LEADING EDGE MATERIALS REPORTS FISCAL 2023 RESULTS
Highlights During and After Fiscal 2023
During the fiscal year ended
- On
January 23, 2023 , the Company announced that it is ahead of schedule in exploration of its exclusive and 100% owned Bihor Sud license in theApuseni Mountains of central-westernRomania . Furthermore, extensive Nickel and Cobalt mineralisation has been visually identified over 100 m in the first of the recently opened historic galleries on the property. - On
March 1, 2023 , the Company announced it identified extensive Co-Ni-mineralization 50 metres above
the previously reported Gallery 7 at its Bihor Sud project in
- On
April 26, 2023 , the Company granted stock options to directors, officers and consultants of the Company to purchase an aggregate of 4,700,000 common shares of the Company, at exercise price ofC$0.195 per Optioned Share, expiring on the date that is 5 years from the date of grant for directors and officers and three years from the date of grant for consultants. The Options will vest 33% on the date of the grant, 33% one year after the date of grant and 34% two years after the date of grant. The Options were issued pursuant to the terms of the Company’s Option Plan. - On
June 1, 2023 , the Company announced in-situ assay results at over 30% Nickel and 4.7% Cobal at Bihor Sud. Additionally, surface trench assay results indicate a zone of Pb-Zn-Ag mineralisation. - On
August 23, 2023 , the Company completed a private placement financing of 21,739,130 units at a price of$0.115 per unit for gross proceeds of$2,500,000 . Each unit consisted of one common share and one common share purchase warrant. Each warrant is exercisable by the holder to acquire one additional common share at an exercise price of$0.225 per share, expiringAugust 23, 2027 . The Company paid finders’ fees of$20,930 cash and issued 7,000 finder’s warrants. - On
October 25, 2023 , the company announced receiving high grade Cobalt-Nickel results from systematic gallery chip sampling at itsBihor Sud Project ,Romania . Results confirm in-situ high grade Co-Ni-Au and Cu-Zn-Pb-Ag mineralization within +150 m and 350 m gallery segments in G7 and G4 respectively. G7 highlights include 3.5% Cobalt , 29.7% Nickel and 15.65 g/t Au. G4 highlights include 11.7% Copper, 11.7% Lead and 18.7% Zinc.
After the fiscal year ended
- On
December 14, 2023 , the company announced it has received further positive assay results for Co-Ni-Au from Gallery 7. This second batch of 104 samples prolongate the zone of Co-Ni-Au-occurrences by about 250 m to a total length of roughly 400 m NNW-SSE, and constitute the central-southern part of G7 at the Bihor Sud project inRomania . Highlights include 6.7% Co, 13.0% Ni, 7.5 g/t Au.
Results of Operations
Three Months Ended
During the three months ended
Year Ended
During the year ended
compared to a net loss of
Selected Financial Data
The following selected financial information is derived from the unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements of the Company prepared in accordance with IFRS.
Fiscal 2023 | Fiscal 2022 | |||||||
Three Months Ended | 2023 $ | 2023 $ | 2023 $ | 2023 $ | 2022 (Restated) $ | 2022 (Restated) $ | 2022 (Restated) $ | 2022 (Restated) $ |
Operations | ||||||||
Expenses | (582,552) | (313,950) | (1,048,182) | (489,432) | (860,062) | (685,569) | (700,413) | (459,407) |
Other items | 195,209 | (8,442) | (187,421) | (147,703) | 308,721 | (190,659) | (356,226) | (219,942) |
Comprehensive profit/(loss) | (387,343) | (322,392) | (1,235,603) | (637,135) | (551,341) | (876,228) | (1,056,639) | (679,349) |
Basic Profit/(loss) per share | (0.00) | (0.00) | (0.01) | (0.00) | (0.00) | (0.00) | (0.01) | (0.01) |
Diluted profit/(loss) per share | (0.00) | (0.00) | (0.01) | (0.00) | (0.00) | (0.00) | (0.01) | (0.01) |
Financial Position | ||||||||
Working capital | 2,713,098 | 848,952 | 1,344,044 | 2,124,643 | 1,365,657 | 1,686,095 | 2,396,484 | 3,236,870 |
Total assets | 25,387,449 | 23,584,544 | 24,181,654 | 24,845,430 | 23,832,418 | 24,827,062 | 25,000,847 | 30,597,341 |
Total non-current liabilities | (4,670,790) | (5,109,575) | (5,404,808) | (5,556,603) | (5,292,618) | (6,159,922) | (6,045,964) | (10,812,012) |
Financial Condition/Capital Resources
During the year ended
Outlook
The past twelve months have been characterized by two major trends which directly impact our business. Firstly, the increasing adoption and sales volumes of EV’s. And secondly, the more urgently accommodating legislative environment in the EU to support local extractive industries.
The latter actually taking shape as industrial policy, hardly seen in the western world since WW2. We have in previous quarterly notes followed how this has developed via the Critical Raw Materials Act and the Net-Zero Industry Act, and keep getting continuously encouraged by speed and magnitude of actions from
We remain convinced that we are in the right place with the right assets to play our part in combatting the threat of a European de-industrialization.
In terms of our assets and the underlying materials needed for the green transition, natural graphite remains a particularly interesting commodity according to many analysts2. This is because graphite is a core component in almost all lithium-ion chemistries, with extreme dependance on Asian supply chains and importance to help decarbonize battery anodes. Many analysts predict a six- to sevenfold increase in graphite demand by 20303, amongst the most severe of any commodity.
We maintain our built and permitted Woxna graphite mine and plant on care and maintenance, while monitoring market signals to consider a restart of graphite concentrate production, as the first step to developing a downstream anode business. Despite the looming demand-supply deficit flake graphite prices have remained weak to date this year.4 Increased capacity in Chinese synthetic graphite production has been an important factor5. It is estimated that
Of course, this offers
Norra Kärr
At our Norra Kärr development project, we have during the past year been progressing work with a Natura 2000 permit application. To our benefit, the Swedish government signal legislative changes which positively impact us, as we believe that the requirement for a Natura 2000 permit will be shifted further along the process. To that end we are pleased to now proceed with full focus on our mining lease application. The Natura 2000 permit being deferred, to be resumed later on when we apply for the environmental permit without losing benefit of work having been done to date.
This is a direct consequence of the government initiative to ensure more pragmatic permitting process.
As this is done based on the new 2021 design of this project, we are benefitting from authorities and other stakeholders evaluating the merits of the project based on recent plans that substantially reduce the potential for environmental risk. In parallel, we have started working towards a new mining lease application as well as evaluating the most appropriate next stages of feasibility development.
In the meantime, we are pleased to follow beneficial developments in the rare earth and permanent magnet space. Prices for the magnet metals have increased8 because of supply concerns in
Last year, the Canadian company Neo Performance Materials have broken ground on building a rare earth permanent magnet factory in
Bihor Sud Nickel-Cobalt Exploration Project
Since having obtained permission to enter our underground galleries last year, this project has been advancing rapidly. As communicated, in situ samples from G7 gallery walls have assayed up to 30% Ni and 4.7% Co while surface trench assay results indicate a zone of Pb-Zn-Ag mineralization.
In October we reported receiving high grade Cobalt-Nickel results from systematic gallery chip sampling. Results confirm in-situ high grade Co-Ni-Au and Cu-Zn-Pb-Ag mineralization within +150 m and 350 m gallery segments in G7 and G4 respectively. G7 highlights include 3.5% Cobalt , 29.7% Nickel and 15.65 g/t Au. G4 highlights include 11.7% Copper, 11.7% Lead and 18.7% Zinc.
In December we announced further positive assay results for Co-Ni-Au from Gallery 7. This second batch of 104 samples prolongate the zone of Co-Ni-Au-occurrences by about 250 m to a total length of roughly 400 m NNW-SSE, and constitute the central-southern part of G7 at the Bihor Sud project in
Further extensive Co-Ni mineralization has been identified 50 m above G7 in a cross cut coming from the higher level gallery G4. These results confirm our belief that this is a high prospective exploration project with potential for both scale and high-grade mineralization.
We are working towards doing a surface drill program on 50-100 m deep geophysical anomalies and to explore the depth extent of G7 Co-Ni-mineralization, as well as an underground drill program from inside G4 and G7.
Additionally, we have recently entered our next target, Gallery 2, which we have started mapping and for which we have high expectations.
Financial Information
The report for three months ending
On behalf of the Board of Directors,
For further information, please contact the Company at:
info@leadingedgematerials.com
www.leadingedgematerials.com
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Additional Information
The Company’s audited consolidated financial statements for the year ended
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Reader Advisory
Certain information in this news release may constitute forward-looking statements or forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws (collectively, “Forward-Looking Statements”). All statements, other than statements of historical fact, addressing activities, events or developments that the Company believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future are Forward-Looking Statements. Forward-Looking Statements are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as “seek,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “plan,” “estimate,” “expect,” and “intend” and statements that an event or result “may,” “will,” “can,” “should,” “could,” or “might” occur or be achieved and other similar expressions. Forward-Looking Statements are based upon the opinions and expectations of the Company based on information currently available to the Company. Forward-Looking Statements are subject to a number of factors, risks and uncertainties that may cause the actual results of the Company to differ materially from those discussed in the Forward-Looking Statements including, among other things, the Company has yet to generate a profit from its activities; there can be no guarantee that the estimates of quantities or qualities of minerals disclosed in the Company’s public record will be economically recoverable; uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing needed in the future; competition with other companies within the mining industry; the success of the Company is largely dependent upon the performance of its directors and officers and the Company’s ability to attract and train key personnel; changes in world metal markets and equity markets beyond the Company’s control; the possibility of write-downs and impairments; the risks associated with uninsurable risks arising during the course of exploration; development and production; the risks associated with changes in the mining regulatory regime governing the Company; the risks associated with tenure to the Norra Karr property; the risks associated with the various environmental regulations the Company is subject to; rehabilitation and restitution costs; the Woxna project has never defined a mineral reserve. The Woxna project has never defined a mineral reserve. On
On
1 https://www.euractiv.com/section/energy-environment/news/von-der-leyen-outlines-next-phase-of-european-green-deal-with-heavy industry-focus/
2 https://www.fastmarkets.com/insights/graphite-market-outlook-five-key-factors-to-watch
3 https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2023/09/11/how-to-avoid-a-green-metals-crunch
4 https://source.benchmarkminerals.com/article/why-battery-material-prices-slumped-under-pressure-in-the-first-half-of 2023?mc_cid=1c25ba3e5d&mc_eid=33b1527344
5 https://source.benchmarkminerals.com/article/natural-graphite-market-dominated-by-oversupply-2023-in-review?mc_cid=2a16054797&mc_eid=33b1527344
6 https://source.benchmarkminerals.com/article/in-charts-why-decoupling-from-chinas-anode-market-could-be-difficult-for-the-west?mc_cid=b3fbca6cc2&mc_eid=33b1527344
7 https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Supply-Chain/
8 https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/chinese-rare-earth-prices-hit-20-month-high-myanmar-supply-worry-2023-09-07/
9 http://news.chinatungsten.com/en/component/content/article/14-tungsten-news-en/tungsten-product-news/158697-tpn-12740.html
10 https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acs.est.3c01327
11 https://energydigital.com/articles/neo-produces-specialised-magnets-for-clean-energy-tech
12 https://www.fastmarkets.com/insights/rare-earth-magnet-production-outside-asia-gearing-up-2024-preview/
Attachments
- LEM-Financial Results
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Source:
2024 GlobeNewswire, Inc., source