 and Safety

The recent COVID-19 pandemic has meant that 2020 thus far has been a very challenging time for Spain and Portugal as it has for the rest of the world. Our priority has remained the health and safety of our personnel and we continued to work hard at both our operational sites in Spain and Portugal to review and maintain our priorities on this matter in relation to our staff and contractors. On 14 March 2020, Pedro Sánchez, Spain's Prime Minister, declared a national State of Emergency, which was subsequently updated stipulating with effect from 31 March 2020 that non-essential services, including mining, be closed until Thursday 9 April. The closure of non-essential services which limited operations was subsequently lifted and production at La Parrilla in Spain recommenced, following key works to improve the circuit.

In order to mitigate against risk of further impacts on production as a result of this pandemic, W has secured additional funding to ensure the Company has a strong buffer in these unprecedented times.

Our strong safety performance continues with no Lost Time Injuries during the last 12 months and a total recordable injury frequency rate ("TRIFR") of 16.1 per million hours worked, which is well below the Spanish mining industry average of 45.2. The health and safety of our all employees, contractors and customers remains an absolute priority and we are working hard to ensure we implement all measures necessary to maintain this in the current pandemic.

TUNGSTEN & TIN

La Parrilla - Spain

La Parrilla is a large-scale, low-cost, long-life tungsten and tin project, located approximately 310km southwest of Madrid. It has Australasian Joint Ore Reserves Committee ("JORC") compliant resources totalling 49 million tonnes ("mt") at a grade of 0.1% of tungsten trioxide ("WO3") and JORC compliant reserves of 29.8mt (as shown in Appendix 1 of the Consolidated Financial Statements).

The first phase of the ramp-up is to reach the target to mine 2mtpa of ROM and produce approximately 2,500 tonnes ("t") of tungsten concentrate and 200t of tin ("Sn") concentrate per annum ("T2").

Production at La Parrilla is building, albeit not at the pace we had anticipated due to early stage plant challenges having an impact on production levels for Q1 2020 and the restrictive conditions during the COVID-19 State of Emergency which have necessitated mine and plant closure and operations limitation on equipment sourcing and day-to-day safe personal management which is, of course, our main priority. Significant progress has been made at the plant to address and rectify these challenges, including implementation of 15 plant improvement initiatives at a total cost of €300,000. The improvements are directed at significantly increasing overall recovery and reducing unplanned downtime. We expect to see these changes translate into significantly increased daily and monthly production outcomes.

W RESOURCES PLC

CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2019

The mining and processing operations have expanded in Q1 2020 with key initiatives implemented including construction of a pre-concentrate stockpile area to allow continued operation of the concentrator plant when the jig or crusher plants are down, installation of deslime cyclones ahead of the fines circuit and a hydrosizer ahead of the shaking tables which are complete and operational.

We are mindful that production levels at the start of the year are not where we or our stakeholders expected them to be, however we are still very much in the early stages of the ramp-up and the team is well set to achieve stronger results in the June quarter resulting from plant improvement initiatives implemented in Q1 2020.

The increase in tungsten and tin production demonstrates progress in a very difficult external environment and we remain focussed on the works in hand and are confident of making the solid progress needed in order to reach design capacity.

Notwithstanding these challenges, we are delighted to have completed construction of this impressive large-scale, long-life tungsten and tin project and to now be focussing on the matter in hand of building production at this world class mine.

Grant Update

In March 2018, the Junta de Extremadura in Spain awarded a grant of €5.3m to W's 100% owned subsidiary, Iberian Resources Spain SL. The conditions set, in order to be able to receive the Grant, were a minimum investment in plant and equipment of €16.6m and the creation of at least 20 full time positions. With these conditions successfully met, W provided the documentation to formally apply to receive this Grant. Timing of the Grant is yet to be confirmed with the local Government needing to prioritise resources in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The team continues to enjoy strong on-the-ground relationships and appreciates the Government's support.

Tungsten and Tin sales in a challenging global environment

The COVID-19 crisis has created challenges across global tungsten and tin markets in terms of both logistics of delivery and in our customers' market environments. In these market conditions, we continue to sell and deliver all our product to our offtake partners and have broadened our distribution capacity. At times during the peak of the crisis, transportation logistics have been challenging to manage and therefore movement of product has been slower than it has been previously, but in credit to the team we have solved these issues in a timely way.

Importantly the quality of our Tungsten and Tin concentrate consistently meets or exceeds customer offtake requirements and we have seen consistent increases in concentrate quality and, in producing up to 65% WO3 from the plant, we have shown that we are comfortably able to exceed our benchmark grades of 60%.

PORTUGUESE PROJECTS

Régua Tungsten Mine

This high-grade, development-ready tungsten project with low capital cost has a trial mine licence, and an updated JORC compliant mineral resource of 4.47Mt at a grade of 0.27% WO3, including an indicated resource of 3.74mt at a grade of 0.28% WO3, which was completed by Golder Associates Pty Ltd ("Golder") in January 2020.

As W's second mine to come on stream, following the start of production at La Parrilla in November 2019, Régua has significant synergies with La Parrilla as it has materially lower capital costs and will increase La Parrilla's final concentrate production.

Mining operations at Régua commenced early March 2020 with the commencement of mining in the first of two adits with skarn ore zones intersected in the initial development. However, following an extension in Portugal of COVID-19 related restrictions, mining activity has been paused. Plant design and procurement activities are near completion in advance of construction activities which have been rescheduled to later in the year after the COVID-19 crisis has hopefully passed. As a result of the requirement to pause operations, an application to extend the period of the trial mine licence has been submitted to the Portuguese mining authorities.

W RESOURCES PLC

CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2019

With ore haulage and crushing contracts in place with Francisco Pereira Marinho Imãos SA ("FPMI"), once mining recommences later this year, ore from Régua will be hauled 27km to the FPMI crushing plant and crushed to a range of 5-10mm. Importantly, as part of the service contract, FPMI will use the waste ore for rehabilitation of their existing quarry providing local environmental benefits. The estimated crushing and haulage cost is cUS$40-45/mtu and W will pay €50,000 to expand access roads for haulage.

Tarouca Exploration

While the development focus has been on Régua we have also applied for a new exploration licence at Tarouca. We expect to be able to tie in operations at Tarouca to the Régua mining and processing operations once the updated licence is granted.

CAA Portalegre - Gold

São Martinho currently has a JORC 2012 gold resource of over 110,000oz. Results from the drilling campaigns in 2017 and 2018 provided a solid base to drive extension drilling with the potential for a materially larger resource.

We have advanced São Martinho through a successful drilling programme and submitted an application for a trial mine and gold production licence in September 2018. Although the COVID-19 crisis and associated state of emergency in Portugal has further delayed the final approval process, we expect the trial mine licence to be granted in due course. The trial mine licence, once granted, will allow W to pursue a drilling programme to expand the resource and resolve the geological interpretations of a flat lying structure (Golder) and a deeply dipping structure (SRK) which have partially arisen due to the combination of structural complexity and multistage mineralising events.

Importantly, a trial mine is a key level of licence tenure and will provide the authority to mine shallow ore and produce gold on a pilot basis. We will actively explore opportunities to bring in Joint Venture parties and monetise the gold discovery in 2020. New expenditure on this project is pending grant of the trial mining licence.

Finance

Whilst completion of the new plant at La Parrilla was later than planned, it has remained our priority to ensure W has had a strong buffer of additional financial resources in place to mitigate against the resulting delayed production and also to ensure W remains resilient in the year ahead with the uncertainty created by COVID-19.

In the FY19, the Company secured a €3m loan facility with Caja Rural de Extremadura to provide an advance of funding against the €5.3m grant awarded by the Junta de Extremadura ("Grant"). This loan had an interest rate of 1.75% per annum for a term of 15 months, although subsequent to 31 December, 2019, on 31 January 2020, Iberian Resources Spain S. L. signed a loan agreement for €5m with Banco Santander, S.A ("Santander") which repaid the €3m loan from the Caja Rural de Extremadura. The Santander facility interest rate is 3% per annum, and this loan is now secured by a pledge over the rights to the Grant funds. As stated above, the timing of receipt of the Grant is to be advised by the local Government, which is currently and understandably prioritising its efforts towards coping with the COVID-19 pandemic.

In August 2019, BlackRock Financial Management Inc. ("BlackRock") agreed to capitalise an additional six months of interest payments of the BlackRock term loan, which equated to US$1.29m, and was added to the final loan balance. Furthermore, in December 2019, BlackRock increased its existing loan facility by US$5 million. The additional facility and the roll up of interest (PIK) increased the total outstanding BlackRock loan balance to US$50.5m at 31 March 2020. 

During 2019, W raised a total of £2.57m in equity funding. In September, the Company completed a €1m Placing at 0.5p per Ordinary Share, a premium to the share price, from supportive private Spanish investors.

In November 2019, the Company secured a funding package to raise c€2.78m which comprised a first tranche of €1.358m secured through: an equity placement of £289k (€330k) at 0.40p, loans from Directors of £344k (€392k); and Blackrock agreed that an additional 50% of the November interest payment, amounting to US$700k (€636k) could be added to the existing debt facility (PIK - payment in kind). Subsequent to this, in January 2020 the short-term loans provided by three of W's directors were converted into ordinary shares at a price of 0.307p per Ordinary Share.

W RESOURCES PLC

CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2019

As part of the second tranche, the Company completed a Placing to raise £360,000 at a price of 0.40p per Ordinary Share to a new Spanish investor in addition to securing a new €500,000 revolving credit facility with leading Spanish Bank; CaixaBank, S.A.

Tungsten and Tin

Tungsten and Tin demand and supply has been disrupted by the COVID-19 crisis.

Given the severity of the crisis, Tungsten prices have been relatively solid and sit at US$215-225, which is 22% down on budget expectations. There have been substantial shutdowns of capacity in China, the world's largest producer of tungsten and as the world economy comes out of the various lockdowns we do expect continued price volatility and a boost in global demand although it is too early to judge the supply/demand balance for the rest of 2020.

Tin prices on the London Metal Exchange started 2020 trading at US$17,125 per metric ton, and moved in an upward trend until January 2020, when the coronavirus outbreak took over news headlines and the price came under pressure. Notably, the market view is that whilst tin plays a pivotal role in all modern technology and has a large role to play in the electric vehicle market, it is the low-cost producers who will continue to reap the benefits due to the unpredictable nature of the COVID-19 pandemic. With a more stable environment, market forecasts expect tin to stabilise in the mid US$20,000 per metric ton. (source: Investing News).

Outlook

2019 was a very challenging year with the core priority being completion of the La Parrilla plant and commencement of production and ramp-up.

There is no question, however, that the global challenges of 2020 are significantly more difficult, but I believe that our team has responded to them thoughtfully and effectively.

· States of Emergency in both Spain and Portugal have required short-term closures of both La Parrilla and Régua.

· Régua mining and construction operations are currently closed pending confirmation from the Portuguese authorities. We expect to recommence mining in Q3 2020.

· La Parrilla is in operation and is starting to reap the benefits from the substantial plant improvement programme executed over the last 3 months.

· Production on the March quarter was reported on 17 April 2020, recording an increase in tungsten metal production to 45.2 tonnes (combined tungsten and tin).

· During the COVID-19 crisis shut down which came into effect early in June, we have effected substantial improvements in operating capacity which we expect to translate into significant increases in production in the latter stages of the June quarter.

· The bulk of the operational plant improvements have been installed and are now operational. We are of the view that the plant can progressively increase both recoveries and utilisation to increase production to design capacity.

· Stock and commodity market conditions will remain volatile and subject to substantial uncertainty.

The team, with the strong support of the Board, continues to execute development well and this is a credit to the calibre of the management team.

________________

Michael Masterman

Chairman

W RESOURCES PLC

GROUP STRATEGIC REPORT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2019

The directors present their strategic report of the company and the group for the year ended 31 December 2019.

REVIEW OF BUSINESS

The results for the year and the financial position of the Group and the Company at the year-end are as shown in the annexed financial statements.

The Group has incurred a loss after tax of €2,942,000 for the year ended 31 December 2019. This is driven by exchange losses of €653,000 on translation of the US dollar denominated BlackRock Financial Management Inc. loan into Euros at 31 December 2019 and finance costs associated with the BlackRock Financial Management Inc. loan of €1,054,000. An operating loss of €1,244,000 was incurred in the year to 31 December 2019, compared to an operating loss of €899,000 for the year to 31 December 2018.

Detailed reviews of activities, business developments and projects are included within the Chairman's Statement.

PRINCIPAL RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES

The Group uses various financial instruments. These include cash, convertible loans and various other items, such as trade debtors and trade creditors that arise directly from its operations. The main purpose of these financial instruments is to raise finance for the Company's operations.

The existence of these financial instruments exposes the Company to a number of financial risks, which are described in more detail below. The Directors review and agree policies for managing each of these risks and they are summarised below. These policies have remained unchanged from previous years.

Price Risk

The Directors consider that the price of tungsten is an area of potential risk. This is reviewed on a constant basis by the Board and Senior Management.

Liquidity Risk

The Group seeks to manage financial risk by ensuring sufficient liquidity is available to meet foreseeable needs and to invest cash assets safely and profitably.

Currency Risk

The Group principally operates in £ and € and has borrowings in US$. It does not currently consider the risk of exposure to be material. As such the Directors do not currently consider it necessary to enter into forward exchange contracts. This situation is monitored on a regular basis.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD:

________________

Michael Masterman

Chairman

Date: 1 June 2020

W RESOURCES PLC

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF INCOME AND OTHER COMPREHENSIVE INCOME

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2019

W RESOURCES PLC

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION

31 DECEMBER 2019

The financial statements were approved by the Board of Directors and authorised for issue on 1 June 2020 and were signed on its behalf by:

________________

Michael Masterman

Chairman

Date: 1 June 2020

W RESOURCES PLC

COMPANY STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION

31 DECEMBER 2019

The financial statements were approved by the Board of Directors and authorised for issue on 1 June 2020 and were signed on its behalf by:

________________

Michael Masterman

Chairman

Date: 1 June 2020

W RESOURCES PLC

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITY

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2019

W RESOURCES PLC

COMPANY STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITY

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2019

W RESOURCES PLC

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2019

W RESOURCES PLC

COMPANY STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2019

W RESOURCES PLC

NOTES TO THE STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2019

1. RECONCILIATION OF LOSS BEFORE INCOME TAX TO CASH GENERATED FROM OPERATIONS

2. CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS

The amounts disclosed on the Statements of Cash Flows in respect of cash and cash equivalents are in respect of these Statement of Financial Position amounts:

W RESOURCES PLC

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2019

2. SEGMENTAL INFORMATION

W RESOURCES PLC

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2019

4. NET FINANCE COSTS

5. LOSS BEFORE INCOME TAX

The loss before income tax is stated after charging / (crediting):

A total of €304,000 (2018: €303,000) relating to Michael Masterman's consultancy fees were capitalised in intangible assets in 2019.

An exceptional loss of €(165,000) in 2016 related to a review by HMRC of the Company's VAT position resulting in the suspension of the Company's VAT registration number and a deemed irrecoverability of VAT, which was provided for in the financial statements. The Company disputed HMRC's decision and the review was concluded during the last financial year.

It was concluded at tribunal that the Company's VAT registration be reinstated, and that VAT may be claimed from 1 July 2014 onwards. During the current year and in previous years no VAT was reclaimed and expenditure in 2017 and 2018 is shown gross of VAT. In 2018 however, an adjustment has been made to reverse the provision made in 2016 and to adjust the Statement of profit and loss for all unclaimed VAT. The reduction is shown as an exceptional gain in 2018, and totals €165,000.

The impairment charge of €353,000 in 2018 relates only to the Monforte-Tinoca copper exploration area. The assay results did not demonstrate a regular distribution of significant mineralisation or grade, nor any potential extension of the ore body, to justify a positive future financial return. Given these results, the Company decided not to extend nor renew the exploration license. The area was discontinued effective from 6 November 2018, resulting in this impairment charge and equal to the capitalised exploration expenditure incurred from the date it was awarded until 31 December 2018.

6. INCOME TAX

W RESOURCES PLC

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2019

6. INCOME TAX continued

Factors affecting the tax expense

The tax assessed for the year is higher than the standard rate of corporation tax in the UK. The difference is explained below:

8. LOSS PER SHARE

Basic loss per share is calculated by dividing the loss attributable to ordinary shareholders by the weighted average number of ordinary shares outstanding during the period.

Diluted loss per share is calculated using the weighted average number of shares adjusted to assume the conversion of all dilutive potential ordinary shares. The share options issued during 2016, 2018 and 2019 are considered to be anti-dilutive in accordance with IAS 33 as on conversion they would decrease loss per share from continuing operations.

W RESOURCES PLC

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2019

9. INTANGIBLE ASSETS

Intangible asset additions includes a reduction of €470,000 in relation to an invoice issued to Arypex SL, from whom the Group acquired the rights to the mining concessions in Spain, to recover expenses incurred by the Group to correct certain environmental damages which originated prior to the date that the Group signed the original lease (with option to purchase agreement) with Arypex SL, in 2009.

The above represents capitalised testing works and concessions costs acquired.

W RESOURCES PLC

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2019

10. PROPERTY, PLANT AND EQUIPMENT

At 31 December 2019, the following non-current assets, which were additions during the construction phase of La Parrilla mine, during 2018 and its completion in 2019, were reclassified from intangible non-current assets to tangible non-current assets to better reflect their physical nature or direct attribution to the construction cost of the new plants:

W RESOURCES PLC

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2019

11. INVESTMENTS