Alba Mineral Resources PLC on Friday said its annual loss widened as administrative expenses increased, alongside an impairment expense, while it expressed confidence in its Welsh gold assets.

The northern Europe-focused mineral explorer said its pretax loss in the financial year that ended November 30 was £2.6 million, widening from £1.8 million a year earlier.

Administrative expenses increased to £1.6 million from £1.1 million, while it recorded a one-off impairment expense of £984,00.

It posted no revenue, unchanged on-year. It posted no ‘other income’ this time round, compared to £23,000 the year earlier.

Alba Mineral Resources said its overall objective is to ‘unearth hidden value from previously drilled or mined projects and to this end we are advancing multiple projects in the UK including the Clogau-St David’s gold mine, the Gwynfynydd gold mine and the Dolgellau gold exploration project’ in Wales.

‘Our share price performance this year has certainly been hit by the ongoing delays in securing the environmental permits we need at Clogau so that we can proceed with our planned work activities at our primary exploration and development target in the Lower Llechfraith workings. We first applied for these permits in early 2021, and so it is inevitable that a delay of now more than two years would cause some disquiet in the market,’ said Executive Chair George Frangeskides.

Looking ahead, Alba Mineral Resources said it continues to be ‘bullish’ about its Welsh gold assets.

‘Although the ongoing hiatus in the planned in-mine work activities at Clogau has been frustrating, we believe that we are finally approaching a conclusion to the current ecological permitting process and that the [habitat regulations assessment], once concluded, can provide a framework for a more streamlined and efficient process for future permitting applications,’ Frangeskides said.

‘At the same time as developing our existing assets and supporting our investee companies, we are also focused on securing one or more additional complementary assets for Alba which will help drive serious value and growth for shareholders into the future.’

Shares in Alba Mineral Resources were up 3.0% to 0.10 pence each in London on Friday morning.

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