(Alliance News) - Celsius Resources Ltd, on Friday announced that it continues to make a loss during a period of exploration, but that it is close to obtaining "exclusive" mining rights on its flagship project.

The company is an Australia-based explorer focused on its portfolio of copper-gold resources in the Philippines and Namibia.

For the half year ending December 31 loss before tax reduced by 19% from USD2.1 million in 2022, to USD1.7 million in 2023.

The company declared in the report that there were no significant changes over the period and is still yet to offer a dividend to investors.

However, Celsius did provide an update on the progress made across its various exploration projects.

In Namibia the company received a two-year renewal of its exclusive prospecting licence for the Opuwo cobalt project encompassing an area of 683 square kilometres.

Furthermore, the company has made headway across its projects in the Philippines.

It said that the flagship Maalinao-Caigutan-Biyog copper-gold project has made progress with regard to permitting, and has been declared feasible following the approval of all required technical, social, and environment plans.

Celsius is now in the final stages of obtaining a mineral production sharing agreement which will grant exclusive rights to undertake exploration, development and commercial production of copper and associated minerals. Meanwhile, a similar nearby project in Botilao has successfully secured two-year exploration permits.

In Sagay, exploration work has produced positive results following the conclusion of the recent drilling programme. The company submitted its feasibility study to the relevant authorities along with other required plans, and now awaits approval in order to pursue the application of a mineral agreement with the Philippine government.

There were no updates on the Cullarin West project in Australia, although the company stated that it is "continuing to assess the viability of the opportunity and gauge interest from other possible partners."

Shares in Celsius were up 5.6% to 0.73 pence in London on Friday afternoon.

By Elijah Dale, Alliance News reporter

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