NEWLY floated Birmingham based minerals exploration firm Hummingbird Resources made an interim pre-tax loss of £0.92m ($1.46m) in the six months to November 30, 2010, it reported today.
However, the business said its successful IPO in November had raised funds of £25.5m, enabling it to fully explore the potential of its mineral licences in Liberia, where it is exploring for gold and iron ore.
Hummingbird has been exploring for minerals in Liberia since November 2005 and is currently the holder of the largest area of mineral exploration ground in the geological region of Eastern Liberia, with licences prospective for iron ore, other minerals and gold – which is its focus at present.
In a reports statement, Daniel Betts, chief executive of Hummingbird Resources, said: “2010 was a milestone year for Hummingbird which marked the recognition of five years’ work in Liberia as we brought the company to AIM.
“Bringing in a strong institutional shareholder base to the company is a watershed moment in our development and it allows Hummingbird to upscale our operations in Liberia.”
He said work to date had identified the potential for several significant deposits including one – Dugbe F project – with a possible 812,000 ounces of gold, although testing has been limited to a only a small portion of the total potential strike.
Mr Betts said the funds raised through the IPO would allow the company to not only develop the Dugbe F project, but concurrently test and develop a pipeline of targets from within the company’s license portfolio, which is said to cover “a very significant accumulative potential strike length along three major shear zones”.
“We are currently drilling intensively with two diamond core rigs and we will look to expand on this as our understanding of the immediate targets improve,” he said.
“Additional significant upside for the company lies in unlocking the potential of our whole licence portfolio which controls a vast portion of three major shear zones in Eastern Liberia rather than just a single deposit.
“Thanks to the successful IPO and our new shareholders we are now in a position to explore these wider regions which we believe will prove to be a major new West African, Birimian style gold province. I would like to thank all of our shareholders for their continued support as we look forward to what promises to be an exciting year for Hummingbird Resources.”
The company was co-founded by Daniel Betts, son of Stephen Betts, chairman of Betts Metals and who is also a non-executive director of Hummingbird, a Midlands family that has been smelting, refining and dealing in precious metals in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter for 250 years and seven generations.
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