AIM-listed exploration and development company Stratex has unveiled a substantial rise in its full-year profit underpinned by the discovery of gold deposits and the sale of several projects.

Profit rose to £9.56m in the year ended December 31st compared to a loss of £444,497 in the previous year.

Total comprehensive income for the year was £9.76m, up substantially from £1.18m a year earlier and profit before income tax was £9.7m, up from a loss of £517,377 a year earlier.

The pre-tax profit included profits of £11.69m from the sale of Öksüt and £1.06m from the sale of 51% of Muratdere. The Öksüt gold project was sold for $20m cash with up to a further $20m payable through a 1.0% net smelter royalty.

Some 51% of the Muratdere porphyry copper-gold-molybdenum project was sold to Lodos Maden Yatırım Sanayii ve Ticaret A.Ş., a Turkish mining investment company, for $1.7m cash.

The company described the year as a "transformational period".

The company's Turkish joint venture partner, Bahar Mining, was described as having made "good progress" on technical studies at Altıntepe and was "targeting late 2013 / early 2014 for initial production at a minimum 30,000 ounces (oz) per annum".

Gold discoveriesA substantial new epithermal gold vein system was identified at the Oklila licence in Djibouti as part of the company's collaboration project with strategic partner Thani Ashanti.

Results of the initial drill programme at Blackrock in Ethiopia confirmed extensive gold mineralization in four veins at the Black Water zone, the company also reported.

In addition, sampling at the 51%-owned Dalafin gold project in Senegal identified good drill targets in five areas of the licence.

Stratex's share price was up 8.57% to 4.75p at 09:06 on Friday.
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