TIDMAUE
RNS Number : 7771C
Aureus Mining Inc.
20 October 2015
20 October 2015
Aureus Mining Inc.
TSX : AUE
AIM : AUE
UPDATE ON NEW LIBERTY OPERATIONS
Aureus Mining Inc., ("Aureus" or the "Company"), the TSX and AIM
listed West African Gold Producer, reports that gold production at
the New Liberty Gold Mine has temporarily stopped due to a
mechanical failure within the secondary crusher.
Key Highlights
-- A mechanical failure has occurred within the secondary
crusher, resulting in a temporary shutdown of the New Liberty
process plant.
-- A mobile crusher has been sourced in country and it is
currently being transported by road to New Liberty. It will be on
site by 23 October allowing crushing and processing operations to
re-commence as quickly as possible.
-- DRA Mineral Projects ("DRA") the Engineering, Procurement,
and Construction Management contractor ("EPCM") and specialist
technicians from the Original Equipment Manufacturer ("OEM"), have
mobilized to site to assess the damage and repair the secondary
crusher .
-- Following an initial assessment by the OEM, all key tools,
spares and ancillary equipment are currently being expedited to
site to allow the completion of the repair work. It is anticipated
that all necessary repair work can be completed on site by the OEM
by 31 October.
-- Mining operations are continuing as planned throughout the
plant stoppage to increase ore stockpiles. The Company is also
undertaking other additional preventative maintenance programmes
across the process plant.
-- Since first gold sales began, the Company has made eight
shipments of gold doré from New Liberty, resulting in sales of
approximately 10,000 ounces of gold.
-- Following the repair of the secondary crusher the Company
will continue to work towards declaring Commercial Production, and
management expect that this will be achieved by year end.
Commenting on the mechanical failure David Reading, President
and Chief Executive Officer of Aureus Mining, said:
"The team at Aureus has reacted quickly to the mechanical
failure of the secondary crusher, which happened last week. Though
this is a challenging development during what are the early stages
of the ramp up of the New Liberty Gold Mine to Commercial
Production, we believe that the installation of a temporary
solution whilst the secondary crusher is being repaired will result
in only a few days of lost gold production. I look forward to
updating shareholders on the progress of this solution over the
coming days."
Background to the Technical Issue
Early last week a mechanical failure occurred within the
secondary crusher resulting in the temporary suspension of
processing activities at the New Liberty process plant. The
Company's operational team are working with DRA, the EPCM
contractor, and specialist technicians from the secondary crusher's
OEM, who have mobilized to site to assess the damage and repair the
secondary crusher.
Following an initial assessment by the specialist OEM
technician, all required key tools, spares and ancillary equipment
have been sourced and are currently being expedited to New Liberty
to allow the OEM to undertake the repair work. The OEM expects to
complete this repair work and have the secondary crusher fully
operational by 31 October.
To recommence production as quickly as possible, a mobile
crusher, with a capacity of 200 tonnes per hour, has been sourced
in country and is currently being transported by road from Yekepa
to New Liberty to cover the intervening downtime period, and allow
for crushing and stockpiling operations to continue whilst the
secondary crusher is undergoing repair. It is anticipated that this
temporary crusher will arrive at New Liberty by 23 October and be
operational shortly afterwards. Following the repair of the
secondary crusher, the mobile crusher will be retained for a period
of time to provide additional flexibility during the continued ramp
up of operations.
The Company believes that this temporary shutdown in processing
activities will not severely impact production levels but may halt
gold production for up to two weeks. During this time, the Company
plans to continue with mining operations to increase its ore
stockpiles. The Company is also taking the opportunity to undertake
other additional preventative maintenance activities across the
process plant that were scheduled to be undertaken later in
2015.
During the process of commissioning and ramping up the New
Liberty process plant the Company has made eight shipments of gold
doré from New Liberty, resulting in sales of approximately 10,000
ounces of gold. Following the repair of the secondary crusher, the
Company will continue to work towards the achievement of Commercial
Production, and although now delayed, management expects this will
be achieved by year end.
The first repayment under the Company's debt facilities is not
due until January 2016, and providing the plant now moves smoothly
through the remaining commissioning phase to steady state design
capacity, cash flow from operations in Q4 will be sufficient to
meet this obligation.
A further update will be provided to shareholders in due
course.
Contact Information
Aureus Mining Inc. Buchanan
David Reading / Paul Thomson Bobby Morse / Anna Michniewicz
Tel: +44(0) 20 7010 7690 Tel: +44(0) 20 7466 5000
----------------------------- -------------------------------
Numis Securities Limited GMP Securities Europe
(Nominated Adviser and LLP
Joint Broker) (Joint Broker)
John Prior / James Black Richard Greenfield /
/ Paul Gillam Alexandra Carse
Tel: +44(0) 20 7260 1000 Tel: +44(0) 20 7647 2800
----------------------------- -------------------------------
About Aureus Mining Inc.
The Company's assets include the New Liberty Gold Mine in
Liberia (the "New Liberty Gold Mine," "New Liberty" or the "mine")
which has an estimated proven and probable mineral reserve of 8.5
Mt with 924,000 ounces of gold grading 3.4 g/t and an estimated
measured and indicated mineral resource of 9,796 Kt with 1,143,000
ounces of gold grading 3.63 g/t and an estimated inferred mineral
resource of 5,730 Kt with 593,000 ounces of gold grading 3.2 g/t. A
Definitive Feasibility Study ("DFS") has been completed, the first
gold pour has taken place and work continues on commissioning the
plant for full scale commercial production. The mine is expected to
have an 8 year life and annual production of 119,000 ounces for the
first 6 years of production. The foregoing mineral reserve and
mineral resource estimates and additional information in connection
therewith are set out in the Company's technical report dated March
25, 2015 and entitled "New Liberty Gold Project, Bea Mountain
Mining Licence Southern Block, Liberia, West Africa, Definitive
Project Plan."
The New Liberty Gold Mine is located within the Southern Block
of the 100% owned Bea Mountain mining licence. This licence covers
478 km(2) and has a 25 year, renewable, mineral development
agreement. The Bea Mountain mining license also hosts additional
gold projects of Ndablama, Gondoja, Weaju and Leopard Rock which
are the focus of exploration programs during 2015. Ndablama has an
indicated mineral resource of 386,000 ounces of gold grading 1.6
g/t and inferred mineral resource of 515,000 ounces of gold grading
1.7g/t and Weaju has an inferred mineral resource of 178,000 ounces
of gold grading 2.1 g/t. The Yambesei (759 km(2) ), Archaen West
(112.6 km(2) ), Mabong (36.6 km(2) ) and Mafa West (15.6 km(2) )
licences will also be subject to preliminary reconnaissance
geological work. The foregoing mineral resource estimates and
additional information in connection therewith are set out in the
Company's technical report dated December 1, 2014 and entitled
"Ndablama and Weaju Gold Projects, Bea Mountain Mining Licence,
Northern Block, Technical Report on Mineral Resources" ("Ndablama
and Weaju Technical Report 2014").
The Company also has a gold exploration permit in Cameroon.
Qualified Persons
The Company's Qualified Person is David Reading, who holds a MSc
in Economic Geology from University of Waterloo, Canada and is a
Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining. David
Reading is the President and CEO of Aureus Mining Inc. and has
reviewed and approves this press release.
Forward Looking Statements
Certain information in this news release relating to Aureus is
forward-looking and related to anticipated events and strategies.
When used in this context, words such as "will", "anticipate",
"believe", "plan", "intend", "target" and "expect" or similar words
suggest future outcomes. Forward-looking information contained in
this press release includes, but may not be limited to, statements
or information relating to: the New Liberty Gold Project (including
the quantity and quality of mineral resource and mineral reserve
estimates), the potential to upgrade inferred mineral resources,
opportunities to optimize the New Liberty Gold Project, the ability
of the Company to develop the New Liberty Gold Project into a mine
and the proposed new plans relating thereto regarding operations
and mine design, future gold production, and future cash flows, the
expected mine life of the New Liberty Gold Project, progress in the
fight against Ebola and the anticipated exploration and development
activities of Aureus. By their nature, such statements are subject
to significant risks and uncertainties that may cause actual
results or events to differ materially from current expectations,
including: risks normally incidental to exploration and development
of mineral properties; the inability of the Company to obtain
required financing when needed and/or on acceptable terms or at
all; risks that the cost of implementing the new mine plan at the
New Liberty Gold Project and the operating cash costs of the New
liberty Gold Project exceed those estimated in the new mine plan;
uncertainties in the interpretation of results from drilling
and
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