For immediate release
22
July 2019
Serabi Gold plc(“Serabi”
or the “Company”)
Serabi maintains production guidance
following successful second quarter
Serabi Gold plc (AIM: SRB, TSX: SBI), the
Brazilian focused gold mining and development company, is pleased
to provide the results and a review of its second quarter
operational and development activities in the Tapajos region of
Para State, Northern Brazil.
OPERATIONAL and DEVELOPMENT
HIGHLIGHTS
- Second quarter gold production of 9,527 ounces of gold,
resulting in total production for the year to date of approximately
20,000 ounces, a five per cent improvement over the same period in
2018.
- Total ore mined for the quarter of 44,784 tonnes at 6.72 grams
per tonne (“g/t”) of gold.
- 43,711 tonnes of run of mine (“ROM”) ore were processed through
the plant from the combined Palito and Sao Chico orebodies, with an
average grade of 6.72 g/t of gold.
- 2,419 metres of horizontal development completed during the
quarter, a 30% increase on our Q1 figure
- Commencement of Company’s Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA)
on the Coringa Gold Project, following last quarter’s updated
mineral resource estimate. Results of the study are expected
July end 2019.
- The Company maintains its 2019 production guidance of
40,000-44,000 ounces representing a significant improvement on 2018
production of 37,108 ounces.
Key Operational Information
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SUMMARY PRODUCTION STATISTICS TO DATE FOR 2019 AND 2018 |
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Qtr 1 |
Qtr 2 |
Total |
Qtr 1 |
Qtr 2 |
Qtr 3 |
Qtr 4 |
Total |
2019 |
2019 |
2019 |
2018 |
2018 |
2018 |
2018 |
2018 |
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Gold
production (1) (2) |
Ounces |
10,164 |
9,527 |
19,691 |
9,188 |
9,563 |
8,101 |
10,256 |
37,108 |
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Mined ore – Total |
Tonnes |
42,609 |
44,784 |
87,393 |
39,669 |
36,071 |
42,725 |
44,257 |
162,722 |
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Gold grade (g/t) |
7.47 |
6.72 |
7.08 |
7.49 |
8.12 |
6.23 |
7.45 |
7.29 |
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Milled ore |
Tonnes |
43,451 |
43,711 |
87,162 |
43,145 |
38,155 |
41,405 |
45,548 |
168,253 |
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Gold grade (g/t) |
7.69 |
6.72 |
7.21 |
7.04 |
7.71 |
6.11 |
7.39 |
7.06 |
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Horizontal development – Total |
Metres |
1,868 |
2,419 |
4,287 |
2,353 |
2,744 |
2,814 |
2,460 |
10,371 |
- Gold production figures are subject to amendment pending final
agreed assays of the gold content of the copper/gold concentrate
and gold doré that is delivered to the refineries.
- Gold production totals for 2019 include treatment of 10,892
tonnes of flotation tails at a grade of 4.38 g/t (2018 full year:
16,466 tonnes at 3.71g/t)
- The table may not sum due to rounding.
Mike Hodgson, CEO,
commented:
“With second quarter production of 9,527 ounces
of gold, we are very happy to have total gold production for the
half year of approximately 20,000 ounces and I am pleased to say
that the third quarter has started with similarly excellent
performance, leaving the Company well placed to meet our 2019
production guidance and significantly improve on our 2018
production level of 37,108 ounces of gold.
“Mining rates and plant throughput have improved
very slightly on the first quarter. Being a plant constrained
operation, we have focused on optimising planned maintenance to
improve plant availability, and we hope we will see continuing
improvement during the second half of the year. The plant has
processed over 87,000 tonnes of hard rock ore year to date, a 7%
improvement on the mid-year position in 2018. After a slow
start during the first quarter, the treatment of flotation tailings
with the newly commissioned trommel (scrubber) has increased and in
the last two months have been processing approximately 3,000 tonnes
per month at very good grades of approximately 4.0 g/t, making this
material very viable indeed. With a considerable stock of
this tailings material, we expect to continue processing these
stockpiles to supplement gold production from mined ore during the
remainder of 2019.
“In the longer term we expect plant production
will be further enhanced with the installation of an ore sorter,
which I am pleased to report has arrived at site. The
associated infrastructure is in construction, and we will
commission the unit during the second half of the year.
Whilst we are not forecasting production benefits from the ore
sorter in 2019, we do expect a significant impact in 2020.
“Development and production from the Palito
orebody continued on the Pipocas, Mogno and Ipe veins, with new
exploration development underway on the G3 vein. G3 has
historically been the main production vein at Palito and we are now
advancing exploration headings both north and south on level
-24mRL, following successful mine-planning drilling. In the
Sao Chico orebody, development continues on the deepest level
-33mRL, as well as lateral development west in the upper levels of
+216mRL.
“Following the release of our updated geological
resource in March 2019 for our Coringa Project, which represented a
37% increase on contained gold ounces from the previous estimate of
2017, our independent consultants Global Resource Engineering
Limited (“GRE”) have been supplied with all the required data and
have been working on the preparation of a Preliminary Economic
Assessment (“PEA”) for Coringa. They continue to work to a
timetable that will allow an announcement of the initial results
before the end of July 2019.
“Concurrent with the PEA, we are working hard on
the permitting of the Coringa project. The plan to replace a
conventional tailings dam with installing a filtration plant
allowing for the dry stacking of tails has been well received by
the state environmental agency, SEMAS, who had already approved the
original environmental impact assessment (“EIA”) on the basis of a
conventional dam. We are now completing an amendment to the
EIA to reflect this design variation. We expect SEMAS to
approve the amendment and can then proceed with the necessary
public hearings. We hope to be in a position to receive the
Preliminary Licence (“Licencia Previa”) during the second half of
the year.
“After a very busy 2018, exploration has been
limited to geochemical programmes over the multiple geophysical
anomalies, mostly enveloping the Sao Chico orebody. Results
are anticipated during the next quarter after which we hope to
re-commence drilling programmes across the key targets later in the
year.
“With approximately 20,000 ounces produced for
the year to date, I believe we can improve further during the
second half of the year, most notably with the additional ounces
the tailings treatment is now bringing. With gold prices very
much in our favour as well as exchange rates, it is a good time to
be a producer in Brazil. With this very encouraging first
half of the year, along with the forthcoming PEA on Coringa and
further positive progress on licencing and permitting, I look
forward to reporting further positive news in the coming
months”.
Production Results
Total production for the second quarter of 2019
was 9,527 ounces of gold, generated from the processing of 43,711
tonnes of ore at overall average grades of 6.72 g/t of gold. This
processed ore was sourced from hard rock mined ore from the Palito
and Sao Chico orebodies, supplemented by the processing of 7,756
tonnes of surface stockpiled flotation tailings grading
approximately 4.54 g/t gold. Mined tonnage for the quarter
totalled 44,784 tonnes with a grade of 6.72 g/t of
gold.
On 30 June 2019, there were coarse ore stocks of
approximately 3,100 tonnes of ore with an average grade of 4.50 g/t
of gold, and approximately 27,000 tonnes of flotation tails with an
estimated average grade of 3.00 g/t of gold. These stockpiles are
being slowly consumed, used as a ‘top-up’ to mined ROM to keep the
plant full.
A total of 2,419 metres of horizontal
development has been completed during the quarter, of which 1062
metres was ore development. The balance is the ramp, cross
cuts and stope preparation development.
2019 Production Guidance
The Company confirms its guidance for 2019 gold
production, which is forecast to be in the range of 40,000-44,000
ounces.
This announcement is inside information for the
purposes of Article 7 of Regulation 596/2014.
The person who arranged for the release of this
announcement on behalf of the Company was Clive Line, Director.
Enquiries:
Serabi Gold plc |
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Michael Hodgson |
Tel: +44 (0)20 7246 6830 |
Chief Executive |
Mobile: +44 (0)7799 473621 |
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Clive Line |
Tel: +44 (0)20 7246 6830 |
Finance Director |
Mobile: +44 (0)7710 151692 |
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Email: contact@serabigold.com |
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Website: www.serabigold.com |
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Beaumont Cornish LimitedNominated Adviser and Financial
Adviser |
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Roland Cornish |
Tel: +44 (0)20 7628 3396 |
Michael Cornish |
Tel: +44 (0)20 7628 3396 |
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Peel Hunt LLPUK Broker |
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Ross Allister |
Tel: +44 (0)20 7418 8900 |
James Bavister |
Tel: +44 (0)20 7418 8900 |
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Copies of this announcement are available from
the Company's website at www.serabigold.com.
Neither the Toronto Stock Exchange, nor any
other securities regulatory authority, has approved or disapproved
of the contents of this announcement.
GLOSSARY OF TERMS
The following is a glossary of technical
terms:
“Au” means gold.
“assay” in economic geology, means to
analyse the proportions of metal in a rock or overburden sample; to
test an ore or mineral for composition, purity, weight or other
properties of commercial interest.
“development” - excavations used to establish
access to the mineralised rock and other workings
“DNPM” is the Departamento Nacional de Produção
Mineral.
“grade” is the concentration of mineral within
the host rock typically quoted as grammes per tonne (g/t), parts
per million (ppm) or parts per billion (ppb).
“g/t” means grams per tonne.
“granodiorite” is an igneous intrusive rock
similar to granite.
“igneous” is a rock that has solidified from
molten material or magma.
“Intrusive” is a body of igneous rock that
invades older rocks.
“on-lode development” - Development that is
undertaken in and following the direction of the Vein
“mRL” – depth in metres measured relative
to a fixed point – in the case of Palito and Sao Chico this is
sea-level. The mine entrance at Palito is at 250mRL.
“saprolite” is a weathered or decomposed
clay‐rich rock.
“scrubber” – a machine for cleaning ore and
removing impurities such as clays, coatings or other deleterious
materials.
“stoping blocks” – a discrete area of
mineralised rock established for planning and scheduling purposes
that will be mined using one of the various stoping
methods.
“vein” is a generic term to describe an
occurrence of mineralised rock within an area of non-mineralised
rock.
Qualified Persons StatementThe
scientific and technical information contained within this
announcement has been reviewed and approved by Michael Hodgson, a
Director of the Company. Mr Hodgson is an Economic Geologist by
training with over 26 years' experience in the mining industry. He
holds a BSc (Hons) Geology, University of London, a MSc Mining
Geology, University of Leicester and is a Fellow of the Institute
of Materials, Minerals and Mining and a Chartered Engineer of the
Engineering Council of UK, recognising him as both a Qualified
Person for the purposes of Canadian National Instrument 43-101 and
by the AIM Guidance Note on Mining and Oil & Gas Companies
dated June 2009.
Forward Looking
StatementsCertain statements in this announcement are, or
may be deemed to be, forward looking statements. Forward looking
statements are identified by their use of terms and phrases such as
‘‘believe’’, ‘‘could’’, “should” ‘‘envisage’’, ‘‘estimate’’,
‘‘intend’’, ‘‘may’’, ‘‘plan’’, ‘‘will’’ or the negative of those,
variations or comparable expressions, including references to
assumptions. These forward looking statements are not based on
historical facts but rather on the Directors’ current expectations
and assumptions regarding the Company’s future growth, results of
operations, performance, future capital and other expenditures
(including the amount, nature and sources of funding thereof),
competitive advantages, business prospects and opportunities. Such
forward looking statements reflect the Directors’ current beliefs
and assumptions and are based on information currently available to
the Directors. A number of factors could cause actual results to
differ materially from the results discussed in the forward looking
statements including risks associated with vulnerability to general
economic and business conditions, competition, environmental and
other regulatory changes, actions by governmental authorities, the
availability of capital markets, reliance on key personnel,
uninsured and underinsured losses and other factors, many of which
are beyond the control of the Company. Although any forward looking
statements contained in this announcement are based upon what the
Directors believe to be reasonable assumptions, the Company cannot
assure investors that actual results will be consistent with such
forward looking statements.
ENDS
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