LONDON (Alliance News) - Sable Mining Africa Ltd said its pretax loss narrowed sharply in the first half as impairment charges it booked a year earlier did not repeat, and it said it is focusing its attention on the Nimba iron ore project in West Africa.
Sable's pretax loss in the first half to the end of June was USD11.2 million, compared to a USD39.6 million loss it made last year when it booked a USD27.8 million impairment charge on the value of its assets.
The company is focused on advancing its African iron ore and coal portfolios and said the Nimba iron ore project in Guinea has continued to meet milestones and demonstrate its value as a high-grade, high-margin and low-capital asset.
"In spite of the general back drop to resource development being tough, projects such as our Nimba iron project retain considerable commercial value and we believe warrant advancement," said Andrew Groves, Sable's chief executive.
The results come after Sable on Thursday said it has completed the sale of its "non-core" Rietkuil coal project in South Africa and its stake in its Liberian joint venture company for just under USD2.0 million.
The company sold the coal project for USD1.3 million. It also sold its 60% stake in its Liberian joint venture company, Salmec Resources Ltd, for USD700,000. Salmec held the exploration rights for gold and iron ore. However, Sable said it has spun off and retained the iron-ore rights.
The disposals are part of the company's restructuring to focus on the Nimba iron ore project.
Sable shares were down 7.5% to 0.43 pence on Friday.
By Sam Unsted; samunsted@alliancenews.com; @SamUAtAlliance
Copyright 2015 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
