|
Panthera Resources PLC on Wednesday reported a widened loss during its most recent financial year, as exploration costs increased amid the firm’s ongoing legal action in India. The London-based gold explorer and mine developer in West Africa and India said its pretax loss widened to $2.4 million during the year that ended March 31, from a $2.1 million loss the year before. This was mostly driven by exploration costs rising 85% to $829,608 from $448,276 a year earlier. Panthera reported no revenue, unchanged on-year. Arbitration income increased to $3.8 million from $2.0 million, though this was largely offset by arbitration expenses reducing to $3.7 million from $1.9 million. Panthera in May filed a claim via its Australian subsidiary seeking $1.58 billion in damages from the Republic of India. Indo Gold Pty Ltd contends that India violated the 1999 agreement between the government of Australia and the government of India on the promotion and protection of investments. The alleged breaches include expropriation of investment rights and failure to provide fair and equitable treatment. The dispute centres on IGPL’s longstanding involvement in the Bhukia gold project in Rajasthan, India. The company first invested in the project around 2004 through a joint venture with Metal Mining Pvt Ltd. Panthera said repeated delays and an eventual policy change in 2021 that revoked preferential rights to mining licences led to a total loss of IGPL’s investment. IGPL said its rights to a prospecting licence were undermined by actions from the government of Rajasthan. Despite submitting an application and conducting exploratory drilling, the licence was never granted. ‘As highlighted in the previous year, our company’s journey has been one of interrupted development, with many lost opportunities over the years that may have resulted in resolution of the Bhukia permitting impasse with the Government of Rajasthan. The continuing legal challenges have frozen the development of what might have emerged as possibly the largest ever open pit gold (and copper) mining and processing operation in India,’ said Chair Michael Higgins on Wednesday. ‘We believe that the actions taken by these governments and the High Court of Rajasthan resulted in an act of expropriation, with the Government of India breaching its obligations to provide the requisite investment protections, including a failure to accord fair and equitable treatment, under the Australia India bilateral investment treaty.’ Higgins remained optimistic ‘to achieve what we hope and expect will be, in time, a positive outcome for the company’, he added. Shares in Panthera Resources were flat at 12.00 pence at London’s market close on Wednesday. The stock has risen 66% over the past year. Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved
|
