BEM Beowulf Mining Plc

28 February 2025

Beowulf Mining plc

("Beowulf" or the "Company")

Unaudited Preliminary Financial Results for the year ended 31 December 2024

Beowulf (AIM: BEM; Spotlight: BEO), the mineral exploration and development company, announces its unaudited preliminary financial results for the year ended 31 December 2024 (the "Period") and provides an update on its current financial position.

Activities in the Period

Sweden

·      Significant progress was made by Jokkmokk Iron Mines AB ("Jokkmokk Iron") at the Kallak Iron Ore Project ("Kallak") during the Period, in preparation for the completion of the Pre-Feasibility Study ("PFS") and Environmental Permit application.

·      Dmytro Siergieiev was appointed in May as Project Director to lead the development of Kallak.

·      In June, a positive verdict was received from the Supreme Administrative Court upholding the original award of the Kallak Exploitation Concession.

·      Metallurgical test-work confirmed the ability to produce an exceptionally high-grade, low impurity iron ore concentrate grading over 70% iron content ("Fe") and containing less than 2.0% silica and <0.23% alumina. The product is anticipated to be highly sought-after as a feedstock to support the decarbonisation of the steel industry. This test-work has also enabled the development of the processing flowsheet which critically only involves physical separation. 

·      Additional technical workstreams including site infrastructure, logistics and transportation, and water and waste management were also progressed during the Period with a number being substantially complete.

·      The Consultation Process for Kallak, a critical part of the Environmental Permitting process, was initiated in September with the publication of a Consultation Document which set out the main parameters and potential impacts of the project.

Finland

·      During the Period, the strategy for the development of the Graphite Anode Materials Plant ("GAMP") was updated to fast-track the development of the full process thereby capturing more of the anode material production value-chain and ensuring improved supply chain security. The PFS for the full GAMP process was initiated.

·      During the Period the majority of the test-work for the GAMP PFS was completed and demonstrated the ability to produce battery grade material. The completion of the PFS remains scheduled for the first quarter of 2025.

·      Further optimisation studies completed during the Period demonstrated the potential to reduce both energy and reagent consumption and recycle reagents thereby reducing cost and environmental impact.

·      Grafintec Oy ("Grafintec"), the wholly-owned subsidiary of Beowulf, completed the BATCircle2.0 project in October with €530,000 grant funding received from Business Finland and announced the initiation of the BATCircle3.0 programme with a further grant commitment of €232,000 received. The BATCircle grant funding schemes are designed to support the Finland-based Circular Ecosystem of Battery Metals through granting of up to 50 per cent of research and development programmes by Business Finland.

Kosovo

·      During April, Beowulf consolidated 100% interest in Vardar Minerals Limited ("Vardar") through an all-share transaction. Consolidating full ownership of the subsidiary provided operational control and enabled the Company to significantly reduce the Vardar overhead.

·      At the same time as the consolidation, Ismet Krasniqi was appointed to the Board of Vardar. Ismet has been involved since the formation of Vardar and has been instrumental in obtaining licences and managing its development.

·      Exploration activity in Kosovo focused on infill soil and grab sampling on the Shala East licence during the Period.

·      Discussions with a number of potential strategic groups were initiated and advanced during the Period with the objective of finding a partner capable of financing an accelerated exploration programme whilst the Company retains exposure to any future discovery.

Corporate

·      On 3 April 2024, the Company completed a capital raise, raising a total of SEK 56.3 million (approximately £4.4 million) by way of a rights issue of Swedish Depository Receipts in Sweden and a PrimaryBid retail offer and a placing to certain UK investors including members of the Board and executive management. Proceeds of the capital raise were used to repay bridge loan financing and to fund the continued development of the Company's projects, in particular, Kallak in Sweden and the GAMP in Finland.

·      In order to complete the capital raise, a General Meeting was held to provide the Board of Directors with the requisite authorisation and flexibility to increase the Company's share capital. In addition, given the Company's share price was near the nominal value of the Ordinary Shares, the existing Ordinary Shares of 1p each were subdivided into a new Ordinary Share of 0.1p and a deferred A share of 0.9p.

·      Following the capital raise, the Company, at its Annual General Meeting ("AGM") on 14 June 2024, passed a resolution to complete a consolidation of shares in the Company on the basis of 1 New Share of £0.05 (5 pence) for every 50 Existing Shares of £0.001 (0.1 of a penny) each. The consolidation of the Existing Shares provides greater flexibility for the Company when issuing new equity and should help to minimise dilution to Shareholders.

·      On 2 December 2024 the Company announced the appointment of PKF Littlejohn LLP ("PKF") as the Company's auditor, succeeding BDO LLP ("BDO").

Financial

·      The consolidated loss for 2024 of £1,789,000 was lower than 2023 of £2,937,909. This decrease was due to the following : professional fees of £505,035 (2023: £696,247); foreign currency loss of £98,083 (2023: £150,224); salary costs of £240,788 (2023: £483,221); impairment of £72,563 (2023: £350,158), finance costs of £59,147 (2023: £197,724), legal fees of £13,570 (2023: £85,928), audit and accountancy £87,188 (2023: £122,174) and downstream processing costs of £67,976 (2023: £116,012).

·      The administration expenses of the company of £1,565,601 in 2024 are lower than £2,778,142 in 2023. This decrease is primarily due to a decrease in the following: the expected credit loss on the intercompany loans of £467,651: (2023: £1,001,537), share-based payment expenses of £202,611 (2023: £321,534), salary costs of £166,227 (2023: £481,903), finance charge of £59,147 (2023: £195,304), P.R. services of £49,899 (2023: £97,515) and legal fees of £5,999  (2023: £83,226).

·      Consolidated basic and diluted loss per share for the quarter ended 31 December 2024 was 1.04 pence (Q4 2023: loss of 2.31 pence).

·      £881,349 in cash was held at 31 December 2024 (31 December 2023: £905,555).

·      Exploration assets increased to £15,521,317 at 31 December 2024 compared to £14,797,833 at 31 December 2023.

·      The cumulative foreign exchange translation losses held in equity increased in the year ended 31 December 2024 to £2,395,934 (31 December 2023: loss of £1,457,872). Much of the Company's exploration costs are in Swedish Krona which has weakened against the pound since 31 December 2023.

·      At 31 December 2024, there were 31,586,820 Swedish Depository Receipts in issue representing 81.32 per cent of     the issued share capital of the Company. The remaining issued share capital of the Company is held in the UK as AIM securities.

Current financial position

As the Company has noted in its December portfolio update, the market for junior resource equities and the funding of development projects remains challenging. The Company will need to secure additional financing and working capital in the very near term if it is to continue to advance its projects and indeed cover costs on a care and maintenance basis. Accordingly, the Company is currently working with its advisers in Sweden and the UK to procure additional near term financing and which would include management participation. While discussions are at an advanced stage, there can be no certainty that such financing can be obtained or on the terms of any financing.

Post Period Activities

There have been no material events or transactions between the 31 December 2024 and the approval of these financial statements.

Ed Bowie, Chief Executive Officer of Beowulf, commented:

"Excellent progress has been made across the portfolio during 2024.

"At Kallak, we completed the metallurgical test-work to confirm that we can produce a market-leading concentrate with very low impurities, and have made significant progress with other key technical workstreams including processing, infrastructure and water and waste management. Progress has also been made from a permitting perspective with the verdict from the Supreme Administrative Court upholding the Government's award of the Exploitation Concession and the initiation of the Consultation Process with local stakeholders and government agencies.

"In Finland, test-work was substantially completed in preparation for the release of the GAMP PFS in Q1 2025. Results from this test-work continue to confirm that the process can deliver battery grade material and has also demonstrated other benefits including reduced energy and reagent consumption.

"We continue to refine our exploration targets in Kosovo and engage in dialogue with potential partners to support the further development of our highly prospective licence package.

"The progress made during 2024 has significantly de-risked our core assets and has further highlighted their potential. The Beowulf team continue to work tirelessly to advance the assets and demonstrate their underlying value and I would like to thank them for their ongoing effort. I would also like to thank our shareholders and stakeholders for their continued support."

Enquiries:

Cautionary Statement

Statements and assumptions made in this document with respect to the Company's current plans, estimates, strategies and beliefs, and other statements that are not historical facts, are forward-looking statements about the future performance of Beowulf. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, those using words such as "may", "might", "seeks", "expects", "anticipates", "estimates", "believes", "projects", "plans", strategy", "forecast" and similar expressions. These statements reflect management's expectations and assumptions in light of currently available information. They are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to , (i) changes in the economic, regulatory and political environments in the countries where Beowulf operates; (ii) changes relating to the geological information available in respect of the various projects undertaken; (iii) Beowulf's continued ability to secure enough financing to carry on its operations as a going concern; (iv) the success of its potential joint ventures and alliances, if any; (v) metal prices, particularly as regards iron ore. In the light of the many risks and uncertainties surrounding any mineral project at an early stage of its development, the actual results could differ materially from those presented and forecast in this document. Beowulf assumes no unconditional obligation to immediately update any such statements and/or forecasts.