Central African Gold plc

Company Name: Central African Gold plc
Stock Market: FTSE AIM (LSE: CAN)
Industry Sector: Precious Metals and Minerals
Yearly Revenue: £11 million (as of 31 December 2007)
Operating Income: £10.6 million (loss as of 31 December 2007)
Net Income: £14.7 million (loss as of 31 December 2007)
Total Assets: £40.4 million (as of 31 December 2007)

Key People: Gregory Hunter (chief executive officer and executive director), Mark Gillie (group manager – New Business), Phil Bentley (group manager – Geology and Exploration), Mark Meyer (group manager – Engineering), Steve Venn (group manager – Mining)

Headquarters Address: Millennium Bridge House 2 Lambeth Hill, London EC4V 4AJ
Number of Employees: 1,724 (as of 31 December 2007)
Website Address: www.centralafricangold.com

Company Overview

Established in 2003, Central African Gold plc (‘CAG’) is a London-based company that focuses on the identification, acquisition and development projects of the natural resources sector, particularly the gold projects in Africa. The company is aiming to be one of the leading mid-tier African gold mining companies through its valuable management team that can develop projects even during difficult political and economic conditions.

In 2006, CAG formed an operational and management team led by CEO Greg Hunter to determine the growth strategy of the company. The team has extensive expertise in the areas of gold production and exploration, which enables CAG to have a quick and accurate assessment of new mineral discoveries. The company was able to generate a portfolio of projects in Botswana, Ghana, Mali, and Zimbabwe. In Botswana, CAG was able to include in its portfolio the licence to develop a mine that covers the Kraaipan greenstone belt extension from South Africa. In Ghana, it acquired two prospecting licences from AngloGold Ashanti Limited and the right to develop the Bibiani gold mine. In Mali, it had two joint ventures which cover 17 prospecting permits. In 2007, CAG was also able to acquire an extensive claim holding and five mines in Zimbabwe.

At present, CAG is continuously pursuing potential exploration properties in Botswana and Mali. It is also developing and managing gold-producing assets in Zimbabwe and Ghana, which have been the source of the company’s production and revenue.

Current Financial Overview

During the fiscal year 2008, CAG was able to record £11.0 million of turnover from its gold sales which totalled to 33,637 ounces. The administrative expenditures of the company increased to £9.6 million compared to £5.2 million of administrative expenses in 2006. CAG also recorded a net loss of £14.7 million, compared to a net loss of only £3.9 million in 2006. The operating income also recorded a £10.6 million loss during fiscal year 2007 compared to the £4.1 million loss in fiscal year 2006. The poor operating result was because of the lower budget production from its tailings operations and the slower production from the underground of Bibiani in Ghana. The slower than expected build-up in production placed a great pressure on the company’s cash resources. In addition, the financial results for fiscal year 2007 were also affected by the ‘fair value of the gold agreement’ which applied a gold price of US$833.20 per ounce.