“Great Western [LON:GWMO] has a lot of work ongoing relative to its small size and, although progress may sometimes seem slow with frustrating delays, in the general life cycle of mining operations a great deal has been achieved since the current management took over in late 2019,” said Brian Hall, chairman of Great Western Mining Corporation on the release of the Dublin-listed miner’s results to end-December today (9th May).
As previously reported Great Western has had a busy year exploring multiple sites for copper – which could become the main act for the mining company, which to date has been looking at historical gold and silver deposits – as its tenements have significant potential copper deposits, as well as progressing its mill.
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Exploration and construction
However, Great Western still isn’t in revenue-generating territory, as most of its work has been exploration and the construction of the mill, which have both been draws on the company’s financial reserves. The mining company has been firming-up its gold deposits, which as previously reported are historical mineworks and tailings from the Nevada 1959 gold (and silver) rush.
To wit, Great Western Mining made a loss of EUR952,654 (GBP819,639), up 20.2% on 2022, with net assets up marginally to EUR8.8m and cash marginally down to EUR100,000. However, since this time last year Great Western has completed the construction of its mill, although the miner is still waiting on the regulator to grant an environmental permit, and it has consolidated its exploration on the potential copper prospects in the Huntoon Valley, uncovering a 200Ha area of contiguous copper samples. The Dublin-based exploration company also firmed-up its gold exploitation work.
Last month Great Western exercised the option to acquire the whole of the Olympic Gold Project from Nevada Select Royalty, a subsidiary of Gold Royalty Corporation for USD150,000 (GBP120,256) and a 3% net smelter royalty on 19 of the claims in the tenement and a 1.75% on the remaining 41 claims. The acquisition included the abandoned OMCO mine.
The AIM-listed company continues to have its backers, raising GBP1.3m in new capital through a placement in the last financial year, and followed this up with a further GBP700,500 fund raise, which should see the company through to the point when it is starting to realise revenues from its mill.
Great Western Mining making great strides
Hall said: “Progress during the report year and subsequent months has been very encouraging and we have made great strides in proving up the potential of our claims […] our upcoming transition into a producing company, once all permits are in place, will be an important milestone for the company. We have a busy summer ahead and look forward to providing updates on further developments as we target a number of value inflection points.”
The Great Western Mining share price opened trading at 0.0390p, and is down 64% over one-year, with its shares ranging between 0.04p and 0.11p over a 52-week period giving the company a market capitalisation of GBP2.8m.
It has been a long road for Great Western, but eventually the blocks are starting the fall into place and 2024 could well be the year the company’s turnaround moves into revenue-generating territory.
