The information contained within this
announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside
information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU)
No. 596/2014 ("MAR"). With the publication of this announcement via
a Regulatory Information Service, this inside information is now
considered to be in the public domain.
14 November
2018
Conroy
Gold and Natural Resources plc
(“Conroy Gold” or “the Company”)
FINAL RESULTS FOR
THE YEAR TO 31 MAY 2018
NOTICE OF ANNUAL
GENERAL MEETING
DIRECTORATE
CHANGE
Conroy Gold and Natural Resources
plc (AIM: CGNR), the gold exploration and development Company
focused on Ireland and
Finland is pleased to report its
audited accounts for the year to 31 May
2018.
Highlights:
- Excellent drilling results at Clontibret including the
discovery of an extensive gold zone and additional major targets
discovered within the Clontibret area. Updated JORC compliant
mineral resource of 517,000 ounces.
- Updated estimated Exploration Target* of 8.8Moz gold for the
combined Clontibret, Clay Lake and Glenish areas.
- Further exploration potential on other licences along the
Orlock Bridge Fault.
Post period:
- Discovery of a new area of bedrock gold mineralisation halfway
between the Clontibret gold deposit and the Corcaskea gold target
in Ireland. The outcrop lies to
the north of the Clontibret gold deposit and to the south of the
Corcaskea gold target.
Final Results for the Year to
31 May 2018
The full audited annual report and accounts for the year to
31 May 2018 (“Annual Report”) can be
viewed below:
ANNUAL REPORT
The Annual Report will be posted to shareholders today and will
be published on the Company’s website today. Key elements can
also be viewed at the bottom of this announcement.
Annual General Meeting
The annual general meeting of the Company (“AGM”) will be held
at The Davenport Hotel, Gandon Suite, 8-10 Merrion Street,
Dublin 2 at 10.30 on 7 December
2018. A copy of the notice of AGM can be viewed on the
Company’s website.
Directorate Change
Dr Karl Keegan has decided he
will not be putting himself forward for re-election at the AGM due
to other business commitments. Dr Keegan will therefore cease
to be a director of the Company following the AGM.
Chairman,
Professor Richard Conroy
commented:
“We have had a series of positive results throughout the year
and this has continued into the current financial year. The Company
has made excellent progress in its exploration and development
programme overall, and I look forward to this continuing on an
accelerated basis.”
For further information please contact:
Conroy Gold and
Natural Resources plc |
Tel: +353-1-479-6180 |
Professor Richard
Conroy, Chairman |
|
Allenby Capital
Limited (Nomad) |
Tel: +44-20-3328-5656 |
Virginia Bull/Nick
Harriss |
|
Brandon Hill
Capital Limited (Broker) |
Tel: +44-20-3463-5000 |
Jonathan Evans |
|
Lothbury Financial
Services |
Tel: +44-20-3290-0707 |
Michael Padley |
|
Hall
Communications |
Tel: +353-1-660-9377 |
Don Hall |
|
Visit the website at:
www.conroygold.com
* An Exploration Target is not, and must not be construed as a
mineral resource. It is designed to provide guidance as to the
mineral exploration potential of the defined area.
Key Information Extracted from Annual
Report
Chairman’s
Statement
Dear Shareholder,
I have great pleasure in presenting your Company’s Annual Report
and Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended
31 May 2018.
The year has been a very positive one, during which the Company
has reported further excellent drilling results and an updated
(JORC compliant) mineral resource of 517,000 ounces gold in the
Clontibret gold deposit and, post period, an updated estimated
Exploration Target* of 8.8m ounces
gold for the combined Clontibret, Clay Lake and Glenish gold target
areas.
Business Development
Your Company’s business development strategy of building on its
exploration success and at the same time continuing to move forward
with its planned gold mine at Clontibret in Co. Monaghan has resulted in a series of
positive results during the year.
These included further excellent drilling results at Clontibret
including the discovery of an extensive gold zone, an updated Joint
Ore Reserves Committee (“JORC”) compliant mineral resource of
517,000 ounces gold in the Clontibret deposit, with an increase in
gold grade of 26% and, post period, an updated estimated
Exploration Target of 8.8Moz gold for the combined Clontibret, Clay
Lake and Glenish areas in Ireland.
The Clontibret, Clay Lake and Glenish gold targets are situated
in the northeast of the Company’s licences. Clay Lake is located
7km northeast of Clontibret and Glenish 7km southwest of
Clontibret. The targets lie along the Orlock Bridge Fault, a major
geological structure in a terrane known as the Longford – Down
Massif.
Ireland is already well known
as an international zinc province, indeed the Conroy management
were involved in the discovery and development of the world class
lead/zinc mine at Galmoy in Co.
Kilkenny which led to the revival of the Irish base metals
industry. Now the gold potential of Ireland, particularly in its northern half, is
becoming increasingly recognised and, in this, your Company’s gold
discoveries have played a major role.
Exploration licences in Ireland
give the holder the exclusive right to apply for a mining licence.
Ireland is a stable, mining and
business friendly jurisdiction which, in 2017, came first in the
world for policy perception and fourth in the world for mining
investment in the prestigious Fraser Index listings.
Your Company, building on its exploration success, looks forward
to mining development on its extensive (700km2) and 100%
owned licences in Ireland.
(*An Exploration Target is not and must not be construed as a
mineral resource. It is designed to provide guidance as to the
mineral exploration potential of the defined area.)
2018 Drilling Programme
The recent drilling programme at Clontibret which commenced in
February 2018 led to the discovery,
in the first hole drilled, of additional extensive gold zones, with
wide mineralised intersections reported and with grades of up to
24g/t gold. In view of the results the drill programme was
increased from the original planned 1,000m to over 1,700m. Further excellent results were reported
(see Table 1 in the Annual Report) including an extensive gold zone
30 metres to the south of a historic antimony mine in the area.
The drilling programme concentrated on the Tullybuck-Lisglassan
area of Clontibret which measures less than 20 per cent of the
overall 1.5km² target area at Clontibret or less than 5 per cent of
the combined Clontibret, Clay Lake and Glenish target area.
Updated Mineral Resource Estimate for
Clontibret
An updated mineral resource for the Clontibret gold deposit
estimate was prepared by TetraTech Inc (“TetraTech”). The resource
estimate was developed to JORC Standard and represented a detailed
geological revision on the scoping study previously undertaken by
Tetra Tech in 2011 (See Table 2, in the Annual Report).
The new resource estimate represents an increase in gold grade
of 26% and an increase in contained ounces in the indicated
category of 23%.
As part of the study additional opportunities to increase the
size of the resource were identified. There is strong geological
evidence to suggest that the gold lodes have a more extensive
strike length than previously interpreted – up to a least
850m, and mineralisation remains open
in all directions.
This cut-off grade was supported by using the following:
- A mining cost of US$1.88/t
- Processing costs of US$13.04/t
- G&A costs of US$1.0/t
- A strip ratio of 9.4:1
- Gold recovery: 84%
Clontibret – Clay Lake – Glenish Gold
Target Estimates of Potential Contained Ounces Gold
An Exploration Target is a statement or estimate of the
exploration potential of a mineral deposit in a defined geological
setting where the statement or estimate, quoted as a range of
tonnes and a range of grade (or quality), relates to mineralisation
for which there has been insufficient exploration to estimate a
Mineral Resource.
The Exploration Target estimated in this report, is an
assessment of actual exploration results that define the
exploration potential of a mineral occurrence supported by
drilling, trenching, geological mapping, structural interpretation,
prospecting, sampling, analyses, and/or nearby geological analogies
(e.g. the Clontibret deposit which has a JORC compliant resource).
The potential quantity and grade of the Exploration Target are
essentially conceptual in nature.
It must be noted that there are geological interpretations and
assumptions made in these estimates and it is inappropriate to
apply any economic parameters to the calculations. The estimates
represent an Exploration Target as defined in the JORC guidelines
and must not be construed as Resources or Reserves.
Your Company’s licence area, including the Clontibret/Clay
Lake/Glenish area, has excellent infrastructure. The N2 highway
passes within 2km of the Clontibret-Clay Lake targets whilst the
N54 passes across the top of the licences. Additionally, there are
two 110kV power lines which traverse the Orlock Bridge Fault and a
third 110kV line which runs parallel to all the prospects and is
never further than 5km away. The area also has a skilled local
workforce in local accommodation and long-term employment is
particularly important in regional areas.
Your Company, which is fully conscious of its social and
environmental responsibilities, looks forward to developing on a
sustainable basis, its first gold mine in the region.
Clontibret/Clay Lake – Glenish Gold
Target Estimates Of Potential Contained Ounces Of Gold
The Company has updated its exploration target to include the
Glenish gold target to the southwest of the Clontibret and Clay
Lake gold targets. This updated Exploration Target, has been
calculated by Professor Garth Earls
using (1) a 5% drilling success estimate to reflect the drilling
success rate to date in the area, (2) the level of geological data
available, (3) the understanding of the gold mineralisation in the
area and, (4) using 2 g/t Au, the Clontibret deposit JORC grade, as
the preferred comparator of grade across all three gold-in-soil
anomalies. The calculations are based on coherent gold-in-soil
anomalies greater than 10ppb Au.
This results in an updated Exploration Target of 8.8 million
ounces of gold to a depth of 200m,
excluding the already defined 517,000 ounce JORC resource at
Clontibret, within the north-eastern area of the Company’s licences
(see Table 3 in the Annual Report).
To put this Exploration Target into worldwide industry
perspective, your Company’s technical staff have drawn a gold trend
comparison between the Orlock Bridge Fault zone and the
Boulder-Lefroy gold zone in Australia which is 100km long and has produced
in excess of 85Moz since its discovery and still has many producing
mines.
New discoveries continue to be made despite the region being
explored for many decades. There are structural similarities
between the Boulder-Lefroy shear zone and the Orlock Bridge Fault
zone in your Company’s licence area. The major difference is that
the Orlock Bridge Fault area has much less exploration to date and
there are many known targets waiting to be drilled.
Further Exploration Potential
In addition to the Clontibret/Clay Lake and Glenish gold target
areas there is further exploration potential on the Company’s other
licences along the Orlock Bridge Fault. These targets include
Slieve Glah, a large and very promising target 40km to the south of
Clontibret, where the Orlock Bridge Fault undergoes a marked
strike-swing. Such strike-swings can act as focal points for
mineralisation.
Other gold targets in the Longford – Down Massif include
Rockcorry and Tullyvin which are large gold-in-soil anomalies along
the Orlock Bridge Fault which remain to be tested. These targets
lie in an area termed the central structural zone between Slieve
Glah and Clontibret. Other gold-in-soil anomalies within the
licence area along the Orlock Bridge Fault in the Longford – Down
Massif also remain to be tested.
Other Targets in Ireland And Finland
Exploration also continues for gold, zinc and other metals on
the Company’s other exploration properties in Ireland and also on your Company’s Finnish
exploration licences. Finland is
highly prospective for gold and, at Kittila in Northern Finland, hosts Europe’s largest gold
mine.
Finance
The loss after taxation for the financial year ended
31 May 2018 was €745,485 (2017:
€431,922) and the net assets as at 31 May
2018 were €17,874,350 (2017: €16,760,857). During the year,
the Company raised £1,000,000 by way of a placing and subscription
for ordinary shares in the Company. Warrants taken up by Managing
Director, Ms Maureen Jones and I,
raised a further €166,680 during the year.
During the year the Company cancelled the admission of its
ordinary shares to trading on ESM. The Company’s ordinary
shares continue to be admitted to trading on AIM.
On 28 August 2018, the Company
raised £500,000 (€556,545) through a placing of 3,636,365 ordinary
shares of €0.001 in the capital of the Company (“the Placing
Shares”) at a price of €0.1375 sterling per Placing Share, being a
premium of 20 per cent to the closing mid-market price on
24 August 2018.
Directors and Staff
I would like to express my deep appreciation of the support and
dedication of all the directors, consultants and staff, which
despite all the difficulties, has made possible the continued
progress and success which the Company has achieved. I would like
to pay particular tribute to Dr. Karl
Keegan, who will not be going forward for re-election, for
his excellent contribution to the Board.
Future Outlook
Your Company has continued to make excellent progress in its
exploration and development programme. I look forward to this
continuing on an accelerated basis as we target a multi-million
ounce gold resource in Ireland and
move towards mine development at Clontibret.
Professor Richard Conroy
Chairman
Extract from the
Independent Auditor’s Report
The following section is extracted from the Independent
Auditor’s Report, but shareholders should read in full the
Independent Auditor’s Report contained in the Annual Report.
Material uncertainty related to going
concern
We draw your attention to Note 1 in the financial statements,
which indicates that the Group and Parent Company incurred a net
loss of €745,485 during the year ended 31
May 2018 and, as of that date, the Group and Parent Company
had net current liabilities of €2,953,825 and €2,607,867
respectively.
In response to this, we:
- Obtained an understanding of the group’s and company’s controls
over the preparation of cash flow forecasts and approval of the
projections and assumptions used in cash flow forecasts to support
the going concern assumption and assessed the design and
implementation of these controls;
- We evaluated management’s plans and their feasibility by
testing the key assumptions used in the cash flow forecast provided
by agreeing the inputs to historical run rates, expenditure
commitments and other supporting documentation;
- Inspected confirmations received by the Group and Parent
Company from the Directors and former Directors that they will not
seek repayment of amounts owed to them by the Group and Parent
Company within 12 months of the date of approval of the financial
statements, unless the Group and/or Parent Company has sufficient
funds to repay;
- Inspected the confirmation received from Karelian Diamond
Resources Plc that it does not intend to seek repayment of amounts
owed by the Group and Parent Company within 12 months of the date
of approval of the financial statements, unless the Group and/or
Parent Company has sufficient funds to repay;
- Tested the clerical accuracy of the cash flow forecast
model;
- Assessed the adequacy of the disclosures made in the financial
statements.
As stated in Note 1, these events or conditions along with other
matters as set forth in Note 1 indicate that a material uncertainty
exists that may cast significant doubt on Group’s and Parent
Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. Our opinion is
not modified in respect of this matter.
Consolidated Income Statement for the
financial year ended 31 May 2018
|
Note |
|
|
|
|
|
|
2018 |
|
|
2017 |
|
|
€ |
|
|
€ |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Continuing operations |
|
|
|
|
|
Operating expenses |
2 |
(745,498) |
|
|
(431,922) |
Finance income – interest |
|
13 |
|
|
- |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Loss before taxation |
3 |
(745,485) |
|
|
(431,922) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Income tax expenses |
5 |
- |
|
|
- |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Loss for the financial
year |
|
(745,485) |
|
|
(431,922) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Loss per share |
|
|
|
|
|
Basic loss per share |
6 |
(€0.0485) |
|
|
(€0.0392) |
Diluted loss per share |
6 |
(€0.0396) |
|
|
(€0.0392) |
The total loss for the financial year is entirely attributable
to equity holders of the Company.
Consolidated statement of
comprehensive income for the financial year ended 31 May 2018
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2018 |
|
|
2017 |
|
|
€ |
|
|
€ |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Loss for the financial
year |
|
(745,485) |
|
|
(431,922) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Income/expense recognised in
other comprehensive income |
|
- |
|
|
- |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total comprehensive expense for
the financial year |
|
(745,485) |
|
|
(431,922) |
The total comprehensive income for the financial year is
entirely attributable to equity holders of the Company.
Consolidated statement of financial position as at
31 May 2018
|
Note |
31 May
2018 |
|
|
31 May
2017 |
|
|
€ |
|
|
€ |
Assets |
|
|
|
|
|
Non-current
assets |
|
|
|
|
|
Intangible assets |
8 |
21,000,286 |
|
|
19,659,104 |
Property, plant and equipment |
9 |
13,232 |
|
|
15,116 |
Total non-current
assets |
|
21,013,518 |
|
|
19,674,220 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Current assets |
|
|
|
|
|
Cash and cash equivalents |
11 |
233,161 |
|
|
19,704 |
Other receivables |
10 |
72,298 |
|
|
98,980 |
Total current
assets |
|
305,459 |
|
|
118,684 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total assets |
|
21,318,977 |
|
|
19,792,904 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Equity |
|
|
|
|
|
Capital and
reserves |
|
|
|
|
|
Called up share capital |
14 |
20,057 |
|
|
11,014 |
Called up deferred share
capital |
14 |
10,504,431 |
|
|
10,504,431 |
Share premium |
14 |
12,174,285 |
|
|
10,649,252 |
Capital conversion reserve fund |
14 |
30,617 |
|
|
30,617 |
Share-based payments reserve |
17 |
995,489 |
|
|
1,542,961 |
Retained deficit |
|
(5,850,529) |
|
|
(5,977,408) |
Total equity |
|
17,874,350 |
|
|
16,760,867 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Liabilities |
|
|
|
|
|
Non-current
liabilities |
|
|
|
|
|
Directors’ loans |
13 |
185,343 |
|
|
277,287 |
Total non-current
liabilities |
|
185,343 |
|
|
277,287 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Current
liabilities |
|
|
|
|
|
Trade and other payables |
12 |
3,259,284 |
|
|
2,754,750 |
Total current
liabilities |
|
3,259,284 |
|
|
2,754,750 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total liabilities |
|
3,444,627 |
|
|
3,032,037 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total equity and
liabilities |
|
21,318,977 |
|
|
19,792,904 |
The financial statements were approved by the Board of Directors
on 13 November 2018 and authorised
for issue on 13 November
2018.
Consolidated statement of cash flows
for the financial year ended 31 May
2018
|
2018 |
|
|
2017 |
|
€ |
|
|
€ |
Cash flows from operating
activities |
|
|
|
|
Loss for the financial year |
(745,485) |
|
|
(431,922) |
Adjustments for: |
|
|
|
|
Depreciation |
1,884 |
|
|
3,779 |
Expense recognised in consolidated
income statement in respect of equity settled share-based
payments |
74,621 |
|
|
15,346 |
Increase in payables |
665,196 |
|
|
460,066 |
Decrease/(increase) in
receivables |
26,682 |
|
|
(60,646) |
Net cash provided/(outflow) by
operating activities |
22,898 |
|
|
(13,377) |
|
|
|
|
|
Cash flows from investing
activities |
|
|
|
|
Expenditure on intangible
assets |
(1,042,705) |
|
|
(898,917) |
Purchase of property, plant and
equipment |
- |
|
|
(2,745) |
Cash used in investing
activities |
(1,042,705) |
|
|
(901,662) |
|
|
|
|
|
Cash flows from financing
activities |
|
|
|
|
Issue of share capital |
1,534,076 |
|
|
- |
Share issue costs |
(48,206) |
|
|
- |
(Payments to)/advances from Karelian
Diamond Resources P.L.C. |
(160,662) |
|
|
105,035 |
(Repayments of)/advances from
Directors’ |
(91,944) |
|
|
142,000 |
Net cash provided by financing
activities |
1,233,264 |
|
|
247,035 |
|
|
|
|
|
Increase/(decrease) in cash and
cash equivalents |
213,457 |
|
|
(668,004) |
Cash and cash equivalents at
beginning of financial year |
19,704 |
|
|
687,708 |
Cash and cash equivalents at end
of financial year |
233,161 |
|
|
19,704 |
The accompanying notes form an
integral part of these audited consolidated financial
statements.