Interim Results 2015

 

 

29 September 2015

 

AMUR MINERALS CORPORATION

(AIM: AMC)

 

Interim Results 2015

License awarded. Debt-free. Profitable. Cash reserves of US$8.3 million

 

Amur Minerals Corporation ("Amur" or the "Company"), the nickel-copper exploration and development company focused on base metal projects located in the Far East of Russia, is pleased to announce its results for the six months ended 30 June 2015.

 

Highlights

 

·   The award of a "Detailed Exploration and Production Licence" on our Kun-Manie nickel copper sulphide project in May. The Licence was subsequently registered and the one time fee paid.

 

·    The Company positioned itself to mobilise quickly to conduct a 2015 field season in anticipation of the award of the Production Licence, by acquiring sufficient fuel and supplies to conduct up to 6,000 metres of drilling.

 

·    Completion of an internal evaluation study determining that it could potentially produce ore from below and adjacent to the planned open pits by underground operations at the Maly Kurumkon/Flangovy and Kubuk deposits.

 

·    Kubuk deposit resources upgraded with a reclassification of a portion of the resources from Inferred to Indicated.

 

·      A 112 square kilometre water allotment adjacent to the planned mill site.

 

 

Financials

 

The Company remained debt free throughout the six months ended 30 June 2015 with cash reserves of US$8.3 million at the end of this period. The Company made a profit of US$2.9 million which comprised of an operating loss of US$1.1 million, Finance Income of US$2.8 million and a fair value movement on the Lanstead financing agreement of US$1.2 million.

 

Mr. Robin Young, CEO of Amur Minerals Corporation states;

 

"The first half of 2015 saw the achievement of a major milestone for the Company with the award of the Production Licence.  There remains a substantial amount of work as we continue to advance Kun-Manie from exploration to pre-production, but with Russia's commitment to the development of the Far East and the dedication of our own staff, we have great opportunity to progress from a pure explorer to become a nickel sector player. We thank the shareholders for their continued support and perseverance."

 

Enquiries:

 

Company Amur Minerals Corp.	Nomad and Broker S.P. Angel Corporate Finance LLP	Public Relations Yellow Jersey
Robin Young CEO +44 (0) 7981 126 818	Ewan Leggat +44 (0) 20 3470 0500	Dominic Barretto +44 (0) 77 6853 7739

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chairman's Statement

 

Dear Shareholder:

 

It is with pleasure that I take this opportunity to update shareholders of Amur Minerals Corporation (the "Company") on the Company's successful performance during the first six months of 2015, a transformational period for the Company. 

 

It has been a significant period for Amur with the issue and registration of a "Detailed Exploration and Production Licence" (the "Production Licence") on our Kun-Manie nickel copper sulphide project in the Russian Far East. The Production Licence was registered with the State Geological Fund in June 2015 and the one-time payment of 23.6 million Roubles made, granting our wholly owned subsidiary ZAO Kun-Manie 100% of the production rights.

 

This was soon followed by approval of the Company's project plan for the detailed exploration and development of Kun-Manie, as our dedicated staff had prepared a comprehensive package of documents and were ready to complete the submission as soon as the Production Licence was granted. This has allowed for the Company to undertake a 2015 field season targeting infill drilling of the eastern half of the Maly Kurumkon / Flangovy deposit.

 

This six month period has also been highlighted with the Company compiled "Preliminary Economic Assessment" (the "PEA"). The PEA is a re-assessment of the design and economic potential of the Kun-Manie operation undertaken by our internationally experienced engineering management using all available information. The PEA is a substantial update to the 2007 Pre-feasibility Study compiled by SRK Consulting Ltd ("SRK") and is being used to develop an implementation strategy to reach a production decision. The PEA will be undergoing independent audit by an internationally recognised consultancy during the second half of 2015.

 

Timeline of Key Highlights:

 

·      In February, the Company positioned itself to mobilise quickly to conduct a 2015 field season in anticipation of the award of the Production Licence, by acquiring sufficient fuel and supplies to conduct up to 6,000 metres of drilling.

 

·      In March, the Company completed an internal evaluation and determined that it could potentially produce ore from below and adjacent to the planned open pits by underground operations at the Maly Kurumkon/Flangovy and Kubuk deposits.

 

·      In April, the Kubuk deposit resources where upgraded with a reclassification of a portion of the resources from Inferred to Indicated.

 

·      In May, the Company obtained a 112 square kilometre water allotment adjacent to the planned mill site. On 22 May, the Production Licence was awarded.

 

·      In June, the Production Licence was registered and the one time fee was paid, whilst the project plan was submitted and approved by the appropriate Russian agencies.

 

 

Financial Overview

 

The Company remained debt free throughout 2015 with cash reserves of US$8.3 million as at 30 June 2015.

 

As of 30 June 2015, the Company has received 18 settlements from the Lanstead Capital LLP ("Lanstead") financing agreement entered into in July 2013, totalling US$9.0 million, of which US$6.2 million was the nominal value of the settlements and US$2.8 million was Finance Income. After this date there were 3 remaining settlements of which 2 have since been completed.

 

The Group incurred an operating loss of US$1.1 million for the 6 months to 30 June 2015, but with Finance Income of US$2.8 million and the fair value movement of Lanstead financing agreement of US$1.2 million, the Group registered a profit of US$2.9 million for the period.

 

 

 

 

The Directors have prepared a cash flow projection for the next 12 months, which indicate that the Group is sufficiently funded by its current financial resources, which comprise cash and derivative financial assets. The amounts receivable under the derivative financial asset varies with share price.

 

The Kun-Manie Project

 

The Kun-Manie nickel copper sulphide project is located in the Far East of the Russian Federation, 700 kilometres from the Chinese border and ranks among the 25 largest nickel sulphide deposits in the world.

 

http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/4449A_-2015-9-28.pdf 

 

In May 2015 the Company was awarded a "Detailed Exploration and Production Licence" covering 36 square kilometres as illustrated in the graphic below.

 

http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/4449A_1-2015-9-28.pdf 

 

During the first half of 2015 SRK Consulting Ltd ("SRK") completed a re-evaluation of Kubuk deposit based on the availability of new independent external control analyses. This resulted in an upgrade of a portion of the maiden resource from inferred to indicated. The table below sets out the full JORC Resource Estimate.

 

Resource Class	Tonnage	Ni	Ni	Cu	Cu	Pt	Pt	Pd	Pd
	Mt	%	t	%	t	g/t	kg	g/t	kg
Kubuk
Measured	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Indicated	3.5	0.68	23,400	0.18	6,100	0.1	460	0.1	400
Sub-total	3.5	0.68	23,400	0.18	6,100	0.1	460	0.1	400
Inferred	17.1	0.56	95,500	0.16	26,800	0.1	2,540	0.1	2,000
Total	20.6	0.58	118,900	0.16	32,900	0.1	3,000	0.1	2,400
Gorney
Measured	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Indicated	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Sub-total	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Inferred	7.6	0.31	23,900	0.09	7,000	0.2	1,600	0.2	1,900
Total	7.6	0.31	23,900	0.09	7,000	0.2	1,600	0.2	1,900
Ikenskoe
Measured	14.9	0.52	77,100	0.13	19,700	0.2	2,700	0.2	3,000
Indicated	7.7	0.39	29,800	0.1	7,800	0.1	1,100	0.2	1,300
Sub-total	22.6	0.47	106,900	0.12	27,500	0.2	3,800	0.2	4,300
Inferred	11.5	0.62	70,800	0.14	16,300	0.2	2,300	0.2	2,500
Total	34.1	0.52	177,700	0.13	43,800	0.2	6,100	0.2	6,800
Vodorazdelny
Measured	0.8	0.57	4,700	0.17	1,400	0.3	200	0.3	200
Indicated	4.8	0.66	31,200	0.17	8,200	0.1	600	0.1	600
Sub-total	5.6	0.64	35,900	0.17	9,600	0.1	800	0.1	800
Inferred	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	5.6	0.64	35,900	0.17	9,600	0.1	800	0.1	800
Maly Kurumkon
Measured	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Indicated	21.8	0.58	126,100	0.16	35,900	0.1	2,400	0.1	3,000
Sub-total	21.8	0.58	126,100	0.16	35,900	0.1	2,400	0.1	3,000
Inferred	31.1	0.54	168,100	0.16	50,200	0.1	3,000	0.1	3,100
Total	52.9	0.56	294,200	0.16	85,100	0.1	5,400	0.1	6,100
Total Resource
Total Measured	15.7	0.52	81,800	0.13	21,100	0.2	2,900	0.2	3,200
Total Indicated	37.8	0.56	210,500	0.15	57,000	0.1	4,560	0.1	5,300
Sub-total	53.5	0.55	292,300	0.15	78,100	0.1	7,460	0.2	8,500
Total Inferred	67.3	0.53	358,300	0.15	100,300	0.1	9,440	0.1	9,500
Grand Total	120.8	0.54	650,600	0.15	178,400	0.1	16,900	0.1	18,000

 

Preliminary Economic Assessment

 

A substantial amount of technical data had been acquired since the Pre Feasibility Study ("PFS") was issued in 2007, including the increase in the resource base through step out drilling and the discovery of two new deposits. The key objectives of the update were to determine the portion of the Measured and Indicated resources that could be converted to open pit reserves, to define the portion of the Inferred resource that would also be open pit recoverable with successful infill drilling, and to determine whether additional resources were needed to support a 20 year mine life producing at a nominal production rate of 4.0 million tonnes per year. Results indicated that the majority of the Measured and Indicated resource were convertible into the reserve categories of Proven and Probable and that additional Inferred resources existed to support a 20 year operation. This confirmed that infill drilling would take priority over resource expansion, which also remains highly prospective.

 

 

 

In Q4 2014, the terms and conditions for the Production Licence were negotiated (though final approval was still pending) with a 20-year Production Licence life being established. As a result, the Company was able to consider increasing the annual nominal throughput from 4 million to 6 million tonnes. It was determined that the existing resource inventory could support the increase as well as sustain a total production of 90 million tonnes for a 15 year mine life.

 

Another key decision was undertaken by management wherein a longer-term vision of the operation was implemented. This called for the development of an 'Operational Blueprint' of an optimised conceptual design, providing for a fully integrated operation that will produce a substantially improved financial assessment for Kun-Manie. By doing so, a series of trade off studies were identified wherein each step of the proposed operation could be optimised. In June 2015, the Operational Blueprint and the associated economic evaluation was completed and presented as a Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") and not as an update to the PFS.

 

It is important to note the reasons that the Company considers the results to be at a PEA level. The project analysis included Inferred resource as in the determination of reserves, which is not compliant with JORC reporting standards. In addition, portions of the work and results were derived internally by the Company, although much of the work is based on external results compiled by qualified specialist companies. The PEA has not yet undergone independent audit, which is a necessary step in finalisation of the assessment. Presently, the Company has shortlisted three internationally recognised mining consultancies to complete the audit. We stress that while a PEA is a step back from a PFS in project development timelines, the new information and changes from 2007 to 2014 allow the Company to update its strategy in a way that can significantly enhance the long-term economics of mining at Kun Manie. Pressing ahead without consideration of important new data would have sacrificed profitability for short savings of time, a trade-off the Company could not have justified to its shareholders.

 

2015 Field Season

 

The 2015 field programme is focusing on infill drilling on the Flangovy area with the objective of converting approximately from 20 to 30 million tonnes of Inferred Resource to Indicated, which represents more than 3 years of production.  Materials and supplies were delivered to site, allowing the Company to drill up to 6,000 metres of core.  The planned programme was designed to test the continuity of the geology along strike and to infill drill areas of widely spaced existing holes.  The step out drilling has identified that the mineralisation within the Flangovy area continues for at least another 400 metres to the east. The infill programme is providing confirmation that the mineralisation is continuous in both grade and thickness between the more widely spaced historical drill holes.  Substantial continuous thicknesses of higher grade nickel (in excess of 0.8% nickel) are being identified and support the underground design concepts included in the PEA. 

 

Additionally, Metallurgical test work samples from Flangovy and Kubuk have been assembled and shipped to SGS Minerals ("SGS") where grade recovery curves will be defined and mineralogical analyses will be completed.

 

Outlook

 

The Company will continue to be very busy throughout the remainder of 2015, aiming to complete the infill drilling programme and metallurgical test work results, which will have a material impact on the economic potential of Kun-Manie. The hard work and dedication of our staff have provided the Company with a firm foundation upon which to continue to build the Company.  With the PEA in hand and infill drilling proving continuity of mineralisation, it is now possible to establish near, intermediate and long term plans that ultimately will lead to the development of a Definitive Feasibility Study ("DFS") and identification of the funding alternatives available to Amur allowing for the development and ultimate production at Kun-Manie.

 

In addition, the Company is looking forward to working with Russian agencies as a partner in the development of the Russian Far East through its newly created relationship with the Far East and Baikal Region Development Fund.  The relationship will provide additional contacts and funding opportunities throughout the Asian financial theatre including China, Russia and India as well as the number two and three nickel consumers in the world (South Korea and Japan).  Not only are funding opportunities a potential option, support in the development of Kun-Manie could be generated with regard to infrastructure development including the sectors of power and transportation.

 

 

 

Mr. Robert W. Schafer

Non Executive Chairman

28 September 2015

Independent Review Report

To the shareholders of Amur Minerals Corporation

 

Introduction

We have been engaged by the Company to review the consolidated financial information in the interim financial report for the six months ended 30 June 2015, which comprises the consolidated statement of financial position, the consolidated statement of comprehensive income, the consolidated statement of cash flows, the consolidated statement of changes in equity and the related notes.

We have read the other information contained in the interim financial report and considered whether it contains any apparent misstatements or material inconsistencies with the information in the financial information.

Directors' responsibilities

The interim report, including the financial information contained therein, is the responsibility of and has been approved by the Directors.  The Directors are responsible for preparing the interim report in accordance with the rules of the London Stock Exchange for companies trading securities on the Alternative Investment Market which require that the interim report be presented and prepared in a form consistent with that which will be adopted in the Company's annual accounts having regard to the accounting standards applicable to such annual accounts.

Our responsibility

Our responsibility is to express to the Company a conclusion on the consolidated financial information in the interim financial report based on our review.

Our report has been prepared in accordance with the terms of our engagement to assist the Company in meeting the requirements of the rules of the London Stock Exchange for companies trading securities on the Alternative Investment Market and for no other purpose. No person is entitled to rely on this report unless such a person is a person entitled to rely upon this report by virtue of and for the purpose of our terms of engagement or has been expressly authorised to do so by our prior written consent.  Save as above, we do not accept responsibility for this report to any other person or for any other purpose and we hereby expressly disclaim any and all such liability.

Scope of review

We conducted our review in accordance with International Standard on Review Engagements 2410, ''Review of Interim Financial Information Performed by the Independent Auditor of the Entity'', issued by the Auditing Practices Board. A review of interim financial information consists of making enquiries, primarily of persons responsible for financial and accounting matters, and applying analytical and other review procedures.  A review is substantially less in scope than an audit conducted in accordance with International Standards on Auditing and consequently does not enable us to obtain assurance that we would become aware of all significant matters that might be identified in an audit.  Accordingly, we do not express an audit opinion.

Conclusion

Based on our review, nothing has come to our attention that causes us to believe that the consolidated financial information in the interim financial report for the six months ended 30 June 2015 are not prepared, in all material respects, in accordance with the rules of the London Stock Exchange for companies trading securities on the Alternative Investment Market.

BDO LLP

Chartered Accountants and Registered Auditors

London,

United Kingdom

28 September 2015

 

BDO LLP is a limited liability partnership registered in England and Wales (with registered number OC305127).