TIDMWTI
RNS Number : 9281X
Weatherly International PLC
20 January 2014
Weatherly International Plc
("Weatherly" or "the Company")
Quarterly Operations and Production Update
Weatherly International Plc (AIM: WTI) is pleased to announce
its quarterly update for the second quarter of the financial year
ending 30 June 2014.
Highlights
-- Second quarter production from Central Operations was 75,281
tonnes of ore producing 5,330 tonnes of copper concentrate,
containing 1,311 tonnes of copper metal
-- C1 cash costs for the quarter were US$ 6,375(US$ 2.88lb)
-- Mine construction underway at Tschudi following ground
breaking ceremony held in November 2013, mobilisation gaining pace
and acid procurement contract being finalised
-- RFC Ambrian managed a placing and subscription on behalf of
the company that raised US$1.8 million
Rod Webster CEO of Weatherly commented:
"Copper concentrate produced in the month of December was 542
tonnes, our 3(rd) highest production month, to achieve this during
the Christmas break demonstrates that we are moving in the right
direction. Most importantly we now have access to the new Hoffnung
Fault West area where we mined our first copper during the
month."
Tschudi Project
Members of the Weatherly board attended the ground breaking
ceremony in November 2013 officially kicking off the construction
phase for the Tschudi project which will see us commence copper
production from the Tschudi mine in the second calendar quarter of
2015.
All the contracts with the main suppliers for the project are
now in place with the exception of acid supply. We expect to
finalise a direct acid supply contract with Dundee Precious Metals
Tsumeb, the owners of the nearby Tsumeb smelter, based on a Heads
of Agreement signed last year.
The Tschudi project has made significant progress with all the
elements to commence on site work now in place. The first teams are
mobilising to site in January 2014. All orders for long lead items
have been issued to ensure completion as per schedule.
Central Operations
Production
Production results for the second quarter 2014 financial year
are set out in the table below:
Quarter Quarter Quarter Quarter
ended ended Ended Ended
Mar-13 Jun-13 Sept-13 Dec 2013
Ore Treated
(t) 67,833 64,872 75,060 75,281
Grade (%) 1.81 2.05 1.72 1.87
Recovery (%) 92.92 93.49 93.02 93.1
Copper concentrate
(t) 4,948 5,250 5,118 5,330
Copper contained
(t) 1,142 1,242 1,201 1,311
Ore treated is up compared to the previous quarter. Ore grade is
up at 1.87%, an improvement of 8% on the previous quarter, the
amount of copper concentrate is up by 4% compared to our previous
quarter and copper contained is up by 8.4% against previous
quarter.
Our unit cash cost (C1) for the quarter, US$ 6,375/t (US$
2.88/lb), was higher than the previous quarter largely due to 'one
off' costs incurred in October and November. Specifically, at
Matchless there was a program of rebuilding scoops and drill rigs,
while at Otjihase there was the initial establishment cost
associated with commencing production from the new mining area
Hoffnung Fault West (HFW). By December C1 costs had reduced to US$
5,354/t Cu.
We continue to work towards reducing our unit costs, through
better access to ore and improved equipment, and improving our ore
and metal output. We anticipate additional improvements to be
realised over the coming months as we continue to increase the
ratio of ore from stoping as opposed to development at Matchless
and move to reduce our dependency at Otjihase on pillar recovery
through primary mining in the HFW area.
Commercial
During the quarter, the Company delivered 1,238 tonnes of copper
contained in 5,638 tonnes of concentrate to metal trader Louis
Dreyfus at a weighted average price of US$7289/t copper (US$
3.30/lb).
During the quarter we raised US$1.8 million by way of a placing
of 35,733,336 new Ordinary Shares of 0.5p each with both new and
existing institutional shareholders at a price of 3.0 pence per
Placing Share. The purpose of the raising was to increase our
working capital.
As at 31 December 2013, the Company had:
(1) Reduced its working capital loan from US$3.2 million to
US$2.480 million, having made loan repayments of US$0.72 million in
the quarter.
(2) Forward contracts over 1400 tonnes copper to be delivered
during the next seven months at an average price of US$8091/t. The
Company has ceased forward selling at current prices.
Conference call
The Company will hold a conference call on Wednesday 22nd
January at 11.00 am UK time. If you would like to attend please
send an email to info@weatherlyplc.com and we will send you the
dial in telephone number.
About Weatherly
Weatherly is an AIM listed, copper focused mining company, the
principal assets of which are located in Namibia. It currently has
two producing copper mines (Otjihase and Matchless), and is
developing the Tschudi open cut Copper Project. These assets will
enable Weatherly to achieve its medium term strategy of
establishing a copper mining business capable of sustaining
approximately 25,000tpa of copper production. The Company also has
a 25% stake in AIM listed company, China Africa Resources Plc
(CAR), which is currently focused on the development of the
lead/zinc project at Berg Aukas in Northern Namibia.
For further information please contact:
Weatherly International Plc +44 (0) 20 7917 2989
Rod Webster, Chief Executive Officer
Rolf Gerritsen, Senior Executive
RFC Ambrian Limited +44 (0) 20 3440 6800
(Nominated Adviser & Broker)
Samantha Harrison
Jen Boorer
Shore Capital +44 (0) 20 7408 4090
Jerry Keen
Toby Gibbs
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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