Alphamin Resources has flagged the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo as a threat to its outlook even as it reported improved earnings for the year ended December.
The improved financial performance has done little to comfort investors who are concerned about the company’s future in the DRC, where it mines tin.
JSE-listed Alphamin has shed 36.6% over the past six months as fears mount about disruptions to its Bisie operations.
Alphamin owns 84.55% of Bisie, the world’s third-largest tin mine, with the remaining shares held by the DRC government and SA’s Industrial Development Corporation.
The mine was forced to halt operations in March after Rwanda-backed M23 rebels advanced into a nearby town. That led the group to lower its full-year guidance from 20,000 tonnes to 17,500 tonnes after reporting an 18% drop in tin output for the first quarter of 2025.
Operations at Bisie resumed last week after the insurgents withdrew from the area, but the company said it was facing “unprecedented levels of uncertainty” as the war continues.
The situation threatens Alphamin’s ability to resume full mining operations at Bisie, as well as its ability to repay debt in the coming months, the miner said.
The company ended the year with outstanding debt and other obligations amounting to almost $150m.
The ongoing threat to the group’s balance sheet shows that “a material uncertainty exists that may cast significant doubt on the company’s ability to continue as a going concern,” the firm said.
As a result, “the company may be unable to realise its assets and discharge its liabilities in the normal course of business”.
Still, the group said it expects to have enough money to meet its liabilities over the next 12 months, citing a cash balance of $71.81m and trade receivables of $71.54m at end-March.
It has also extended the deadlines for its debt repayment and renewed its $53m overdraft facility by a further 12 months.
While conflict-driven disruptions weighed on its operational performance in the first quarter, the group reported stronger financial results for the year to end-December.
Attributable profit exceeded $100m last year, more than double that of the previous year, thanks to the addition of a new processing facility, which started commercial production in May.
Annual tin output was up 38% from the previous year at 17,324 tonnes, while earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation more than doubled to $274m.
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