JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Aim- and JSE-listed Braemore Resources has reported an after tax loss of £4,4-million for the six months ended December 2008, compared with a loss of £1-million loss a year earlier.

Headline loss a share widened to 0,56p a share from the 0,15p loss over the corresponding period in 2007.

CEO and MD Leon Coetzer stated on Tuesday that about 50% of the after-tax loss could be attributed to the recent settlement of a single old-order contract that could have exposed Braemore to market volatility around platinum group metal (PGM) prices and unfavourable processing terms.

This contract had been concluded and replaced by new offtake agreements with platinum producers Anglo Platinum and Northam Platinum. Coetzer added that the new contracts in place were cash positive, with significantly reduced price exposure.

During the period under review, the company also decommissioned the 1,5 MW smelter for the subsequent construction and commissioning of the larger 3,2 MW ConRoast smelter expansion, as part of the commercialisation of the technology.

During this period, there was reduced production as the previous smelter was taken offline to replace it with the new smelter. Consequently, no production resulted in September 2008 and extraordinary unit costs were incurred during this phase.

Braemore Nickel continued to engineer the design of a cost effective processing solution for the Leinster tailings project. The quality of this work assisted in strengthening the relationship between diversified giant BHP Billiton and Braemore.

The company stated that it had continued to accelerate towards the completion of its research and development phase for both its nickel and platinum projects. It attained this critical goal for the platinum division in March 2009 with the completion of its refining strategy, allowing it to now focus on the full commercialisation of the smelting and refining process.

In its interim results, the company stated that despite the challenging world it found itself operating in, Braemore was committed to the continued implementation of its mine-to-metals strategy. “We are confident that the coming months will realise benefits of the hard work and foundations laid at a corporate level through black economic empowerment, operational progress and commercial transactions.”