Indochine loses A$13m

 INDOCHINE Mining Ltd (IDC) suffered a loss after tax of A$13.8 million (K20.8 million) for the financial year ending June 30, according to the company’s annual report.

The miner said the loss was due to write downs of prior exploration expenses in Cambodia.

Indochine Mining is an Australian Stock Exchange (ASX)-listed company, whose flagship asset is the Mt Kare gold-silver project in PNG. 

Chairman Ian Ross said in the report the recent phenomenon in the gold sector has impacted both major gold producers and junior gold developers like Indochine.

Ross said the miners have suffered from the major reduction in value of gold equities globally since last April.

He said the difficult gold equities market, with lower gold prices and access to capital being very selective required the company’s board to identify a new future rather than winding back exploration/development. 

With that, Indochine had generated a new and exciting value proposition via the rapid underground development of high grade gold zones at Mt Kare with higher production at a significantly reduced capital cost compared to last year.

Indochine’s financial outcomes for the financial year were driven by a significant increase in exploration investment in Papua New Guinea, which required a number of capital raisings.

During the year, the US dollar strengthened substantially against compared to the Australian dollar. 

This led to an “abnormal” gain recorded under foreign currency translation of $1.4 million in the company’s statement of comprehensive income. 

This translation gain produced a total comprehensive income after tax for the financial year to June 30, 2013 of a loss of A$12.5 million (K27.97 million).

The company’s asset base had grown substantially over the financial year to June this year as most exploration expenditure was capitalised. 

The capitalised exploration assets had grown from A$67.4 million (K150.85 million) to A$85.4 million (K191 million) net of impairment due primarily to the significant exploration and development work in PNG.

Shareholders’ equity increased to A$85.9 million (K192.25 million), an increase of A$19.2 million (K47 million) over the previous year.