Yesterday's permit news outshines Q1 numbers
The Q1 report in itself was a non-event; EBIT was SEK -11m (ABGSCe SEK -20m) and the company has SEK 196m in cash (SEK 266m at year-end 2023). What outshines the Q1 numbers, though, is yesterday's positive news that Copperstone's environmental permit for Viscaria was granted (see our comment here). Now Copperstone will await any potential appeals to the permit, and the last date to file an appeal is 27 May. We expect the permit to be appealed by the nearby sami villages Laevas and Gabna, which were both opposed to the permit during the main hearing. The next hurdle is to secure financing for Viscaria (~SEK 2bn equity and ~SEK 3bn debt, according to the company). Finally, management reiterated the timeline of starting mining operations during 2026.