EXPLORATION company Navan has blamed the sharp fall in copper prices this year for losses of $179,000 (£111,256) in the six months to the end of June last.

Half year results issued yesterday show that Navan has provided $1 million (£621,542) against the falling value of copper concentrates. It has also made provisions for a foreign exchange loss of $516,000 (£320,716) because of the devaluation of the Bulgarian lev this year, while it has also incurred a tax charge of $338,000 (£210,081).

In a statement yesterday, the company said its Chelopech goldcopper mine in Bulgaria has per, formed to target with recoveries of copper and gold steadily improved over the half year period. "At current metal prices, and even given the low volume of pyrite sales, we expect a profit and positive cash flow from operations in 1996 but whether the contribution will completely offset group overheads is less certain," the company stated.

The Chelpech operation achieved 96.3 per cent of its planned metal recoveries, but the Hungarian markets remained difficult.