Trilogy and South32 have agreed to a 50-50 joint venture called Ambler Metals, with the former contributing nearly 172,675 hectares of land and the latter $145mn for the advancement of the Upper Kobuk Mineral project (UKMP), and the Arctic and Bornite projects.
Trilogy will move most of its US employees to the Ambler Metal UKMP project by the end of 2020, recovering most of the cost starting this month. With South32’s funds, Trilogy will not require additional cash resources, and expects the funds in its possession to be sufficient for three or four more years.
Between January and November 2019, Trilogy had a net loss of $27.9mn. During the same 11-month period in 2018, the company’s net loss was $21.8mn. The company attributed its net loss last year to the size growth of its field programs—UKMP was executed at a cost of $18.2mn, $9.2mn of which went to Bornite and $7mn on Arctic, while $2mn was spent on a new exploration program funded by both companies—in addition to general expenses and professional fees.
The professional fees cost Trilogy nearly $1.4mn last year, up by $900,000 from a year before because of increased legal and accounting fees.
Trilogy’s operating expenses in 2019 totaled $23.5mn—up from $22.1mn in 2018—which were mostly accrued by mineral property expenses.
Between January and November 2019, Trilogy raised about $9.6mn in investment activities compared to $12.7mn at the year end of 2018.