Botswana Diamonds : Unaudited Interim Statement and Financial Results

RNS Number : 7058T Botswana Diamonds PLC 29 March 2021

29th March 2021

Botswana Diamonds PLC ("Botswana Diamonds" or the "the Company")

Unaudited Interim Statement and Financial Results for the Six Months Ended 31 December 2020

Botswana Diamonds (AIM: BOD) is pleased to announce its unaudited interim results for the six months ended31 December 2020 ("Period") during which time the Company has made significant progress on its diamond development projects in both Botswana and South Africa.

Highlights

• · A new Diamond bearing kimberlite discovered at Thorny River. A three-dimensional model of the newly discovered River Kimberlite pipe on the Thorny River property in South Africa was published in December following a successful reverse circulation drilling campaign. A sample of these drill chips produced eleven diamonds and abundant kimberlitic indicators including G10 and eclogitic garnets.

• · Following the Period end, the company entered into a cooperation agreement to fund exploration of its prospecting licence assets in Botswana with Diamexstrat Botswana Pty Ltd ("DESB"), which in turn has an alliance agreement with Burgundy Diamond Mines Limited ("Burgundy" ASX: BDM).

• · Progress has been made on the Maibwe joint venture with core being further sampled for fresh microdiamond work.

Botswana

• · Following the Period end, the company entered into a cooperation agreement to fund exploration of its prospecting licence assets in Botswana with Diamexstrat Botswana Pty Ltd ("DESB"), which in turn has an alliance agreement with Burgundy Diamond Mines Limited ("Burgundy" ASX: BDM).

• · BOD's prospecting assets comprise the recently acquired Sekaka Diamonds Exploration Pty Ltd ('Sekaka') database and Prospecting Licenses, as well as the Prospecting Licences held by BOD's subsidiary, Sunland Minerals Pty Ltd ("Sunland Minerals"). Highlights of this agreement include:

  • o DESB (and its partner, Burgundy) can earn up to a 70% interest in BOD's Botswana Sunland Minerals and Sekaka's

    Prospecting Licences.

  • o BOD can earn a 15% interest in Prospecting Licences held by DESB (and partners) on the firstUS$1.5m spent on exploration by DESB where BOD's database assists in the discovery of a primary kimberlite.

  • o On 3rd party Prospecting Licences where targets are identified in BOD's database, a joint earn-in will be negotiated at the time.

  • o For new Botswana Prospecting Licences, DESB (and its partner, Burgundy) can earn up to 70%.

  • o The KX36 diamond discovery is not part of the agreement and remains 100% BOD owned.

• · Progress has been made on the Maibwe joint venture with core being further sampled for fresh microdiamond work being undertaken in Canada. The results of this microdiamond work will enable the liquidator to make a decision on the value of the joint venture so it can progress.

South Africa

• · A three-dimensional model of the newly discovered kimberlite pipe on Thorny River, known as the River Kimberlite was published in December following a high resolution ground gravity survey and a reverse circulation drilling campaign. The best fit model showed an East - West trending body gently dipping to the east with a surface expression of 80 x 40m.

• · Samples from this drilling campaign were taken at one metre intervals and twenty of these totalling about 500kg were selected and submitted to an independent processing facility for assessment through screening, dense media separation and hand sorting.

• · Following the Period end, the Company announced that 11 diamonds, 172 G10 pyrope garnets, 623 G9 pyrope garnets, 555 eclogitic garnets, 438 chromites and 268 chromium diopsides (clinopyroxene) were recovered at sizes between - 1.0+0.3mm. Recoveries of a specific mineral species were capped at 20 grains and thus this picture is a snapshot of the overall sample indicator content.

• · Importantly, all the samples contained abundant kimberlitic indicators. The diamonds are all notably of good colour and clarity and are of commercial quality and in high demand by the market.

• · The next step is a detailed core drilling programme which is planned for the dry season.

Corporate

In January 2021 the company arranged a placing with existing and new investors to raise £363,000 via the issue of 60,500,000 new ordinary shares at a placing price of 0.6p per placing share.Each placing share had one warrant attached with the right to subscribe for one new ordinary share at 0.6p per new ordinary share for a period of two years from 22 January 2021.

John Teeling

Chairman

29th March 2021

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This release has been approved by James Campbell, Managing Director of Botswana Diamonds plc, a qualified geologist (Pr.Sci.Nat), a Fellow of the Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, a Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Metals and Mining (UK) and with over 34-years' experience in the diamond sector.

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) 596/2014. The person who arranged for the release of this announcement on behalf of the Company was James Campbell, Director

A copy of this announcement is available on the Company's website, atwww.botswanadiamonds.co.uk

ENDS

Enquiries:
Botswana Diamonds PLC
John Teeling, Chairman	[phone]
James Campbell, Managing Director	[phone]
Jim Finn, Director	[phone]
Beaumont Cornish - Nominated Adviser
Michael Cornish	[phone]
Roland Cornish
Beaumont Cornish Limited - Broker	[phone]
Roland Cornish
Felicity Geidt
First Equity Limited - Joint Broker	[phone]
Jason Robertson
Blytheweigh - PR	[phone]
Megan Ray	[phone]
Rachael Brooks	[phone]
Said Izagaren	[phone]
Naomi Holmes
[phone]
Teneo
Luke Hogg	[phone]
Alan Tyrrell	[phone]
Ross Murphy	[phone]
www.botswanadiamonds.co.uk

Botswana Diamonds plc Financial Information (Unaudited)

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME

Six Months	Year
Ended	Ended	Ended
31 Dec 20	31 Dec 19	30 Jun 20
unaudited	unaudited	audited
£'000	£'000	£'000
Administrative expenses	( 195 )	( 194 )	( 357 )
Impairment of exploration and evaluation assets	-	-	( 34 )
OPERATING
LOSS	( 195 )	( 194 )	( 391 )
LOSS BEFORE
TAXATION	( 195 )	( 194 )	( 391 )
Income tax
expense	-	-	-
LOSS AFTER TAXATION	( 195 )	( 194 )	( 391 )
Exchange difference on translation of foreign operations	48	-	( 104 )
TOTAL COMPREHENSIVE INCOME FOR THE PERIOD	( 147 )	( 194 )	( 495 )
LOSS PER SHARE - basic and diluted	(0.03p)	(0.03p)	(0.06p)
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Six Months

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET

ASSETS: NON-CURRENT ASSETS Intangible assets

CURRENT ASSETS

Trade and other receivablesCash and cash equivalents

TOTAL ASSETSLIABILITIES: CURRENT LIABILITIES

Trade and other payables TOTAL

LIABILITIES

NET ASSETSEQUITY

Share capital - deferred shares

Share capital - ordinary shares

Share premium

Share based payments reserve

Retained Deficit Translation Reserve Other reserves TOTAL EQUITY

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITY

31 Dec 20 unaudited

31 Dec 19 unaudited

30 Jun 20 audited

£'000

£'000 £'000

8,287

8,134 8,087

8,287

8,134 8,087

5 39 44

21 25

13 18

34 43

8,331

8,168 8,130

( 486 )

( 425 )

( 433 )

( 486 )

( 425 )

( 433 )

7,845

7,743 7,697

1,796 1,803 10,734

1,796 1,796 1,569 1,678 10,418 10,564

111

111 111

( 5,427 )

( 5,035 )

( 5,232 )

( 189 ) ( 983 )

( 133 ) ( 983 )

( 237 ) ( 983 )

7,845

7,743

7,697

Share based

Share Capital £'000

Share Premium £'000

Payment Reserves £'000

Retained

Deficit £'000

Translation

Reserve £'000

Other ReserveTotal Equity

£'000 £'000

At 30 June 2019

Issue of shares Share issue expenses Total comprehensive loss

3,237

10,300

111

( 4,841 )

( 133 )

( 983 ) 7,691

128

128 - - - - 256

-

( 10 )

-

-

-

-( 10 )

( 194 )

-

-

• ( 194 )

  At 31 December 2019

  3,365

  10,418

  111

  • ( 5,035 )

    • ( 133 )

      • ( 983 )

        7,743

        Issue of shares Share issue expenses Total comprehensive loss

        109

        153

        - -

  • - -

    • - -

      • - -262

        -

        ( 7 )

        ( 7 )

        - 111

  • ( 197 )

    • ( 104 )

      • -

• ( 301 )

  At 30 June 2020

  3,474

  10,564

  • ( 5,232 )

    • ( 237 )

      • ( 983 )

• 7,697

  Issue of shares Share issue expenses Total comprehensive loss

  125

  175

  - -

  • - -

    • - -

      • - -

• 300

  -

  ( 5 )

  (5 )

  -

  -

  • ( 195 )

    • 48

      • -

• ( 147 )

  At 31 December 2020

  3,599

  10,734

  111

  • ( 5,427 )

  • ( 189 )

  • ( 983 )

  7,845

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CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED CASH FLOW

Six MonthsSix Months

Year

Ended 31 Dec 20 unaudited £'000

Ended 31 Dec 19 unaudited £'000

Ended 30 Jun 20 audited £'000

CASH FLOW FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES

Loss for the period

• ( 195 )

  • ( 194 )

    ( 391 )Impairment of exploration and evaluation assets Exchange movements

• -

  - 34

  1

  ( 4 ) 5

• ( 194 )

  • ( 198 )

    ( 352 )Movements in Working Capital

    73

    46

    35

    NET CASH USED IN OPERATING ACTIVITIES

• ( 121 )

• ( 152 )

( 317 )

CASH FLOWS FROM INVESTING ACTIVITIES

Exploration costs capitalised

( 152)

( 99 )

( 175 )

NET CASH USED IN INVESTING ACTIVITIES

( 152 )

( 99 )

( 175 )

CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES

Proceeds from share issue Share issue costs

300

256

518

(5 )

( 10 )

( 17 )

NET CASH GENERATED IN INVESTING ACTIVITIES

295

246 501

NET INCREASE/(DECREASE) IN CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS

22

( 5 ) 9

Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of the period

18

14 14

Effect of foreign exchange rate changes

( 1 )

CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENT AT THE END OF THE PERIOD

39

4 13

( 5 )

18

Notes: 1.

INFORMATION

The financial information for the six months ended31 December 2020 and the comparative amounts for the six months ended31 December 2019 are unaudited. The financial information above does not constitute full statutory accounts within the meaning of section 434 of the Companies Act 2006.

The Interim Financial Report has been prepared in accordance with IAS 34 Interim Financial Reporting as adopted by thEeuropean Union.

The accounting policies and methods of computation used in the preparation of the Interim Financial Report are consistent with those used in the Group 2020 Annual Report, which is available atwww.botswanadiamonds.co.uk

The interim financial statements have not been audited or reviewed by the auditors of the Group pursuant to the Auditing Practices board guidance on Review of Interim Financial Information.

2.

DIVIDEND

No dividend is proposed in respect of the period.

3.

LOSS PER SHARE

Basic loss per share is computed by dividing the loss after taxation for the period available to ordinary shareholders by the weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue and ranking for dividend during the period.

Diluted loss per share is computed by dividing the loss after taxation for the period by the weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue, adjusted for the effect of all dilutive potential ordinary shares that were outstanding during the period.

The following table sets forth the computation for basic and diluted earnings per share (EPS):

Six Months	Six Months
Ended	Ended	Year Ended
31 Dec 20	31 Dec 19	30 Jun 20
£'000	£'000	£'000
Numerator
For basic and diluted EPS retained	(195)	(194)	(391)
loss
No.	No.	No.
Denominator
621,741,536	642,643,820

Weighted average number of ordinary 702,728,751

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