Interim Results

RNS Number : 0175N

Rare Earth Minerals PLC

24 September 2012

 



24 September 2012

Rare Earth Minerals plc

(the "Company" or the "Group")

Interim Results

for the six months ended 30 June 2012

Rare Earth Minerals plc (AIM: REM.L), announces its interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2012.

During the period the Group made a loss before taxation of £356,000 (6 months ended 31 March 2011: loss £196,000, 15 months ended 31 December 2011: loss £1,438,000). There was a weighted loss per share of 0.03p (31 March 2011: loss per share 0.02p, 31 December 2011: loss per share 0.14p). 

Current trading

During the period under review the Company has continued to make good progress.

The Company has continued to pursue its investment strategy to develop a diverse portfolio of direct and indirect interests in exploration and producing rare earth minerals and  metals projects and assets.

In July 2012, the Company  announced that after significant effort from the board, it had finally been awarded three key Exploration Licences in Southern Greenland by the Greenland Government, two of which form common boundaries to main licences owned by Greenland Minerals and Energy Limited "GGG" (ASX: GGG).

The three Exploration Licences (2012/13-15) cover a land mass area of 832 km2 near the regional centres of Narsaq, Narsarsuaq and Qaqortoq.  Two licences, 2012/14 and 2012/15, abut the northern and eastern boundaries of GGG's licences that encompass the world class Kvanefjeld, Sørenson, Zone 3 and Steenstrupfjeld Rare Earth Element ("REE") deposits.

GGG's latest stated estimates for inferred and indicated mineral resources at the Kvanefjeld Deposit as defined by JORC (March 2011) include a metal inventory of 6.55 million tonnes ("Mt") of Total Rare Earth Oxides ("TREOs") (including 0.24 Mt of Heavy Rare Earth Oxides "HREOs" and 0.53 Mt of Yttrium Oxide), 350 Mlbs of U3O8 and 3 Blb's of Zinc.

Including the inferred mineral resources for their Sorensen and Zone 3 deposits, both announced in 2012,  GGG's global metal inventory in inferred and indicated categories was 575 Mlbs U3O8, 10.3 Mt TREO and 2.24 Mt Zinc (at a 150 ppm U3O8 cut-off). The rare earth resource inventory included 0.37 Mt HREO and 0.84 Mt Yttrium Oxide.

Refer to GGG's website: www.ggg.gl for full details of their projects, location and resources.

A map showing REM's Exploration Licences is on the Company's website: www.rareearthmineralsplc.com

David Lenigas, a director of the Company, commented at the time:

"The Company has been working for over a year to secure these key Exploration Licences in Greenland, which surround one of world's largest resources of REEs outside of China. In addition to REEs, South Greenland also has proven potential for gold, niobium, tantalum and zirconium mineralisation."

"Now that these Licences have been granted, we have commissioned SRK Exploration Services Ltd. ("SRK ES") to commence an exploration programme to assess the mineral potential of the licence areas. SRK ES is part of the global SRK Group and has extensive experience of mineral exploration in South Greenland.  The SRK Group is one of GGG's main geological consultants and has completed Mineral Resource Estimates for GGG's assets as well as other exploration projects in the area."

"REM is actively pursuing further exploration licences in South Greenland, and we will keep the market informed of progress as events materialize."

Results of the exploration programme will be advised by the Company in due course

The Company continues to maintain its interests in the projects in Canada and Western Australia and will advise any further results in due course.

David Lenigas

Director

24 September 2012

GLOSSARY

TERM	DEFINITION
Ce, Ce2O3	Cerium, Cerium oxide
Cut-off grade	When determining economically viable Mineral Reserves, the lowest grade of mineralised material that qualifies as ore.
Deposit	A naturally occurring accumulation of minerals that may be considered economically valuable.
Dy, Dy2O3	Dysprosium, Dysprosium oxide
Er, Er2O3	Erbium, Erbium oxide
Eu, Eu2O3	Europium, Europium oxide
Grade	The quantity of ore or metal in a specified quantity of rock
Granite	A medium to coarse grained plutonic igneous rock usually light coloured and consisting largely of quartz and feldspar;
High grade	Pertaining to ore which is rich in the metal being mined.
Ho, Ho2O3	Holmium, Holmium oxide
HREE  or Heavy Rare Earth Elements	Comprising Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb and Lu. Y is often included in the HREE group since it tends to occur in the same ore deposits as other HREE and exhibits similar chemical properties, despite its lower atomic mass. Of higher value than LREEs.
HREO or Heavy Rare Earth Oxides	Comprising the oxide forms of HREE.  Conventionally the HREE content of a deposit is expressed in the oxide form.
JORC	Joint Ore Reserves Committee (of the AusIMM and other institutions)
JORC code	Australasian code for reporting of Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves.
La, La2O3	Lanthanum, Lanthanum oxide
Low Grade	Pertaining to ore which is comparatively low in content for the metal which is being mined.
LREE or Light Rare Earth Elements	Comprising La, Ce, Pr, Nd Pm and Sm
LREO orLight Rare Earth Oxides	Comprising the oxide forms of LREE.  Conventionally the LREE content of a deposit is expressed in the oxide form.
Lu, Lu2O3	Lutetium, Lutetium oxide
Mineral	A natural, inorganic, homogeneous material that can be expressed by a chemical formula.
Mineral Resource	A concentration or occurrence of material of intrinsic economic interest in or on the Earth's crust in such a form and quantity that there are reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction.  The location, quantity, grade, geological characteristics and continuity of a Mineral Resource are known, estimated or interpreted from specific geological evidence and knowledge.  Mineral Resources are sub-divided, in order of increasing geological confidence, into Inferred, Indicated and Measured categories.
Mineralisation	The process by which minerals are introduced into a rock.  More generally, a term applied to accumulations of economic or related minerals in quantities ranging from weakly anomalous to economically recoverable.
Mineralised	Containing ore minerals.
Nd, Nd2O3	Neodymium, Neodymium oxide
Niobium	Chemical element with symbol Nb. Used in alloys and various superconducting materials
Ore	Mineral bearing rock that contains one or more minerals, at least one of which can be mined and treated profitably under current or immediately foreseeable economic conditions.
Ore Reserve	The economically mineable part of a Measured or Indicated Mineral Resource.  It includes diluting materials and allowances for losses which may occur when the material is mined. Appropriate assessments, which may include feasibility studies, have been carried out, and include consideration of and modification by realistically assumed, mining, metallurgical, economic, marketing, legal, environmental, social and governmental factors. These assessments demonstrate at the time of reporting that extraction could reasonably be justified. Ore Reserves are sub-divided in order of increasing confidence into Probable Ore Reserves and Proved Ore Reserves.
Orebody	A continuous, well-defined mass of material of sufficient ore content to make extraction economically feasible.
Pm	Promethium
Pr, Pr2O3	Praseodymium, Praseodymium oxide
Prospect	A mineral property, the value of which has not been proved by exploration.  To search for minerals or oil by looking for surface indications, by drilling boreholes, or both.
Rare Earth Elements (REEs) or Rare Earths	A series of metallic lanthanide elements with similar chemical properties comprising HREEs and LREEs (but excluding Pm for the purposes of the geological REE occurrences having regard to its unstable nature). Widely used in technological devices.
Rare Earth Oxides (REOs)	The oxide forms of REEs.  Oxide grades are conventionally used when stating grades for REE deposits.
Reserves	That part of a mineral resource which has been demonstrated to be economically exploitable.
Resource	The total quantity of a mineral which is calculated to lie within given boundaries and which could be economically workable.
Sm, Sm2O3	Samarium, Samarium oxide
SRK ES	SRK Exploration Services
Tantalum	Chemical element with symbol Ta. Main use is for capacitors in electronic equipment, as also as a component in alloys.
Tb, Tb2O3	Terbium, Terbium oxide
Tm, Tm2O3	Thulium, Thulium oxide
TREO	Total Rare Earth Oxides - the sum of the concentrations of rare earth oxides
U, U3O8	Uranium, Uranium oxide
Uranium	Hard, lustrous, silver-white, malleable and ductile, radioactive, metallic element of the actinide series.
Y, Y2O3	Yttrium, Yttrium oxide
Yb, Yb2O3	Ytterbium, Ytterbium oxide
Zirconium	A chemical element with symbol Zr.  Commonly used as an alloying agent due to its excellent resistance to corrosion, as a refractory mineral in furnaces, and for the production of thin ceramic coatings.

Mining of Radioactive Minerals in Greenland

Greenland currently imposes a ban on the exploration and exploitation of radioactive elements where these occur at "above background levels" (as they do at the GGG projects and other REE-Nb-Ta projects in the area). This prohibition includes mining of these elements as by-products.  As it stands this law would prohibit mining in areas where concentrations of radioactive elements exceed background levels. Background levels for the alkaline complexes in South Greenland that host such mineral occurrences have been stated by the Minister for Industry & Resources to be up to 60 ppm.  

The Greenland government is promoting debate through a process of public consultation on the issue of mining uranium and other radioactive elements.  Support for a change in policy has come from the South Greenland Municipal Council, major labour unions and some political parties.  In October 2010, the Greenland government amended its Standard Conditions for Mineral Licences to allow companies that have delineated a resource that falls into this category to apply for approval to conduct feasibility, environmental and community studies into projects that contain radioactive elements at above background levels. As a further indication of a possible change in policy the Greenland Government agreed in December 2011 to amend the conditions of an exploration licence held by GGG to include radioactive elements. This change may give GGG the ability to apply for an Exploitation Licence that includes minerals such as uranium. REM understands however that the extraction ban for now remains in place.

RARE EARTH MINERALS PLC

STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME

FOR THE PERIOD ENDED 30 JUNE 2012

		Note		Unaudited Six months ended 30 June 2012		Unaudited Six months ended 31 March 2011		Audited 15 months  ended 31 December  2011
				£'000		£'000		£'000
	Administrative expenses				(356)		(196)		(1,438)
	Total administrative expenses				(356)		(196)		(1,438)
	Loss from operations				(356)		(196)		(1,438)
	Loss for the period before taxation				(356)		(196)		(1,438)
	Taxation expense				-		-		-
	Loss for the period after taxation and loss attributable to the equity holders of the company				(356)		(196)		(1,438)
	Other comprehensive income				-
	Foreign exchange				(2)		-		25
	Decrease in value of available for sale asset				(49)		-		(137)
	Total comprehensive expenditure for the period				(407)		(196)		(1,550)
	Basic and diluted loss per ordinary share (pence)		3		(0.03)p		(0.02)p		(0.14)p

RARE EARTH MINERALS PLC

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITY

FOR THE PERIOD ENDED 30 JUNE 2012

	Share capital	Share premium	Share based payment reserve	Available for sale reserve	Exchange reserve	Retained earnings	Total equity
	£'000	£'000	£'000			£'000	£'000
At 31 March 2011 (unaudited)	506	4,441	271	-	-	(4,822)	396
Share based payments	-	-	355			-	355
Issue of share capital	55	2,570	-	-	-	-	2,625
Share issue costs	-	(145)	-	-	-	-	(145)
Transactions with owners	55	2,425	355	-	-	-	2,835
Loss for the period	-	-	-			(1,242)	(1,242)
Foreign exchange					25		25
Decrease in value of available for sale asset				(137)			(137)
Total comprehensive expenditure for the year	-	-	-	(137)	25	(1,242)	(1,354)
At 31 December 2011 (audited)	561	6,866	626	(137)	25	(6,064)	1877
Share based payments	-	-	25			-	25
Issue of share capital	-	-	-			-	-
Transactions with owners	-	-	25			-	25
Loss for the period	-	-	-			(356)	(356)
Foreign exchange					(2)
Decrease in value of available for sale asset				(49)
Total comprehensive expenditure for the period	-	-	-			(356)	(356)
At 30 June 2012 (unaudited)	561	6,866	651	(186)	23	(6,420)	1,495

RARE EARTH MINERALS PLC

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION

AS AT 30 JUNE 2012

	Note	Unaudited  30 June 2012	Unaudited 31 March 2011	Audited 31 December 2011
		£'000	£'000	£'000
ASSETS
Non-current assets
Intangible assets		1,049	-	1,030
Available for sale asset		299	-	379
		1,348	-	1,409
Current assets
Trade and other receivables		251	173	266
Cash and cash equivalents		1	233	243
Total current assets		252	406	509
Total assets		1,600	406	1,918
EQUITY AND LIABILITIES
Current liabilities
Trade and other payables		105	10	41
Total current liabilities and total liabilities		105	10	402
Equity
Share capital	4	561	506	561
Share premium		6,866	4,441	6,866
Share based payment reserve		651	271	626
Available for sale asset reserve		(186)	-	(137)
Exchange reserve		23	-	25
Retained earnings		(6,420)	(4,822)	(6,064)
Total equity attributable to equity holders		1,495	396	1,877
Total equity and liabilities		1,600	406	1,918

RARE EARTH MINERALS PLC

CONSOLIDATED CASH FLOW STATEMENT

FOR THE PERIOD 30 JUNE 2012

		Unaudited Six months ended 30 June 2012	Unaudited Six months ended 31 March 2011	Audited 15 months ended  31 December 2011
		£'000	£'000	£'000
Operating activities
Loss after taxation		(356)	(196)	(1,438)
Adjustments for:
Amortisation of intangibles		29	-	43
Decrease/(increase) in trade and other receivables		15	(6)	(249)
Increase/(decrease) in trade and other payables		64	(392)	(361)
Equity settled share based payments		25	56	411
Net cash (outflow)/inflow from operating activities		(223)	(538)	(1,594)
Cash flow from investing activities
Purchase of licences		-	-	(73)
Purchase of subsidiary		-	-	(380)
Investment in AFS assets		-	-	(516)
Sale of Available for sale assets		30	-	-
Investment in exploration		(49)	-	(70)
Net cash outflow from investing activities		(19)	-	(1,039)
Cash flow from financing activities
Proceeds from issue of share capital		-	630	2,730
Share issue costs		-	(15)	(160)
New loan		-	(150)	-
Net cash inflow from financing activities		-	465	2,570
Net change in cash and cash equivalents		(242)	(73)	(63)
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period		243	306	306
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period		1	233	243

NOTES TO THE INTERIM REPORT

FOR THE PERIOD ENDED 30 JUNE 2012

1 BASIS OF PREPARATION

The interim financial statements have been prepared in accordance with applicable accounting standards and under the historical cost convention.  The financial information set out in this interim report does not constitute statutory accounts as defined in section 434 of the Companies Act 2006. The Group's statutory financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2011 have been delivered to the Registrar of Companies. The auditor's report on those financial statements was unqualified.

The principal accounting policies of the Group are consistent with those detailed in the 31 December 2011 financial statements, which are prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs), as adopted by the European Union.  

GOING CONCERN

The Directors have prepared a cash flow forecast for the 12 month period ending 30 September 2013. The forecast demonstrate that the Group has sufficient funds for its near term needs to develop its assets for a period of at least twelve months from the date of approval of these financial statements. Further funds may also be raised from  further issues of equity as and when required. Accordingly, the accounts have been prepared on a going concern basis.

CRITICAL ACCOUNTING ESTIMATES AND JUDGEMENTS

Estimates and judgements are continually evaluated and are based on historical experience and other factors, including expectations of future events that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances.

The Group makes estimates and assumptions concerning the future. The resulting accounting estimates will, by definition, seldom equal the related actual results

2 SEGMENTAL REPORTING

An operating segment is a distinguishable component of the Group that engages in business activities from which it may earn revenues and incur expenses, whose operating results are regularly reviewed by the Group's chief operating decision maker to make decisions about the allocation of resources and assessment of performance and about which discrete financial information is available.

The chief operating decision maker reviews financial information for and makes decisions about the Group's performance as a whole. The Group has not actively traded during the period.

Subject to further acquisitions the Group expects to further review its segmental information during the forthcoming financial year. 

3 LOSS PER SHARE 

The calculation of the loss per share is based on the loss attributable to ordinary shareholders divided by the weighted average number of shares in issue during the period.

	Unaudited Six months ended 30 June 2012	Unaudited Six months ended 31 March  2011	Audited 15 months  ended 31 December 2011
Loss for the period from total operations (£'000)	(407)	(196)	(1,550)
Weighted average number of 0.25p ordinary shares	1,443,619,050	877,465,204	1,046,704,389
Loss per share from total operations	(0.03)p	(0.02)p	(0.14)p

The share options are anti-dilutive, as a consequence of the loss for the period.

4 SHARE CAPITAL

	Unaudited 30 June 2012	Unaudited 31 March 2011	Audited 31 December 2011
	£'000	£'000	£'000
Authorised
4,000,000,000 ordinary shares of 0.01p	400	400	400
4,000,000,000 deferred shares of 0.24p	9,600	9,600	9,600
	10,000	10,000	10,000
Allotted, issued and fully paid
173,619,050 deferred shares of 0.24p	417	417	417
1,443,619,050 ordinary shares of 0.01p (31 March 2011: 893,619,050 and 31 December 2011: 1,443,619,050 ordinary shares of 0.01p)	144	89	144
	561	506	561

Enquiries :

David Lenigas, Director, Rare Earth Minerals plc	[phone]
James Joyce, WH Ireland Limited	[phone]

 

END

 

 

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