OPERATIONAL and DEVELOPMENT HIGHLIGHTS
Fourth quarter gold production of 10,223 ounces of gold, resulting in total annual gold production within guidance for the year of 40,101 ounces, a seven per cent improvement over 2019.
Total ore mined for the quarter of 44,092 tonnes at 6.69 grams per tonne ('g/t') of gold.
44,794 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 6.81 g/t of gold.
2,908 metres of horizontal development completed during the quarter.
Year-end cash holdings of
The installation of the ore sorter, to be sited between the crushing and the milling sections, entered its final stages by the end of the year, with electrical and mechanical testing undertaken.
Permitting at Coringa continued to progress with the date for the public hearing being set for
Step out drilling campaign at Sao Chico significantly extends resource beyond current mine limits.
The Company anticipates full year production for 2020 will be between 45,000 and 46,000 ounces.
'Mining and plant throughput rates and grades have remained consistent throughout the year, but the respective eight per cent and five per cent improvements, compared with 2018, have allowed the operation to exceed 40,000 ounces of gold for the first time. With the plant operating at full capacity the increased production and the operational consistency throughout the year is extremely satisfying. The year on year production improvement was helped by the processing of approximately 30,000 tonnes of stockpiled gold bearing flotation tailings, with this material have gold grades averaging over 4.5g/t.
'With the operation being plant constrained, every hour counts, hence we focus strongly on the quality of the ore feed and maximising plant availability. With the process plant running so well, we look forward to the commissioning of the ore sorter during this quarter. This will 'screen out' waste rock ahead of the milling section and liberate much needed capacity, allowing us to achieve improved levels of gold production in 2020 without needing to expand the milling capacity.
'Development and production from the Palito orebody continued to focus on the Chico da Santa sector, which hosts the narrow but very high grade Jatoba, Mogno and Ipe veins, though during the fourth quarter the Company recommenced the development of the G3 vein. This is being developed on the 130mRLl, to access an area successfully drilled from surface during 2019. The G3 vein was very much the 'backbone' of Palito historical production between 2004 and 2008 and again between 2013 and 2016. The G3 vein is generally wider than many of the others within the Palito ore body and exhibits exceptional copper and gold grades. I therefore have high expectations of this development and anticipate the contribution that the G3 vein will make to production in 2020.
'At the Sao Chico orebody, as was reported in the last quarter, development continued on both the deepest level, -48mRL, and higher up the orebody on level +186mRL. Production has remained very steady, with grades consistently in the 7.7 to 8.0 g/t range. However, the highlight of the quarter has been the initial results of the combined surface and underground drilling over the Sao Chico orebody as was reported on
'The fourth quarter also saw the Company commence a Reverse Circulation (RC) drilling programme which will take in the near-minesite geophysical anomalies of Abelha, Besouro, Cicada and Cinderella, all of which lie within a 10-kilometre radius of Sao Chico. The drilling was only started in December, so initial results are not yet available, but I am hopeful of positive news. These anomalies do lie outside the area of the current mining license, but in anticipation of exploration success, an application for a new mining license enveloping these anomalies has already been submitted to the mining authority, the ANM. As was reported in the news release of
'At Coringa, further permitting progress has been made. The revised Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) submitted for the Coringa project, received provisional approval on
'The next step in the award of the Preliminary Licence ('Licencia Previa') will now be a public hearing, which will be attended by members of the public and other stakeholders. This public hearing has now been set for
'Finishing the year with over 40,000 ounces of gold production, and at the same time building our cash position to over
'With recent continued strengthening of the gold prices, beneficial exchange rates and the ore sorter poised to contribute, I am positive about the outlook for 2020. The Company anticipates that 2020 production will show further growth and be in the region of 45,000-46,000 ounces
'With drilling continuing at Sao Chico and more permitting progress with Coringa, I look forward to reporting further positive news in the coming months.'
Production Results
Total production for the fourth quarter of 2020 was 10,223 ounces of gold, generated from the processing of 44,794 tonnes of ore at overall average grades of 6.81 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 9,423 tonnes of surface stockpiled flotation tailings grading approximately 5.38 g/t gold. Mined tonnage for the quarter totalled 44,092 tonnes with a grade of 6.69 g/t of gold.
On
A total of 2,908 metres of horizontal development has been completed during the quarter, of which 1,468 metres was ore development. The balance is the ramp, cross cuts and stope preparation development.
2020 Production Guidance
The Company anticipates full year production for 2020 will be between 45,000 and 46,000 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
Contact:
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Forward Looking Statements
Certain 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 reect 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.
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