Shares in AIM-listed West Africa-focused gold explorer Cora Gold (LON:CORA) grew by 4.09% to 5.72p (as of 13:55 BST) after the firm posted results for 2019. While no revenue was booked, the company successfully expanding its mineral resources after a number of studies and drilling campaigns and retained a good cash position after raising funds following a cash raise in April.
CEO Ben Munro commented: “2019 was another successful year exploring Sanankoro’s economic potential , which has laid the foundations for what we believe to be a pivotal time for Cora. After taking over as CEO in January 2020, I was delighted to begin my role with the results of the Scoping Study. This was a key milestone in the advancement of Sanankoro and demonstrated its potential to be a highly profitable oxide mine, delivering a short capex payback, with an annual average free cash flow of over US$19m and an 84% IRR at a US$1,400 gold price.
“With our experienced management team that has a proven track record in making multi-million ounce gold discoveries, we are in a strong position to move Sanankoro into development. With this in mind, we are planning further metallurgical test work programmes to build on the Scoping Study as well as drilling programmes to both grow and increase confidence in the existing resources. Following our recent fundraise of £2.89m, strongly supported by existing shareholders, we are in a good financial position to drive ahead these ambitious plans.
“Naturally, across all our work, we remain cognisant of the evolving COVID-19 situation and will keep the safety of our team at the forefront of our plans while following government advice in the countries we operate in“.