Hummingbird Resources PLC said on Monday that its annual loss widened, while revenue and gold production were down following operational difficulties at its Yanfolila mine in Mali.

The London-based gold production, development, and exploration firm’s pretax loss for 2022 widened to $44.3 million from $14.4 million the year before. Revenue was down to $150.5 million from $162.8 million the previous year.

The company attributed this to operational difficulties it faced at its Yanfolila mine in Mali during the first three quarters of the year, with the continual underperformance of its mining contractor’s fleet hindering the ability to follow the scheduled mine plans.

Gold production dropped to 80,653 ounces from 87,558 ounces the prior year, while production costs grew to $126.5 million from $113.6 million.

‘The past year we achieved several key milestones we set ourselves to fulfil for the year, while facing challenges at our Yanfolila mine in Mali, especially the earlier part of 2022,’ said Chief Executive Officer Dan Betts.

‘Commencing construction at our Kouroussa gold mine in Guinea with a target of achieving first gold pour by the end of Q2 2023, to fulfil our strategic objective of becoming a multi-asset, multi-jurisdiction gold producer remains well on target.’

The company’s reserves materially increased to 4.1 million ounces, up from 1.1 million ounces the prior year. This followed extensive drilling campaigns at Yanfolila and Kouroussa in 2021 being converted into reserves, and the completion of a definitive feasibility study in June on Dugbe, Liberia.

The company did not declare a dividend.

Looking forward, the company said it was at a pivotal juncture for exponential growth, with its key aim being improving cash flow and a stronger balance sheet for the group to drive shareholder returns.

Hummingbird Resources shares were down 0.8% at 17.75 pence in London on Tuesday morning.

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