Half-year Report

LONDON--()-- 

China Nonferrous Gold Limited 中国有色黄金有限公司

(‘CNG’ or the ‘Company’)

Interim Results for the Six-Month Period Ended 30 June 2022

China Nonferrous Gold Limited (AIM:CNG), the gold producer with the operational Pakrut Gold Project (‘the Pakrut Project’) in the Republic of Tajikistan, today announces its interim results for the six-month period ended 30 June 2022.

The results below are available on the Company's website at www.cnfgold.com.

Highlights

  • From January to June 2022, a total of 302,590 tons of ore was extracted from the Pakrut gold mine; 274,453 tons of ore was processed at a grade of 2.58 g/t; and 16,330 oz. gold ingots were poured.
  • From January to June 2022, the Group sold 16,484 oz. of gold ingots, achieving sales revenue of US$30.71 million.

For further information please visit the Company’s website (www.cnfgold.com) or contact:

China Nonferrous Gold Limited

Zhang Hui, Managing Director

Tel: +86 10 8442 6662

WH Ireland Limited (NOMAD & Broker)

Katy Mitchell, Andrew de Andrade

Tel: +44 (0)207 220 1666

BlytheRay (PR)

Tim Blythe, Megan Ray

Tel: +44 (0)20 7138 3224

Project Summary

The Pakrut Gold Project, of which CNG has 100 per cent ownership, is situated in Tajikistan approximately 120km northeast of the capital city Dushanbe. Pakrut is located within the Tien Shan gold belt, which extends from Uzbekistan into Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Western China, and which hosts a number of multi-million ounce gold deposits.

CNG entered steady state production from January 2019.

About Tajikistan

Tajikistan is a secular republic located in Central Asia. The country is a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Tajikistan hosts numerous operating precious metal mines as well as the largest aluminum smelter in Central Asia. CNG's management team has extensive experience in the mining industry in Tajikistan.

CEO’s Statement

As CEO of the board, it gives me great pleasure to present the CEO’s statement of the Interim Results for the Six-Month Period Ended 30 June 2022. Despite the global pandemic, Pakrut took pandemic prevention and protection measures, and continued producing during the first half of the year, making the group an important gold producer in Tajikistan.

From January to June 2022, a total of 302,590 tons of ore was extracted from the Pakrut gold mine. During that same six month period:

  • 274,453 tons of ore was processed;
  • the average grade of the raw ore was 2.58 g/t;
  • the recovery rate of processing was 92.08%;
  • 9,288.31 tons of concentrate was produced from the processing plant; and
  • 9,104.48 tons of concentrate was treated in the smelter (the comprehensive recovery rate of smelting was 92.58%) and 16,330 oz. gold ingots were poured.

From January to June 2022, the Group sold 16,484 oz. (30 June 2021:17,288 oz.) of gold ingots, achieving sales revenue of US$30.71million (unaudited) (30 June 2021:$30.87million), with an average sales price of US$1,863.02 / oz.(30 June 2021:$1,785.62 / oz.)

Financial Results

The Company continued its production and operation work during the first six months of 2022. Administration expenditure was US$10,032,340 (30 June 2021: US$9,055,372). The largest increases are bank fees and tax being mainly due to the increase of interest expense and the increase of the Tajikistan imposed Resource Tax due to the increase of ore grade from 91.01% to 92.08%. The operating profit for the period under review was US$4,910,000 (30 June 2021: US$4,848,000) and the loss before tax from the period was US$946,000 (30 June 2021: US$644,000). Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the period amounted to US$11,791,206 (30 June 2021: US$2,140,259). As at 30 June 2022, the Group had net liabilities of $31,304,559 (30 June 2021: net liabilities $21,518,316).

Given the limited production and cash balances the Group continues to be reliant on support from its major shareholder, CNMC, and its associates. In January 2022, the Group executed a loan agreement with CNMC Trade Company Limited (“CNMC Trade”) for a loan of up to USD $34.55 million (the“CNMC Loan”). As announced in January 2022, this CNMC Loan has been used to repay the existing China CITIC Bank Corporation Limited (“CITIC”) bank facilities of USD $34.55m (being USD20m advanced in January 2021 (“First Loan”) and USD14.55m advanced in March 2021 (“Second Loan”).

In addition, on 24 January 2022, the Group executed a foreign currency working capital loan agreement with China CITIC Bank Corporation Limited (Zhuhai Branch) (“CITIC”) for a loan facility of up to US$20 million (the “new CITIC Loan”), with an annual interest at 3.00% over 6 month LIBOR, which was used to repay US$20m of the CNMC Loan.

The Company currently has total debt facilities (including banking facilities), before interest, of c.US$319 million.

Additional Tajik Tax

During August 2022, the Tajik Revenue Authority conducted a routine tax inspection and concluded that the Tajik subsidiary (Pakrut LLC) had generated a taxable profit of USD $4 million for the financial year ended 31 December 2021 (this was higher than the taxable profit originally recognized by the Company for its subsidiary). Therefore, pursuant to Tajik tax regulations, an associated tax charge of approximately 12% of the total net profit was due. This was USD$500,000, which had not been previously provided for by the Company. This has been provided for in these interim financial statements.

Outlook

The Company remains confident in its ability to achieve the internal production target of 700,000 tons of ore set at the beginning of this year. This is considered an achievable target.

The Company continues to seek to improve its production capacity through technological innovation. Whilst improving production, the Company is also focusing on perfecting and improving the smelting process by reducing production costs, increasing recovery rates and improving competitiveness.

Whilst the Company has taken big strides in the production and operation of the Pakrut gold mine and achieved much, there are still challenges to overcome and targets to meet, such as: further high ore grade, improvement of internal controls and improved warehouse management. And due to the insufficient capacity of the flotation tailings pond, compared with the same period in 2021, the progress of production tasks lags behind to a certain extent. In the second half of the year, the production and engineering construction organization are under great pressure and the task is heavy, all of which we will look to address in the coming months.

Uncertainty created by the COVID-19 pandemic with regards to future production and operations still exists in Tajikistan, and the long term effects are difficult to predict and estimate but there does appear to be indications that the global community is bringing the situation under control, and the epidemic situation in Tajik is stabilizing. The Company will continue to monitor the situation, conduct regular nucleic acid inspection for all staff to ensure their health and make every effort to meet pandemic prevention and control requirements, as well as stabilizing the production and operation of Pakrut gold mine.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our employees, management and advisers for their continued hard work in 2022. I would also like to extend my thanks to all our stakeholders for their continued backing over the years. I very much look forward to updating our shareholders further on the mine developments, production levels, new strategy and direction.

Zhang Hui

CEO

29 September 2022

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME

FOR THE SIX MONTHS ENDED 30 JUNE 2022

 

 

 

Unaudited

Unaudited

Audited

Six months ended 30 June 2022

Six months

ended 30 June

2021

Year ended 31 December

2021

 

Note

US$’000

US$’000

US$’000

 

 

 

 

 

Revenue

 

30,710

30,865

71,992

Cost of sales

 

(15,469)

(14,595)

(37,256)

Gross profit

 

15,241

16,270

34,736

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other Operating income

 

8

-

-

Administrative and other expenses

 

(10,032)

(9,055)

(19,879)

Loss on foreign exchange

 

(280)

(143)

(1,855)

Other operating expenses

 

(27)

(2,224)

(2,416)

 

 

 

 

 

Operating profit

 

4,910

4,848

10,585

Interest income

 

-

6

6

Finance costs

 

(5,856)

(5,498)

(10,826)

 

 

 

 

 

Loss before Tax

 

(946)

(644)

(235)

Income tax

 

(3,971)

(731)

(6,012)

Loss for the period attributable to owners

 

(4,917)

(1,375)

(6,247)

of the Company

 

 

 

 

Other comprehensive income

 

-

-

-

Total comprehensive income for the period attributable to owners of the Company

 

(4,917)

(1,375)

(6,247)

 

 

 

 

 

Earnings per Share

 

 

 

 

Basic and diluted (cents)

3

(1.29)

(0.35)

(1.63)

All of the activities of the Group are classified as continuing.

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION

AS AT 30 JUNE 2022

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unaudited

Unaudited

Audited

30 June 2022US$’000

30 June 2021 US$’000

31 December 2021US$’000

Non-Current Assets

 

 

 

 

Property, plant and equipment

4

359,111

368,036

364,337

Total Non-Current Assets

 

359,111

368,036

364,337

 

 

 

 

 

Current Assets

 

 

 

 

Inventories

 

18,991

18,238

17,334

Trade and other receivables

 

1,484

13,682

4,202

Cash and cash equivalents

 

11,791

2,140

7,472


Total Current Assets

 


32,266


34,060

29,008

 

 

 

 

 

Non-Current Liabilities

 

 

 

 

Borrowings

5

(65,000)

(324,846)

(65,000)

Provisions for other liabilities and charges

(1,084)

(995)

(1,084)

Total Non-Current Liabilities

 

(66,084)

(325,841)

(66,084)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Current Liabilities

 

 

 

 

Borrowings

5

(307,739)

(34,550)

(303,953)

Trade and other payables

 

(48,859)

(63,224)

(49,696)

Total Current Liabilities

 

(356,598)

(97,774)

(353,649)

Total Liabilities

 

(422,682)

(423,615)

(324,841)

Net Liabilities

 

(31,305)

(21,518)

(26,388)

 

 

 

 

 

Capital And Reserves

 

 

 

 

Share Capital

 

38

38

38

Share premium

 

65,901

65,901

65,901

Other reserves

 

10,175

10,175

10,175

Retained earnings

 

(107,419)

(97,632)

(102,502)

Total Equity

 

(31,305)

(21,518)

(26,388)

 

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS

FOR THE SIX MONTHS ENDED 30 JUNE 2022

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unaudited

Unaudited

Audited

Six months ended 30 June 2022

US$’000

Six months ended 30 June 2021

US$’000

Year ended31

Dec 2021

US$’000

Cash flows from Operating Activities

 

 

 

Loss before income tax

(946)

(646)

(235)

Adjustments for:

 

 

 

Finance income

-

4

(6)

Finance cost

5,856

5,498

10,826

Depreciation

6,215

5,617

7,972

Foreign exchange

280

-

1,853

Impairment

-

-

-

Change in working capital:

 

 

 

Inventory

(1,657)

2,327

(1,423)

Trade and other receivables

592

1,431

(1,869)

Trade and other payables

(6,738)

(7,055)

3,222

Other current assets

3,312

(12)

(549)

Other current liabilities

1,353

-

(5,890)

Tax paid

 

 

 

Net cash flows from Operating Activities

8,267

7,164

13,904

 

 

 

 

Cash flows from Investing Activities

 

 

 

Purchase of property, plant and equipment

(1,336)

(421)

(994)

Payments for mining rights and construction in progress

-

-

-

Disposal of PPE

Interest received

-

-

-

4

-

6

 

 

 

 

Net cash used in Investing Activities

(1,336)

(417)

(989)

 

 

 

 

Cash flows from Financing Activities

 

 

 

Proceeds from borrowings

54,550

99,550

99,550

Repayment of borrowings

(56,538)

(130,095)

(128,806)

Interest paid

(624)

(1,258)

(3,384)

 

 

 

 

Net Cash (used in)/from Financing Activities

(2,612)

(31,803)

(32,640)

 

 

 

 

Net (Decrease)/Increase in Cash and Cash

(4,319)

(25,056)

(19,724)

Equivalents

 

 

 

Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of the period

 

7,472

 

27,196

 

27,196

Cash and cash equivalents at end of the period

11,791

2,140

7,472

 

 

 

 

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITY

FOR THE SIX MONTHS ENDED 30 JUNE 2022

 

Share

Share

Other

Retained

Total

 

capital

premium

reserve

earnings

equity

 

US$’000

US$'000

US$'000

US$'000

US$'000

 

 

Balance at 1 January 2021

38

65,901

10,175

(96,257)

(20,143)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Loss and total comprehensive income for the period

-

-

-

(1,375)

(1,375)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Balance at 30 June 2021

38

65,901

10,175

(97,632)

(21,518)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Loss and total comprehensive income for

-

-

-

(4,870)

(4,870)

the period

 

 

 

 

 

 

Balance at 31 December 2021 (audited)

38

65,901

10,175

(102,502)

(26,388)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Balance at 1 January 2022

38

65,901

10,175

(102,502)

(26,388)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Loss and total comprehensive income for the period

-

-

-

(4,917)

(4,917)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Balance at 30 June 2022 (unaudited)

38

65,901

10,175

(107,419)

(31,305)

NOTES TO THE INTERIM FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE SIX MONTHS ENDED 30 JUNE 2022

1. Accounting Policies

i) Basis of preparation

China Nonferrous Gold Limited (the "Company") is a company registered in the Cayman Islands. The condensed consolidated interim financial statements of the Company for the six months ended 30 June 2022 comprise the result of the Company and its subsidiaries (together referred to as the "Group") and have been prepared in accordance with the AIM Rules for Companies. As permitted, the Company has chosen not to adopt IAS 34 "Interim Financial Statement" in preparing these interim financial statements.

The consolidated interim financial information for the period 1 January 2022 to 30 June 2022 is unaudited and has not been reviewed in accordance with International Standard on Review Engagements 2410 issued by the Auditing Practices Board. In the opinion of the Directors the condensed interim financial information for the period presents fairly the financial position, and results from operations and cash flows for the period in conformity with the generally accepted accounting principles consistently applied.

The condensed interim financial information incorporates unaudited comparative figures for the interim period 1 January 2021 to 30 June 2021 and extracts from the audited financial statements for the year to 31 December 2021. A copy of the accounts for that year has been delivered to members. The auditor's report on those financial statements was unqualified. The financial information contained in this interim report does not constitute statutory accounts.

The interim report has not been audited or reviewed by the Company's auditor. The key risks and uncertainties and critical accountancy estimates remain unchanged from 31 December 2021 and the accounting policies adopted are consistent with those used in the preparation of its financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2021.

ii) Cyclicality

The interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2022 are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the financial year 2022. The operations of China Nonferrous Gold Limited may be subject to seasonal variations depending on the severity of snowfall levels at the mine site. The superposition of external unstable factors will affect the increasing operating pressure in the second half of the year. All units and departments of the company must have a clear understanding, take effective measures, make efforts from the aspects of safety and environmental protection, production organization, cost reduction and efficiency improvement, and strive to improve the basic management level to ensure the smooth operation of the safety and environmental protection situation and the smooth completion of the annual production and operation tasks.

2. Going Concern

The Interim Financial Statements have been prepared assuming the Company will continue as a going concern. Under the going concern assumption, an entity is ordinarily viewed as continuing in business for the foreseeable future with neither the intention nor the necessity of liquidation, ceasing trading or seeking protection from creditors pursuant to laws and regulations.

In assessing whether the going concern assumption is appropriate, the Directors take into account all available information for the foreseeable future, in particular for the twelve months from the date of approval of the Interim Financial Statements. This information includes:

  • Management prepared cash flow projections;
  • Estimations as to when full production will commence and first revenues will be generated and associated cash flows will occur;
  • The ability to complete the mine site work within the stated time frame and budget;
  • Sources of funding from external sources;
  • Settle financial obligations as they fall due;
  • The continued financial support of the considered controlling party; and
  • The ability of management to renegotiate current financing arrangements as was achieved in June 2021 in respect of the loan with China Nonferrous Metals International Mining Co. Ltd.

As at the date of approval of these interim statements, and based upon consideration of the above, the Directors are satisfied that the Group has sufficient cash and loan facilities to finance the Group’s operating expenses and any further development and construction of the Pakrut Gold Project that is required. The Directors have a reasonable expectation that the Group has adequate resources to continue in operational existence and thus they continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the interim results.

3. Earnings per Share

 

June 2022

June 2021

December 2021

Basic and diluted earnings per share(cents)

(1.29)

 

(0.35)

 

(1.63)

The basic earnings per share is calculated by dividing the loss attributable to equity holders after tax of US$4,917,101 (30 June 2021: US$1,375,921) by the weighted average number of shares in issue and carrying the right to receive dividend. For all the periods disclosed up to 2022, the total number of shares remains unchanged being 382,392,292 shares.

4. Property, Plant and Equipment

 

Land

US$000

Office furniture and equipment

US$000

Motor

vehicles

US$000

Plant and

machinery

US$000

 

 

Producing

Mines

US$000

Assets under construction

US$000

Total

US$000

Cost

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At 1 January 2021

33

693

8,698

23,277

378,425

-

411,125

Additions

-

-

190

805

-

-

994

Disposals

-

(90)

(3,465)

(2,639)

-

-

(6,193)

Settlement of historical liabilities

 

-

-

-

4,307

-

4,307

At 31 December 2021

33

602

5,423

21,443

382,732

-

410,233

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Additions

-

13

-

486

-

492

991

Transfers

-

-

-

-

-

 

-

Disposals

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

 

 

 

 

 

 

-

 

At 30 June 2022

33

615

5,423

21,929

382,732

492

411,224

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Accumulated Depreciation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At 1 January 2021

-

354

6,641

14,056

16,873

-

37,924

Charge for the period

-

-

319

2,521

9,026

-

11,866

Disposals

-

(90)

(2,112)

(1,690)

-

-

(3,892)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At 31 December 2021

-

264

4,847

14,888

25,899

-

45,898

Charge for the period

 

15

78

1,167

4,955

-

6,215

Disposals

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At 30 June 2022

-

279

4,926

16,054

30,854

-

52,113

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net Book Value

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At 30 June 2022

32

336

497

5,876

351,878

492

359,111

At 31 December 2021

32

341

575

6,555

356,833

-

364,377

Depreciation for producing mines is calculated based on the unit of production method amounting to $4,955,000 of depreciation charge for the 6 month period.

5. Borrowings

 

June 2022

June 2021

December 2021

 

US$000

US$000

US$000

 

 

 

 

Bank borrowings

85,000

99,550

99,550

Other loans

287,740

259,846

269,403

Less: unamortised borrowing costs

-

-

-

Total

372,740

359,396

368,953

 

 

 

 

Non-current portion

65,000

324,846

65,000

 

 

 

 

Current portion

307,740

34,550

303,953

The fair value of borrowings equals their carrying amounts, as the impact of discounting is not significant.

In January 2022 the Group executed a loan agreement with CNMC Trade Company Limited (“CNMC Trade”) for a loan of up to USD $34.55 million (the “CNMC Loan”). This CNMC Loan has been used to repay the existing China CITIC Bank Corporation Limited (“CITIC”) bank facilities of USD $34.55m (being USD20m advanced in January 2021 (“First Loan”) and USD14.55m advanced in March 2021 (“Second Loan”).

In January 2022, the Group executed a foreign currency working capital loan agreement with China CITIC Bank Corporation Limited (Zhuhai Branch) (“CITIC”) for a loan facility of up to US$20 million (the “new CITIC Loan”), which was used to repay US$20m of the CNMC Loan.

Of the total borrowings $372,740,000 (including finance costs), $85,000,000 were provided by banks (including $65,000,000 by Bank of Shanghai and $20,000,000 by China CITIC Bank), and the rest were provided by related parties.

Category Code: IR
Sequence Number: 997227
Time of Receipt (offset from UTC): 20220930T105254+0100

Contacts

China Nonferrous Gold Limited

Contacts

China Nonferrous Gold Limited