20th Apr 2016 10:27
LONDON (Alliance News) - Goldplat PLC on Wednesday said it has continued to be profitable in the third quarter of its financial year after successfully turning the company around during the first half, but said production fell during the period.
"This has been another good quarter for Goldplat. I am pleased to report continued profitability at the recovery operations and decreased losses at Kilimapesa. Good progress was made on major projects, including the Kilimapesa plant project and the Goldplat tailings storage facility," said Chief Executive Gerard Kisbey-Green.
In the first half that ran to the end of 2015, Goldplat left the red and turned to the black after managing to successfully turnaround the company following problems in the last financial year with a third-party processor.
On Wednesday, Goldplat said it produced a total of 7,252 ounces of gold in the third quarter to the end of March, which can be compared to the 7,876 ounces produced in the second quarter of the financial year and the 9,581 ounces produced in the first quarter.
Goldplat Recovery Pty Ltd, which is based in South Africa, contributed 4,864 of those gold ounces, of which 3,365 ounces were sold, whilst the other 975 ounces were returned to clients by way of metal transfers. That operation produced 5,690 ounces in the second quarter and 6,141 ounces in the first.
That led Goldplat Recovery to deliver an operating profit of GBP845,000 in the quarter, bringing the nine-month operating profit to GBP1.5 million.
The other recovery operation, Gold Recovery Ghana, produced 1,885 ounces in the most recent quarter, with 2,391 of those ounces being sold. That operation produced 1,897 ounces in the second quarter and 2,797 ounces in the first.
Gold Recovery Ghana produced a quarterly operating profit of GBP156,000, pushing its nine-month total up to GBP458,000.
At its third operation, the Kilimapesa mine in Kenya, Goldplat produced 503 ounces of gold in the third quarter and sold 442 of those ounces. The mine produced only 289 ounces in the second quarter and 643 ounces in the first.
That mine is still operating at a loss, which amounted to GBP169,000 in the quarter, pushing the nine-month operating loss from the mine to GBP501,000 - as the gold recovery operations continue to make up for the loss-making gold mine in Kenya.
Based on those figures supplied Wednesday, Goldplat's overall operating profit for the first nine months of the year is in the region of GBP1.4 million to GBP1.5 million.
"Whereas the financial results reflect the performances of the operating subsidiaries only, it is pleasing to report that, including all holding company and non-operating subsidiary costs, the group remained profitable during the quarter," said Kisbey-Green.
In terms of developments at the three operations, Goldplat said the tailings storage facility re-processing project in South Africa is "progressing well", and said the current research into metallurgical recovery optimisation should be finished towards the end of May this year. Once that is done, it will begin designing and assessing plans for the project.
Goldplat also noted that wage renegotiations covering its operation in South Africa, which is ongoing across the entire mining industry in the country, have been concluded successfully.
In Ghana, Goldplat is currently in the process of renewing the gold and environmental protection agency licenses, which should be concluded before the end of the current quarter. Goldplat added that the new elution plant project has been pushed back as it is focused on optimising the struggling Kilimapesa mine. A new date should be revealed shortly.
The circuit in leach plant that is currently in Ghana is now being moved to Kilimapesa. In preparation for its arrival, Goldplat said it has secured the environmental impact assessment for Kilimapesa as civil construction work begins.
Goldplat shares were trading up 2.0% to 5.10 pence per share on Wednesday morning.
By Joshua Warner; [email protected]; @JoshAlliance
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