Aterian (LSE:ATN), an Africa‑focused critical metals exploration and trading group, reported a loss before taxation of £2.02m for the year ended 31 December 2025 compared with a loss of £1.62m in the prior year. The company said the wider loss primarily reflects exploration expenditure across its project portfolio, together with corporate and administrative costs associated with advancing operations.
At the HCK lithium‑tantalum project in Rwanda, Rio Tinto concluded its earn‑in in October 2025 after investing US$4.73m and control of the project and the full technical dataset reverted to Aterian.
Diamond drilling at HCK included hole MWOG0002 intersecting 6.90 m at 2.11% Li2O, including 3.45 m at 3.20% Li2O, and the programme produced extensive geochemical, geophysical and drilling data for further review.
In Morocco, Aterian confirmed copper‑silver mineralisation across prospects at Agdz, Tata, Azrar and Jebilet Est, and in Botswana its 90%‑owned Atlantis Metals now holds eleven licences in the Kalahari Copperbelt plus three lithium brine licences at Sua Pan.
Eastinco, the group's Rwandan trading arm, resumed purchases from artisanal and small‑scale miners, generated a gross profit in Q4 2025 and secured a US$250,000 mezzanine loan and a trade finance facility of up to US$4.5m.
In 2026, Aterian agreed a profit‑share joint venture with Wogen Resources providing access to up to US$25m in working capital and raised £450,000 via equity and convertible bonds to expand trading infrastructure.
In December 2025, the company also entered an AI‑powered exploration joint venture with Lithosquare to accelerate target generation across its portfolio.
