29 Apr Final Results

Kendrick Resources Plc
(“Kendrick” or the “Company”)

Final Results for period to 29 December 2023

Kendrick Resources Plc (LSE: KEN), the mineral exploration and development company building vanadium, nickel and copper battery metal projects in Scandinavia is pleased to announce its full year results for the year ended 29 December 2023.

The Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 29 December 2023 will shortly be available on the Company’s website at https://www.kendrickresources.com. A copy of the Annual Report and Financial Statements will also be uploaded to the National Storage Mechanism where it will be available for viewing at: https://data.fca.org.uk/#/nsm/nationalstoragemechanism.

Please note that page references in the text below refer to the page numbers in the Annual Report and Financial Statements.

This announcement contains information which, prior to its disclosure, was inside information as stipulated under Regulation 11 of the Market Abuse (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019/310 (as amended).

Financial Highlights

·    £1.1m loss before tax (2022: £1.04m)

·    Approximately £200K cash at bank at the period end (2022: £1.818m).

·    The loss per share of 0.45 pence (2022: loss 0.68 pence) has been calculated on the basis of the loss of £1,099,162 (2022: loss £1,043,466) and on 242,565,645 (2022: 153,882,205) ordinary shares, being the weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue during the year ended 29 December 2023.

·    The net asset value as at period end was £4.58m (2022: £5.57m).

CHAIRMAN’S STATEMENT

Dear Shareholder,

The year under review has seen significant progress, with drilling work carried out at our existing major Airijoki and Espedalen projects, and the acquisition of the Mjovattnet and Njuggtraskliden nickel, copper and PGM licences (“Swedish Nickel”).

Results from an extension drill programme at the Airijoki Project in Northern Sweden and the results suggested that we have the potential to at least double the current 44million tonne resource at similar grades. 

During the year, Wardell Armstrong carried out metallurgical test work with the objectives of building on previous work on maintaining concentrate grade, whilst increasing vanadium recovery.  The work was very successful and the results revealed much about the geo-metallurgy of the orebody, which we will incorporate into future mine planning. 

Global production of vanadium is currently just over 100,000 tonnes per year with China and Russia responsible for about 65% and 20% of production respectively. Steelmaking has been responsible for over 90% of vanadium consumption and demand has been strong due to global adoption of higher strength rebar specifications and increasing use of vanadium containing steel by the automotive industry. The use of vanadium in REDOX vanadium storage batteries is increasing with the focus on alternative energy sources.  We have no doubt that power storage will command much more importance as the decade continues.  

We mounted a significant drilling programme in Norway at our Espedalen nickel complex, reporting good intersection of over 1% nickel, which will be described in the operation section.  The nickel complex is showing itself to be highly prospective with at least 10 untested targets.  The prognosis for significant increase in nickel tonnage is very good and we intend to carry out further drilling programmes during Q4 2024.  In reviewing all historical information available on the project, we identified a potentially significant magnetic anomaly, which may represent the high-grade roots to the overall system.

In July we acquired from EMX Royalties the Mjovattnet and Njuggtraskliden nickel, copper and PGM licences (“Swedish Nickel”). A number of boreholes will be reviewed in the operational review, but we are very pleased with this acquisition based on its history and potential.  Between the two projects, we have some 25km potential strike to investigate.  The geological environment of the project is being likened to the Thompson Nickel belt in Manitoba, Canada, which is a major nickel supplier in Canada. The acquisition is made even more interesting by its proximity to battery manufacturing facilities and the eastern coast of mid-Sweden, together with Boliden’s nickel refinery, which is some 100km by sea away.

The initial part of the reporting period was spent in establishing a management team that is able to work within the cost regimes we are accustomed to and, also previous experience of working the Scandinavian geological environment.

Towards the end of the period, it became obvious that a new awareness was emerging in Scandinavia and with high recognition that if the planet is free from pollution, then critical mining has to take place.  Indeed the southern coast of Norway is becoming known as the “Battery Coast” by industry pundits. 

We believe that we have a good portfolio in the much sought after commodities at a time when Scandinavia may well undergo a mining renaissance and are well positioned among our peers.

I look forward to adding more value to our projects during the coming year and give thanks to my fellow board members and management team, who have made an excellent job of placing Kendrick in what might well be a rapidly evolving new Scandinavian mining arena.

Results for the year

The Group reported a loss before taxation for the year of £1,099,162 (2022: £1,043,466) mainly due to administrative costs of £580,287 (2022: £418,294), including professional, consulting and directors’ fees and an impairment of £448,904 (2022: £Nil) against licences we relinquished to focus on our Airijoki, Espedalen and Swedish Nickel projects.  In 2022 listing related costs were £606,575. Net assets at 29 December 2023 amounted to £4,577,999 (2022: £5,567,673) including exploration and evaluation assets of £4,756,879 (2022: £3,932,973) and cash of £199,992 (2022: £1,817,706).

AGM and Resolutions

The resolutions for the forthcoming Annual General Meeting will be contained in a separate Notice which will be made available to shareholders and on the website www.kendrickresources.com. The Directors will recommend shareholders to vote in favour of all the resolutions and a form of proxy will be dispatched to all shareholders for this purpose.

Colin Bird

Chairman

29 April 2024

The full Kendrick Resources PLC Final Results for the period to 29 December 2023 can be found in our Financial Reports Section.