Public Equity Investments
The public equity investment segment includes active and passive investments in our trading portfolio.
The trading portfolio consists of investments in listed mining entities that the board believes possess attractive underlying assets. The focus is to invest in mining companies that are significantly undervalued by the market and where there is substantial upside potential through exploration success and/or the development of mining projects for commercial production. Ultimately, the aim is to make capital gains in the short to medium term. Investments are considered individually based on various criteria and are typically traded on the TSX, ASX, AIM or LSE.
During the year ending 31/12/2022, our public equity investments generated an unrealised loss of £4.59 million (2021: profit of £0.58 million). These unrealised losses tracked our largest holding, European Metals Holdings (“EMH”), down some 49% over the year despite the excellent progress in developing the asset. We realised a profit from sales of £0.55 million (2020: £0.59 million). Most of these profits were derived from selling European Metals Holdings shares. If we look at the portfolio performance since inception the sales made during the year represented a 174% profit above the original purchase price. Our investment in EMH is the only active investment in the public equity portfolio.
The movement in public portfolio values during 2022 is summarised below.
| Commentary | £,000 | |
| Portfolio value at the beginning of 2022 | 11,974 | |
| New Investments public investments during the year | 235 | |
| Disposal of public Investments during the year | Disposals reinvested into Amapá | (1,927) |
| Realised and Unrealised loss on portfolio value for the period | The majority of the loss driven by a reduction in EMH share price | (5,038) |
| Portfolio value at the end of the period | 5,244 |
Portfolio
As of 31 December 2022, our public equity stakes consisted of the following:
| Company | 31-Dec-22 £,000 | 30-Jun-22 £,000 | 31-Dec-21 £,000 | 30-Jun-21 £,000 | 31-Dec-20 £,000 |
| European Metals Holding Ltd | 4,882 | 5,357 | 11,287 | 14,180 | 13,426 |
| Charger Metals NL | 301 | 196 | 342 | 109 | – |
| Macarthur Minerals Ltd | – | 103 | 181 | 327 | 329 |
| Eagle Mountain Mining Ltd | 37 | 47 | 122 | 153 | – |
| Mont-Royal Resources Ltd | 19 | 39 | 35 | – | – |
| Celsius Resources Ltd | – | – | – | 103 | – |
| Miscellaneous | 5 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 6 |
| Total | 5,244 | 5,747 | 11,974 | 14,878 | 13,761 |