Arc Minerals Reports Final Results for 2025: Strategic Progress and Financial Strengthening

Arc Minerals 2025 final results: better projects and cleaner strategy, weaker year-end numbers

Arc Minerals has delivered one of those results statements that looks rough in the accounts but more constructive in the operational detail. The short version is this: the company has sharpened its focus around two copper exploration assets in Botswana and Zambia, cleared a major legal headache in Zambia after the year end, and raised fresh money in April 2026 to keep drilling and geophysics moving.

For retail investors, this matters because Arc is still very much an exploration story, not a production business. There is no revenue, no resource estimate disclosed, and the value here depends heavily on whether the next phase of work at Virgo and Kabompo West can convert geological promise into something bigger.

Key number	2025	2024
Operating loss	£2.3 million	£1.1 million
Loss before tax	£9.1 million	£2.1 million
Cash and cash equivalents	£635,000	£1.6 million
Net assets	£2.6 million	£11.4 million
Basic loss per share	0.47p	0.16p

Virgo Project in Botswana is the main near-term growth driver for Arc Minerals

The clearest operational progress sits at the Virgo Project in Botswana, where Arc holds a 75% interest across two licences covering more than 208km2. This is important because Virgo sits within MMG’s Zone 5 corridor in the Kalahari Copper Belt, and Arc says it is the only junior explorer holding a licence position in that corridor.

That sort of address matters in copper exploration. Being close to known deposits does not guarantee a discovery, but it does improve the odds that the geology is worth chasing.

Virgo drilling results gave early encouragement, not proof

The 2024 drilling campaign included eight holes for 3,023m. The standout intercept was 3m at 1.29% CuEq within a broader 6m at 0.82% CuEq. CuEq means copper equivalent, which rolls multiple metals into a single copper-style grade for comparison.

That is not a company-making discovery on its own, and investors should keep their feet on the ground. But it does show copper mineralisation is there, and six of the remaining seven holes also hit elevated to anomalous copper, which supports the geological model rather than blowing it up.

Why the 2026 geophysical programme matters for the share story

Arc has already started a larger geophysical programme at Virgo in 2026, covering up to 295 line kilometres of ground magnetics and around 52.5 line kilometres of Gradient Array and Section IP surveying. IP, or induced polarisation, is a geophysical technique used to identify chargeable subsurface zones that can be associated with sulphide mineralisation.

The target is an interpreted contact zone stretching up to approximately 15 kilometres. In plain English, Arc is trying to map the most prospective bits properly before drilling in the second half of 2026. That is the right sequence for a junior explorer – refine targets first, then spend the expensive drilling money.

Kabompo West in Zambia is now fully back under Arc’s control

The other big strategic development is Zambia. After the Anglo American joint venture ended in October 2025, Arc regained control of the Kabompo West Project through its 67% interest in Unico Minerals Limited.

That is a meaningful change. When a major walks away from a joint venture, the market often reads it as a bad sign. Arc is pushing back on that, arguing the project’s geology still stacks up and that full ownership gives it flexibility to pursue either a strategic deal or a standalone route forward.

Kabompo West still has serious geological interest

This is a large land package of approximately 680km2 in Zambia’s north-western copper province. Historic and more recent drilling has returned some eye-catching results, including 18m at 2.35% Cu, 39m at 1.47% Cu, and hole KCDD002 with 40.60m at 0.61% Cu from 22.25m, including 12.75m at 1.20% Cu and 7.70m at 1.72% Cu.

Those are the kind of numbers that keep a project alive. The catch is that Arc has not disclosed a resource, a development plan, or a timetable to move Kabompo West into a more defined economic stage.

Zambian legal settlement removes a nasty overhang

Post period end, Arc said it had resolved all outstanding litigation in Zambia through a Settlement Agreement, subject only to completion of the relevant court filings. That is a big positive because legal disputes are poison for small-cap explorers – they slow decision-making, tie up management time and can scare off partners.

It also matters practically. At the year end, Arc disclosed £1.041 million of restricted cash in Handa and Zaco bank accounts. The company now expects access to be restored imminently following the settlement process.

Arc Minerals financial results: the headline loss looks ugly, but much of it is accounting

The headline loss before tax was £9.074 million, up sharply from £2.070 million. On the face of it, that is grim. But a large chunk came from a non-cash accounting hit linked to the Handa/Anglo unwind.

The company booked a £6.733 million loss tied to obtaining control of Handa, mainly because it had to derecognise the Anglo deferred consideration receivable. In effect, part of the prior balance sheet value attached to the Anglo arrangement fell away when the joint venture ended.

That does not mean the cash burn was £9 million. Net cash used in operating activities was £1.135 million, actually lower than the £2.203 million used in 2024. That is a much more useful number if you are trying to understand the real financing pressure.

Year-end cash was thin, but April 2026 changed the picture

Cash and cash equivalents at 31 December 2025 were only £635,000. That is tight for an explorer with active field programmes, so the post period fundraise was not optional in my view – it was necessary.

In April 2026, Arc raised gross proceeds of £3 million through a placing and subscription at 0.4p per share. It also settled around £1 million of liabilities via a creditor subscription into equity. That improves the balance sheet, but it also means more dilution for existing shareholders.

Management costs, incentives and dilution need watching closely

Arc says it has cut fixed annual management fees by 20% from 1 January 2026, which is a welcome signal. That said, key management remuneration in 2025 was £1.599 million, compared with £1.572 million in 2024, so the benefit of that fee cut is not in these results yet.

The company also granted 36,427,488 share options and 43,712,988 RSUs in April 2025, with a total share-based payment charge of £250,000 in the year. On top of that, the April 2026 fundraise included one warrant for every one new share issued. For shareholders, this is the usual junior mining trade-off – the company needs capital and incentives, but the share count keeps expanding.

What Arc Minerals investors should take away from these 2025 final results

My view is that this was strategically better than the headline numbers suggest. Virgo is shaping up as the main near-term catalyst, Kabompo West is back under Arc’s control, and the Zambia legal mess appears to be nearly out of the way.

The negatives are equally clear. The year-end balance sheet was weak, the company remains pre-revenue, there is still no disclosed resource, and shareholders have taken meaningful dilution. The proposed Chingola acquisition also remains incomplete, with due diligence conditions still not satisfied.

• Positive: Stronger focus on two core copper assets in proven districts.
• Positive: Virgo has encouraging early drilling and a defined 2026 work plan.
• Positive: Zambia legal settlement should improve flexibility and reduce risk.
• Negative: 2025 year-end cash of £635,000 was low before the April 2026 raise.
• Negative: Loss before tax of £9.074 million and net assets down to £2.556 million look heavy, even if largely accounting-driven.
• Negative: Ongoing dilution remains part of the investment case.

Bottom line: Arc Minerals is still a high-risk copper explorer, but it now looks more focused and better positioned for the next round of news flow. For the market, the big test is simple – can the 2026 geophysics and follow-up drilling at Virgo produce results that move this from an interesting land story to a more serious discovery story?