Annual Financial Report

RNS Number : 9588X
African Pioneer PLC
28 April 2023

African Pioneer Plc
(“African Pioneer” or the “Company”)

Final Results for period to 31 December 2022

African Pioneer plc (“APP” or the “Company”), the exploration and resource development company with projects located in Namibia, Botswana and Zambia, reports its full year results for the year ended 31 December 2022.

The Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2022 will shortly be available on the Company’s website at https://africanpioneerplc.com/.  A copy of the Annual Report and Financial Statements will also be uploaded to the National Storage Mechanism where it will be available for viewing at: https://data.fca.org.uk/#/nsm/nationalstoragemechanism.

Please note that page references in the text below refer to the page numbers in the Annual Report and Financial Statements.

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation 2014/596/EU which is part of domestic UK law pursuant to the Market Abuse (Amendment) (EU Exit) regulations (SI 2019/310).

For further information, please contact:

African Pioneer Plc

Colin Bird

Executive Chairman

 

 

+44 (0) 20 7581 4477

 

Beaumont Cornish (Financial Adviser)
Roland Cornish
+44 (0) 20 7628 3396
Novum Securities Limited (Broker)

Jon Belliss

 

+44 (0) 20 7399 9400

 

or visit  https://africanpioneerplc.com/

 

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

·      Consolidated  Net assets – £ 5,238,820 (2021 restated – £ 5,941,948)

·      Consolidated (Loss)/Profit – Loss – £ (670,871) (2021 – Profit restated – £273,471)

·      The Group reports its results and raises funds in Pounds Sterling (GBP).

·      Its primary assets are in Namibia, Botswana and Zambia

 

CHAIRMAN’ STATEMENT

Dear Shareholder,

African Pioneer has continued to make good progress during the period under review.

The Company has the benefit of major mining company shareholders and joint venture partners and/or option partners and is involved in two large exploration projects in Northwest Zambia and Botswana.

In Zambia the company has granted an option with First Quantum Minerals Ltd (“First Quantum”) over its North-western exploration projects and in Botswana the Company has granted Sandfire Resources Limited (“Sandfire”) an option over a number of its Kalahari Copperbelt projects, whilst retaining some licences for its own exploration activities.

In Namibia the Company has a significant exploration project, which during the year was granted a mining licence and plans are underway to bring this licence to account and commence mining activities.

During the year we carried out a drilling exercise on the Ongombo licence and had some considerable success in identifying near surface material, which will allow the company to consider when mine planning, a 2-3 year mine life open pit, which will facilitate entry into the proposed underground mine.  During the period under review and post the reporting period, we have been re-evaluating the ore resource at Ongombo and anticipate reporting an updated resource in Q2 2023, which takes into consideration the contribution of the gold, which is in association with copper and the recently drilled out open pit resource.

We are confident that our final resource model will lead to a meaningful mining situation with initial open pit and less complicated mining approach.

In Zambia, during the option period, First Quantum have reported considerable success with their initial fieldwork and drilling programmes.  Their work has covered all aspects of exploration, including deep holes.  The outcome has shown the project to be extremely high in potential with First Quantum stating their believe that the orebody style resembles that of the Kamoa-Kakula mine in the nearby Congo and the Western Foreland style mineralisation associated with Kamoa.  This represents a potential significant major discovery for Zambia, First Quantum and of course, African Pioneer.

Apart from the deeper style Kamoa-Kakula mineralisation, there has been near surface mineral discoveries with indication of grades somewhat higher than traditional Copperbelt.  This mineralisation is again, considered to be similar to Kolwezi mineralisation, which supported major high-grade mining in the DRC.

We are extremely excited about the prospects of our licences and look forward to a year of more intensive exploration and therefore more definition of overall potential.

The Botswana joint venture with Sandfire continues satisfactorily and our own exploration, which intercepted the sought after lithology has been reinterpreted and we are excited about the prospects and the regions yet to be tested.  The Kalahari Copperbelt has been the region of much interest over the last 18 months, with old theories and models being challenged by new discoveries and drilling results.

Most of this new work adds value to our positions and reinforces our believe that one or more licences have the potential to enhance considerable shareholder value to the African Pioneer holders.

Despite considerable headwinds the copper price stayed strong throughout the period, with forecast for the coming years, ranging from USD10-USD15,000 per tonne.

We believe the crunch time for the supply side for copper will begin during mid ’24 and continue through mid ’25 and beyond.  This will make all junior mining companies who have good copper resources in reliable jurisdictions, targets for acquisitions for by major mining companies, traders and others.

We are confident that African Pioneer has an excellent copper resource base and is well positioned for such corporate activity.

I thank my fellow directors and management for their efforts during the period under review and beyond and we all continue to live in anticipation of small company renaissance, which is inevitable but long awaited.

Yours sincerely,

Colin Bird, Chairman

African Pioneer Plc

28 April 2023

 

The full Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2022 is available in our Financial Reports section.