Seabed phosphate explorer Chatham Rock Phosphate has posted an unsurprising $741,000 loss for its full financial year, but its "considerable success" in recent months in raising further equity is available to fund development.
Chatham holds a two-year offshore prospecting permit covering 4726sq km over the central Chatham Rise, 450km east of Christchurch, with right of renewal for prospecting or to seek a mining permit. It says it wants to be mining phosphate from the seabed by 2014.
Chatham cancelled an initial public offering (IPO) last year, due to poor market conditions, but it is still considering an international IPO when conditions improve. For the year to the end of March, it posted an increased after-tax loss from $629,000 a year ago to $741,000, largely due to a $130,000 increase in administration costs.
Chatham raised $1.6 million in June last year in the exercise of options and a further $325,000 from a share purchase plan late last year. In February this year a private US equity fund, Subsea, committed to invest $US6 million ($NZ7.92 million) of which $US5.2 million has been distributed. Subsea holds options which could boost its investment, and 19.9% stake, by a further $US9 million.
"We achieved considerable success in raising further equity to finance the work programme and made enormous advances towards our key objective of starting to mine ... in 2014," Chatham said.
Chatham wants to substitute New Zealand's reliance on imported Moroccan phosphate for fertiliser use, with estimates of up to $300 million annual revenue, and the possibility of exporting phosphate.
Chatham, which has already financed several voyages to the Chatham Rise, said earlier this year it expected to spend several million dollars during the next two years.
This would include development of a digital terrain model for mine planning, testing by fertiliser companies and conceptual mine planning.
