A dramatic fall in the cost of abandoned exploration projects cut pre-tax losses at Minmet to €817,400 in the six months to June 30th from €14.7 million during the same period last year.

The Dublin-listed exploration firm had operating costs of €637,000 this year as against €989,000 in 2002. The figure includes administration and the cost of maintaining a listed firm. Losses per share were 0.13 cent as against 2.97 cent last year.

The firm wrote off just €89,000 against discontinued operations during the first half, compared with €13.8 million during the same period last year. In 2002, Minmet exited three projects in Brazil and the UK after they were found to be uneconomic, and one in Portugal after a legal row over its licence.

During the first half of this year it terminated its involvement in an exploration project in Honduras at an early stage, after experiencing what it called "serious community relations problems".