26 November 2015

The Company announces that it expects to publish its results for the six months ended 30 September 2015 on 11 December 2015.

Despite the operational improvements in the last quarter, overall trading for the half year has been difficult and it is expected that the results will show that:

  • Group revenue will have decreased by 27% to approximately US$62m (H1 FY2015: US$85.8m)
  • Group gross profit will have decreased by 57% to approximately US$17m (H1 FY2015: US$39.0m) after
  • Group net loss after taxation for the period will amount to approximately US$5m (H1 FY2015: US$7.7m profit)

When comparing the first half of the year with last year's:

  • Freda Rebecca's 17% increase in the number of ounces sold and a reduction in unit operating costs counteracted the 10% drop in the gold price
  • Bindura Nickel and its Trojan mine saw a 29% decrease in nickel production, in part because of scheduled operating downtime for maintenance, and a 35% decrease in nickel price. Furthermore, nickel prices have continued to weaken in response to slowing demand growth by Chinese steel mills, resulting in losses at the mine
  • Performance at Klipspringer was broadly comparable to the first half of the last financial year with increased sales mitigating the effect of diamond prices which have come under pressure in their main markets.

Although performance in the second half is expected to be substantially better than in the first half, the Company expects that the results for the full year will fall short of market expectations. Management is reviewing operational performance to determine where improvements can be made, and is taking steps to reduce costs as much as possible to counteract the declining market prices of gold and nickel. During the month of October, the following results were produced:

  • Freda Rebecca increased its production to 6,335 ounces of gold at a gold selling price of $1,174/oz. This improved performance was attributable to improved grade control and feed grade, tonnes milled and recoveries, which management will continue to monitor and implement in the third and fourth quarters; and
  • Trojan mine increased its production to 600.2 tonnes of nickel metal in concentrate, and at a nickel metal in concentrate selling price of $6,720/t. This improved performance can be attributed to the revised mining plan and increased plant feed head grade. Management will continue with this optimization and cost control to ensure that the operation becomes profitable during the third and fourth quarters.

For further information please visitwww.asaukplc.com or contact:

Asa Resource Group PLC:
1 Catherine Place, London, SW1E 6DX, United Kingdom
Yim Kwan, Finance Director
Amilha Young, Group General Counsel and Company Secretary
Tel: + 44 (0) 203 696 5470

Nominated Adviser
Grant Thornton UK LLP
30 Finsbury Square, London EC2P 2YU
Colin Aaronson/Richard Tonthat/Carolyn Sansom
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7383 5100

Financial Adviser and Corporate Broker
Cantor Fitzgerald Europe
1 Churchill Place, Canary Wharf, London E14 5RB
Stewart Dickson/Jeremy Stephenson/Patrick Pittaway
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7894 7000

Public Relations:
Russell and Associates (South Africa)
42 Glenhove Road, Johannesburg, 2196, South Africa
Tel: +27 (0) 11 880 3924
Leigh King: email: leigh@rair.co.za
Jim Jones: email: jim@rair.co.za

distributed by