Final Results

RNS Number : 3717A

Kibo Mining Plc

30 March 2012

 



KIBO MINING PLC

Final Results for the year ended 30 September 2011 and notice of AGM

Dated: 30 March 2012

Kibo Mining plc ("Kibo" or the "Company") (AIM: KIBO; AltX:KBO) the mineral exploration and development Company focused on gold and nickel projects in Tanzania, is pleased to announce its final results for the year ended 30 September 2011.

Chairman's Report

2011 was a difficult year globally, with turbulent financial markets and confusion in sovereign states particularly within Europe. Against this backdrop I am pleased to report on the excellent progress Kibo has made during the year in broadening its gold and base metal exploration portfolio in Tanzania through acquisition, successfully financing the Company, designing and implementing a major exploration programme, diversing its access to market finance, reorganising its management team and rationalising its development programme to focus on critical economic value without excessive operational risk. The earlier part of the year was dedicated to the upgrading of the Company's ground holding and accessing finance. Currently the Company is embarked on an extensive exploration programme with three field exploration teams operating on all of the Company's projects in Tanzania.

During 2011 Kibo added an additional 11,622 square kilometres of highly prospective gold and base metal exploration ground to its portfolio through the acquisition of Morogoro Gold Ltd. This has moved the Company into a strong position in Tanzania with large ground holdings in established and developing gold and base metal areas. It gives the Company the ability to finance its operations through joint ventures as well as through the markets. Field work has commenced and we look forward to receiving results from our exploration programs as we move through 2012. Some areas held by the Company are under review for joint venture to third parties. Other areas may be relinquished in order to focus on the fieldwork on the main targets. It is planned that both processes will be completed by mid 2012.

On 30 May 2011 the Company shares were listed on the JSE AltX in South Africa in order to enhance its ability to fund its on-going exploration programme in the medium term. The listing and subsequent share placing raised approximately £1.1 million. This money is being used to fund the first stage of the Company's three year exploration strategy on its Tanzanian exploration portfolio. Extensive nickel anomalies from soil sampling and trenching have already been identified on just one small part of a 70 kilometre long zone within the Haneti project which also shows promise as a gold target, where there is active artisanal mining. Reconnaissance geology mapping suggests the possibility of larger scale gold occurrences in a number of the artisanal mining areas.

In light of the above developments the Board has decided to restructure its executive management team. Louis Coetzee was appointed the interim CEO in November 2011 to maximise the corporate development of the Company in Tanzania and to oversee the financial development of the Company. Noel O'Keeffe has taken on the role of Exploration Director. This will facilitate a more focused approach to the overview and supervision of the large portfolio of Company projects. An important decision the Company had to make was the imminent requirement to exercise its option to acquire 100% of the Itetemia and Luhala projects in the Lake Victoria district. While the Itetemia project held out the prospect of early cash flow through the development of a small open pit mine, the Company decided that the operational risks and capital exposure for Kibo involved with these projects were unacceptable. The Morogoro acquisition has provided the Company with a dominant exploration presence in the major gold exploration districts in Tanzania. This provides us with the potential for exponentially better returns on our investments than could have been derived from the Itetemia and Luhala projects, should they have been acquired under the contracted commercial terms. For these reasons we informed Tanzanian Royalty Exploration Corporation that we would not be exercising the option.

In conclusion, despite 2011 being a difficult year for our industry, the company is set fair for exploration success with both its gold and nickel projects. I would like to thank management especially our former CEO Noel O'Keeffe who has had the task of steering the Company through the regulatory compliance resulting from the merger and acquisition activity during the year. He now has the challenge of sifting through the very large licence portfolio to optimise the value of the Company. Louis Coetzee, who has recently taken over the mantle of CEO will, with his twenty years of working in Tanzania, prove to be a valuable asset for the Company. I would also like to welcome Tinus Maree and Wenzel Kerremans to the Board who were both appointed during 2011. They also bring a wealth of African experience to help drive the business and I look forward to working with them and the other directors and staff in growing the Company over the next twelve months.

Christian Schaffalitzky

Chairman

Dated 30 March 2012

Review of Activities

Introduction

During 2011 the Company focused on completing the major corporate transaction with Mzuri Gold Limited (Mzuri) announced in December 2010. This has re-positioned  the Company from a relatively small mineral licence holder to one with over 18,000 square kilometres of tenements issued, offered and under application in both the traditional and newly emerging gold exploration regions of Tanzania. Field exploration during the first three quarters of 2011 was deferred to allow completion of the Mzuri transaction which included a dual listing and placing on the AltX board of the JSE in South Africa in early June which raised approximately £1.1M. The Company completed some field work at the Haneti project during the last quarter of 2010 which gave further encouraging nickel results from trenching and soil sampling. These results, which the Company reported in April 2011, are discussed later in the review. At the start of October 2011, following operational management changes, the Company re-commenced field exploration programmes and these will run concurrently over all its projects through 2012 and beyond.

 During 2011, Kibo continued the technical and economic evaluation of the Itetemia and Luhala projects. In October the Company reported on metallurgical test results for the Golden Horseshoe (GHR) Resource at Itetemia which indicated gold recoveries in excess of 90% from standard carbon-in-leach cyanide processing. The Company also announced at that time that it was continuing negotiation with Tanzanian Royalty Exploration Corporation Limited (TREC) to allow it to fast track the exercise of the option under which it holds its interest in the Itetemia and Luhala projects in order to avail itself of development financing for GHR.  Kibo proved unable to satisfactorily renegotiate the option agreement with TREC and announced in December 2011 that it was not proceeding with the option under the current terms and has relinquished its interest in both projects.

Following the decision to discontinue with the TREC option on Itetemia and Luhala, the Company's focus will now be on exploration at its Lake Victoria, Haneti and Morogoro projects. The Company has re-organised its operations in Tanzania to enable it to effectively manage and explore this large project portfolio for which it approved a three year exploration budget of £5M in October 2011. Stage 1 with a budget £1.3M is now complete with results pending, while Stage 2 will follow up on targets emerging from stage 1 with more advanced exploration including drilling in the second half of 2012. This review summarises Kibo's exploration projects on which work is underway.

Lake Victoria Project

The Lake Victoria projects comprises a 2,716 square kilometre portfolio of prospecting licences under issue, offer and application in Tanzania's premier gold mining region, the Lake Victoria Goldfield (LVG). The portfolio contains 129 mineral tenements located south and west of Tanzania's second city of Mwanza and are dispersed in contiguous blocks of one to fifteen tenements over an area of approximately 12,000 square kilometres. The tenements border, straddle and occur within the major greenstone belts which are the host to operating mines, gold deposits and historical gold workings in the region. They give the Company a large strategic footprint in this prolific gold producing area of the country which has annual production of over 2 million ounces mostly from the world class multi-million ounce deposits at Bulyanhulu and Geita.

The Lake Victoria project is divided into six geographical sub-blocks which cover the principal gold producing greenstone belts within the LVG. Gold mineralisation within the LVG is controlled by a combination of favourable host rocks such as banded iron formations, quartz reefs and porphyries and favourable structural settings. The Lake Victoria tenements are well located in this regard and many of the areas occur on or close to regional structural lineaments and contacts that are considered to be important controls on gold mineralisation.

The Company is undertaking a desktop and field evaluation of the tenements with the objective of prioritising the most prospective for follow up. The exploration database that accompanies the project contains the results of previous reconnaissance soil and pitting surveys over many of the areas and shows anomalous gold-in-soil on a number of tenements. An initial review of the database has helped select initial tenements for more detailed exploration and field teams are currently operating in these areas.

Morogoro Project

Similar to the Lake Victoria project, the Morogoro project comprises a large mineral tenement portfolio totalling 8,900 square kilometres comprising prospecting licences under issue, offer and application. The tenements are located in eastern Tanzania between the regional centres of Morogoro and Dodoma in a region which is receiving increasing attention from mineral exploration companies in recent years due to widespread artisanal and small scale gold mining, and the Magambazi (Handeni) gold deposit discovery by Canadian company, Canaco Resources in 2009.

The Morogoro project covers Proterozoic age high grade metamorphic rocks which present a new geological environment for gold exploration in Tanzania. In contrast to the Archaean age lower grade metamorphic rocks (greenstones) of the Lake Victoria region further north, this geology was not considered prospective for gold until widespread discoveries by artisanal miners in recent years focused larger company attention on the region. Kibo has now established a significant presence in this region over previously unexplored areas prospective for gold and base metals. The project is divided into two large blocks known as Morogoro North (also referred to as the Dodoma Block) and Morogoro South.

Morogoro North

Morogoro North comprises mineral tenements east of Dodoma covering approximately 4,000 square kilometres adjacent to Government designated artisanal gold mining blocks. Gold mining within these blocks is from quartz reefs within high grade gneisses and granulites of high metamorphic grade. These reefs extend on to Company licences and applications where some artisanal mining is on-going. The detailed geology and gold mineralisation in these areas has not yet been thoroughly evaluated but the data that is available is consistent with geology and mineralisation styles similar to those present at Canaco Resources, Magambazi gold deposit some 50 kilometres to the northeast. Stage 1 field exploration at Morogoro North comprises detailed stream sampling and mapping on prospecting licences around the villages of Gairo, Kilama and Berega on  gold-in-soil anomalies identified from previous reconnaissance sampling.

Morogoro South

Morogoro South comprises tenement areas south and west of the regional town of Morogoro covering approximately 4,900 square kilometres. The Company's initial exploration focus will be on a regional geological structure, the Ruvu Nappe, located circa 30 kilometres southeast of Morogoro. Previous reconnaissance geological mapping and stream sediment sampling have revealed gold mineralisation associated with this structure along 45 kilometres of its length and both artisanal hard rock and placer gold mining is on-going. Stage 1 field exploration in this area comprises regional stream sediment sampling, prospecting and geological mapping to resolve areas for follow-up geophysical surveying, trenching and drilling. A large anorthosite body approximately 25 kilometres west of the Ruvu Nappe, is possibly indicative of nickel-PGM mineralisation potential in this region and will also be prospected and sampled during the field programme. Company licence applications and offers in the western part of the Morogoro Block cover part of a copper mineralised province with numerous copper occurrences and some artisanal copper production. Data on the detailed geology and copper mineralisation styles will be compiled as they also represent an excellent mineral exploration opportunity for the Company in this region.

Haneti Project

The Haneti project is located 15 kilometres north of Tanzania's official capital city, Dodoma in central Tanzania. It comprises a contiguous block of prospecting licences under issue, offer and application totalling just over 7,000 square kilometres. The project is located along a section of the sheared contact (Bubu cataclasites) between the Archaean age (> 2.5 billion years) Tanzanian Craton to the Southwest and Proterozoic age (~0.5 to 2.5 billion years) rocks to the Northeast. The project is prospective for both nickel - platinoid mineralisation within  a 70 to 80 kilometre ultramafic belt (Haneti-Itiso Ultramafic Complex) located just east of the sheared contact zone and for gold mineralisation primarily within the Tanzanian Craton to the West and Southwest.

Nickel Exploration

The nickel platinoid potential of the Haneti-Itiso Ultramafic Complex has been enhanced by the field work undertaken by Kibo over the last few years. The results from soil, rock and trench sampling has shown widespread anomalous nickel values accompanied by local gold and platinum anomalism within the best exposed section of the ultramafic belt just east of Haneti Village (Haneti Hills). The results in this area to date which encompasses about 100 square kilometres have given good encouragement for the discovery of both lateritic nickel and nickel sulphide-platinoid style mineralisation. Laterite  derived nickel values in soil, pitting and trenching  from Haneti Hills occur in the range 3,000 to > 10,000 part per million while nickel sulphide potential is indicated by rock sample results from Mihanza Hill where values of up to 13% nickel and 2.3 grams per tonne platinum & palladium were previously reported  from strongly altered bedrock.

During late 2010 and early 2011 the Company carried out exploration surveys at Haneti Hills which comprised reconnaissance geological mapping, trenching of soil geochemical anomalies and in-fill soil sampling. Trenching and soil sampling focused on the Mwaka, Mihanza and Kwahemu Hills where previous work has returned high nickel and gold values in soil and rock.

At Mwaka Hill, a 269 metre trench was excavated to a depth of 0.5  to 1.8 metres across a mult-element soil geochemical anomaly and exposed bedrock was mapped and sampled. Analyses  were carried out for Au, Cu,  Zn, Ni, Co and As. Nickel values were consistently anomalous in excess of 1,000 parts per million  (0.1%) from samples of silicified and un-silicified serpentinites taken along the length of the trench. The best intersection was 93 metres at 0.4% nickel. Trench samples were also anomalous for cobalt but not significantly so for the other elements.

At Mihanza Hill, an 80 metre trench was excavated to a depth of 1 metre or less across a gold and nickel soil anomaly close to a pit where previous sampling gave values of 13% nickel and 2.33 g/t platinum and palladium in outcrop. Similar to Mwaka, nickel values were in excess of 1,000 parts per million(0.1%) in serpentinite throughout the length of the trench and averaged 0.27% nickel over the 80 metres. The trench results were anomalous for cobalt but not for the other elements.

At Kwahemu Hill, an in-fill soil sampling programme was carried out over an area of ~ 2.5  X 1.5 kilometres to the west of Kwahemu Hill where previous regional soil sampling had indicated high gold and nickel values in soil. The in-fill sampling was carried out at a spacing of 100 X 40 metres and analyses were carried out for the same elemental suite as for the Mwaka and Mihanza Hills trench sampling.  The results indicate a strong linear nickel anomaly with values in excess of 0.1% nickel extending westwards from Kwahemu Hill for 2 kilometres and the anomaly remains open to the west. More difuse gold anomalous areas of values > 30 parts per billion  and up to > 100 parts per billion are scattered through the sampled area co-incident in part with the nickel anomaly.

Gold Exploration

The gold mineralisation potential at Haneti is primarily within recently identified greenstone rock sequences within the Tanzanian Craton in the West and South-west of the project. One such sequence, the Londoni Greenstone Belt located just outside the north-west corner of the Haneti block hosts Shanta Gold's Singida project which has a published resource of 1 M oz. at a grade of 1.5 grams per tonne gold. Significant artisanal gold mining activity in the northwest corner of the Haneti block and rocks with greenstone affinities identified around the village of Meia Meia by Kibo geologists in late 2010 provide strong evidence for the continuation of this gold bearing Londoni gold belt along the south western border of the Haneti block. The Company is monitoring the artisanal gold mining in the west of the Haneti block where it has been issued two licence offers but understands that the Tanzanian Ministry of Mines and Energy is delaying issue of the permits due to the large number artisanal miners working in the area. Kibo acknowledges the sensitivities in these overlap areas between artisanal miners and exploration companies and will continue to explore ways of completing the licence issues and so gain exploration access to these areas with the Government and the other relevant parties.

Conclusion

Stage 1 field exploration over the Company projects has now been completed and the results available to date are being compiled and analysed. An operations update will be released during the second quarter of 2012 once all results have been received. The Company anticipates that these results will enable it to define targets for drilling and areas for more detailed follow up surveys as part of its Stage 2 exploration programme to commence shortly. The Kibo projects present a very large mineral prospective early stage exploration portfolio for which sustained systematic exploration is now underway. The Company is confident of favourable exploration results emerging from this work during 2012 and beyond.

Louis Coetzee   CEO

Noel O'Keeffe    Exploration Director

Dated 30 March 2012

KIBO MINING PLC

Final Results for the Year ended 30 September 2011

Statement of Comprehensive Income
				Group
				Year             to 30 Sept 2011 £		Year             to 30 Sept 2010 £
Administrative expenses				(1,259,912)		(478,047)
Write back/(down) of intangible assets				(2,442,897)		-
Investment income				7,248		2,957
				___________		___________
Loss for the year before tax				(3,691,561)		(475,090)
Income tax expense				-		-
				___________		___________
Loss for the year from continuing operations				(3,691,561)		(475,090)
Other comprehensive income
Exchange differences on translating foreign operations				(74,656)		(3,296)
				__________		__________
Total comprehensive income for the year				(3,766,217)		(478,386)
				___________		___________
Loss attributable to:
Owners of the Company				(3,691,561)		(475,090)
				___________		___________
Total comprehensive income attributable to:
Owners of the Company				(3,766,217)		(478,386)
				___________		___________
Earnings per share
from continuing operations
Basic and diluted loss per share				(1.12p)		(0.23p)
				___________		___________

For JSE requirements, the Headline Earnings per Share ("HEPS") has been calculated to be the equivalent of the basic loss per share as displayed above.

Statements of Financial Position

		Group		Company
		2011 £	2010 £	2011 £	2010 £
Assets
Non-Current Assets
Intangible assets		3,853,550	4,266,063	-	-
Property, Plant and Equipment		-	1,306	-	-
Investment in subsidiary undertakings		-	-	4,326,511	2,626,511
		____________	____________	____________	____________
Total Non-Current Assets		3,853,550	4,267,369	4,326,511	2,626,511
		____________	____________	____________	____________
Current Assets
Trade and other receivables		52,965	22,981	3,238,206	2,313,743
Cash and cash equivalents		937,084	421,359	333,928	235,521
		____________	____________	____________	____________
Total Current Assets		990,049	444,340	3,572,134	2,549,264
		____________	____________	____________	____________
Total Assets		4,843,599	4,711,709	7,898,645	5,175,775
		____________	____________	____________	____________
Equity and Liabilities
Capital and Reserves
Called up share capital		3,231,898	2,132,295	3,231,898	2,132,295
Share premium account		5,887,327	3,533,115	5,887,327	3,533,115
Share based payments		456,820	32,250	456,820	32,250
Other reserves		(85,164)	(10,508)	(90,373)	(9,255)
Retained Loss		(4,754,679)	(1,063,118)	(1,654,268)	(572,930)
		____________	____________	____________	____________
Equity Attributable to owners of the Company		4,736,202	4,624,034	7,831,404	5,115,475
		____________	____________	____________	____________
Liabilities
Current Liabilities
Trade and other payables		94,775	85,575	54,619	58,200
Current tax liabilities		12,622	2,100	12,622	2,100
		____________	____________	____________	____________
Total Liabilities		107,397	87,675	67,241	60,300
		____________	____________	____________	____________
Total Equity and Liabilities		4,843,599	4,711,709	7,898,645	5,175,775
		____________	____________	____________	____________

Cash Flow Statement for the year ended 30 September 2011

	Group		Company
	Year to 30 Sept 2011 £	Year to 30 Sept 2010 £	Year to 30 Sept 2011 £	Year to 30 Sept 2010 £
Cash Flows from operating activities
Loss for the year before taxation	(3,691,561)	(475,090)	(1,081,338)	(418,654)
Adjustments for:
Foreign exchange loss	(74,656)	(3,296)	(81,118)	(945)
Depreciation	1,306	426	-	-
Investment revenue	(7,248)	(2,957)	(7,248)	(2,930)
Write down of intangible assets	2,442,897	-	-	-
Share based payments	424,570	32,250	424,570	32,250
	__________	__________	__________	__________
	(904,692)	(448,667)	(745,134)	(390,279)
	__________	__________	__________	__________
Movement in working capital
(Increase)/Decrease in debtors	(29,984)	(20,922)	(924,463)	(706,910)
(Increase)/Decrease in creditors	19,722	(138,982)	6,941	(96,426)
	___________	___________	__________	__________
	(10,262)	(159,904)	(917,522)	(803,336)
	___________	___________	__________	__________
Net cash outflow from operations	(914,954)	(608,571)	(1,662,656)	(1,193,615)
	__________	__________	__________	__________
Cash flows from financing activities
Proceeds of issue of share capital	1,753,815	1,398,840	1,753,815	1,398,840
Investment income	7,249	2,957	7,249	2,957
	___________	___________	___________	___________
Net cash proceeds from financing activities	1,761,064	1,401,797	1,761,064	1,401,797
Cash flows from investing activities
Expenditure on exploration activities	(330,385)	(438,054)	-	-
Cost of investment in subsidiary	-	-	-	(8,432)
Purchase of property, plant and equipment	-	(313)	-	-
	___________	___________	___________	___________
Net cash from investing activities	330,385	(438,357)	-	(8,432)
	___________	___________	___________	___________
Net increase in Cash and Cash Equivalents	515,725	354,859	98,407	199,723
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of year	421,359	66,500	235,521	35,798
	___________	___________	___________	___________
Cash and Cash Equivalents at end of year	937,084	421,359	333,928	235,521
	___________	___________	___________	___________

Notes to the Financial Statements for the year to 30 September 2011

1.       The Directors are not recommending the payment of an ordinary share dividend.

2.       Loss per share on the net basis is calculated on a loss on ordinary activities after taxation of £3,691,561 (2010: £475,090) and on 331,040,217 (2010: 210,675,850) ordinary shares being the weighted average number of shares in issue and ranking for dividend during the period. There is no dilutive effect of share options or warrants on the basic loss per share.

3.       The financial information set out in the final results announcement has been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2010 and Article 4 of the IAS Regulation.

4.       The Chairman's Report, Review of Activities and Results for the period ended 30 September 2011 are abridged from the 2011 Annual Report and Accounts, which received an unqualified auditor's report and will be filed with the Irish Companies Registration Office following the Annual General Meeting on 27 April 2012.

5.       The Annual Report will be posted to shareholders on 30 March 2012. Pursuant to the AIM Rules the Annual Report and Accounts will be available on the Company's web site, www.kibomining.com, from 30 March 2012. Further copies will be available from the Company's registered office: Suite 3, One Earlsfort Centre, Lower Hatch Street, Dublin 2 Ireland.

6.       The Annual General Meeting of the Company will be held at 3p.m.on Friday 27 April 2012 at Hotel Meryick, Eyre Square, Galway, Ireland.

Enquiries:

Louis Coetzee	[phone]	Kibo Mining plc	Chief Executive Officer
Noel O'Keeffe	+353 (0) 91   865367	Kibo Mining plc	Exploration Director
John Simpson	[phone]	Zeus Capital Limited	Nominated Advisor
Andreas Lianos	[phone]	River Group	Designated Advisor
Nick Bealer	[phone]	Cornhill Capital Ltd	Broker (Corporate Broking)
Andrew Frangos	[phone]	Cornhill Capital Ltd	Broker (Corporate Finance)
Matt Beale	[phone]	Fortbridge Consulting UK	Public Relations

Updates on the Company's activities are regularly posted on its website www.kibomining.com

Notes to Editors:

Kibo is a public company registered in Ireland (company number 451931). Its registered office is Kibo Mining plc, Suite 3, One Earlsfort Centre, Lower Hatch Street, Dublin 2, Ireland. Kibo was established in early 2008 to explore and develop mineral deposits in Tanzania, East Africa and was admitted to AIM on 27 April 2010 and AltX in South Africa on 30 May 2011

The Board of Kibo is composed of highly experienced professionals spanning mineral exploration, mine development, mining finance and financial control of public companies. It is supported by well trained and highly motivated Tanzanian staff that operates from Kibo's exploration offices in Dar es Salaam and Mwanza.

The mineral assets of the Company comprise three projects in Tanzania - Haneti (nickel, platinoid elements and gold), Morogoro (Gold) and Lake Victoria (Gold) which give Kibo access to over 18,000 km² of early stage exploration licences in Tanzania's premier gold mining region, the Lake Victoria Goldfield and within the newly emerging gold exploration regions in eastern Tanzania

Strategy

Kibo's objective is to enhance Shareholder value through acquisition, exploration and development of mineral assets in Tanzania. This objective will be pursued primarily through active exploration, particularly drilling on its current projects and by using the Company's experience in Tanzania to acquire further quality mineral projects on competitive terms that can be quickly evaluated and taken to the next stage of development. Kibo will undertake continual risk assessment of its projects and take whatever actions it believes are necessary to ensure that these risks are mitigated.

 

END

 

 

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