RENO,
Nev., Aug. 2, 2023 /CNW/ - i-80 GOLD
CORP. (TSX: IAU) (NYSE: IAUX) ("i-80", or the
"Company") reports its operating and financial results for
the three and six months ended June 30,
2023. i-80's Consolidated Interim Financial Statements
("financial statements"), as well as i-80's Management's Discussion
and Analysis of Operations and Financial Condition ("MD&A") for
the three and six months ended June 30,
2023, are available on the Company's website at
www.i80gold.com, on SEDAR at www.sedar.com, and on EDGAR at
www.sec.gov.
Unless otherwise stated, all amounts referred to herein are in
U.S. dollars.
Highlights
Second Quarter
- Gold sales of 4,329 ounces at a realized gold price of
$1,9521.
- 6,651 tons of mineralized material sold for proceeds of
$2.8 million.
- Continued expansion of gold and polymetallic mineralization at
Ruby Hill.
- Received approval of workplan for additional Ruby Hill
exploration.
- Continued underground core drilling delineation of the CSD Gap
ore body at McCoy-Cove (13,350 feet).
- Began drilling infill holes at South Pacific Zone at Granite
Creek (4,800 ft).
- Completed 1,193 feet of development at McCoy Cove, with 143
feet remaining to complete the exploration ramp.
- Completed 3,578 feet of horizontal advance at Granite
Creek.
- Entered into an oxide ore sale and purchase agreement ("Ore
Sale Agreement") with a third party.
- 13,650 tons of material hauled to a third party from Granite
Creek for processing under the Ore Sale Agreement.
- Increased the size of the land package at Ruby Hill by more
than 34% with the FAD property acquisition.
Year to Date
- Gold sales of 6,678 ounces at a realized gold price of
$1,9431.
- Completed 2,501 feet of exploration ramp development at
McCoy-Cove.
- Completed 5,481 feet of horizontal development at Granite
Creek.
- 19,966 tons of material hauled to a third party from Granite
Creek for processing.
- A total of 112,728 feet (core and RC) drilled by the end of the
second quarter, with multiple positive results to expand
mineralization further.
"In the second quarter we continued to develop and completed
"proof of concept" mining on multiple zones at the Granite Creek
mine, completed the acquisition of Paycore Minerals to further
consolidate the Eureka District, negotiated an Ore Sale and
Purchase agreement for oxide mineralization and recently completed
an equity raise to bolster the Company's balance sheet," stated
Ryan Snow, Chief Financial Officer
of i-80. "We continue to generate revenue from the Lone Tree and
Ruby Hill residual leach programs as we advance exploration and
definition drilling at Granite Creek, McCoy-Cove and Ruby Hill.
With the additional capital raise, we will continue to advance
i-80's projects towards our ultimate goal of building a mid-tier
Nevada focused producer."
|
Three months
ended
June 30,
|
Six months
ended
June 30,
|
(in thousands of
U.S. dollars, unless otherwise noted)
|
2023
|
2022
|
2023
|
2022
|
|
|
|
|
|
Revenue
|
11,310
|
6,383
|
15,859
|
9,247
|
Cost of
sales(1)
|
(12,188)
|
(3,966)
|
(18,731)
|
(5,498)
|
Depletion, depreciation
and amortization(1)
|
(2,724)
|
(655)
|
(4,145)
|
(823)
|
Mine operating
income (loss)
|
(3,602)
|
1,762
|
(7,017)
|
2,926
|
|
|
|
|
|
Expenses
|
|
|
|
|
Exploration,
evaluation, and pre-development
|
11,095
|
12,132
|
20,074
|
21,386
|
General and
administrative
|
4,397
|
4,565
|
9,588
|
7,838
|
Property
maintenance
|
2,781
|
464
|
5,230
|
789
|
Share-based
payments
|
903
|
547
|
2,211
|
1,989
|
Operating
loss
|
(22,778)
|
(15,946)
|
(44,120)
|
(29,076)
|
(1) For the three
and six months ended June 30, 2023, includes an inventory
impairment of 4.5 million and 8.5 million, respectively.
|
Production and sales totaled 4,329 gold ounces for the quarter
and 6,678 gold ounces year to date (YTD) at a realized gold price
of $1,952 and $1,943 per ounce sold1, respectively,
additionally, during the second quarter the Company sold 6,651 tons
of mineralized material for proceeds of $2.8
million.
Exploration, evaluation, and pre-development costs were
$11.1 million and $20.1 million for the three and six months ended
June 30, 2023. This expenditure
mainly reflects the exploration and pre-development work at
McCoy-Cove and Ruby Hill.
Lone Tree
Lone Tree is expected to become the hub of i-80's Nevada operations and the central processing
facility for gold mineralization from the Granite Creek, McCoy-Cove
and Ruby Hill underground gold deposits. Importantly, Lone Tree is
host to infrastructure that, following successful refurbishment
efforts, will position i-80 as one of only three companies in
the United States capable of
processing both oxide and refractory mineralization.
During the first half of 2023, the Company continued leaching
the residual material on the pads as planned and shipped
approximately 3,459 ounces of gold on loaded carbon from site for
further processing. Additionally, the Company continued to advance
the engineering study and cost estimate for the restart of the
autoclave.
Lone Tree produced and sold from its residual leaching
activities 2,700 ounces of gold during the quarter and 3,363 ounces
of gold YTD at a realized gold price of $1,983 and $1,979
per ounce sold1, respectively.
Granite Creek
Refractory material has been shipped to the Twin Creeks facility
for processing under the toll milling agreement that is in place
with Nevada Gold Mines LLC ("NGM"). Processing of refractory
material delivered to NGM will commence once the contractual
initial tonnage of refractory mineralized material is delivered.
Mining to date has encountered significantly more oxide
(non-refractory) mineralized material than expected leading to less
refractory tons delivered to NGM. Starting in Q2 2023, the oxide
mineralized material from Granite Creek has been stockpiled and
subsequently shipped to a third party as part of the Ore Sale
Agreement. During the quarter the Company sold 6,651 tons of
mineralized material under the Ore Sale Agreement for proceeds of
$2.8 million.
1 Specified
financial measure which is not a standardized measure under IFRS
and may not be comparable to similar specified financial measures
used by other entities. Please see "Non-IFRS Financial Performance
Measures" for the composition of such specified financial
measure, an explanation of how such specified financial measure
provides useful information to a reader and the purposes for which
management of i-80 uses the specified financial measure, and where
required, a reconciliation of the specified financial measure to
the most directly comparable IFRS measure.
|
McCoy-Cove
The Cove deposit and the McCoy-Cove Property is expected to be
the core asset in the Company's "hub and spoke" business plan and
likely the highest-grade gold deposit in i-80's portfolio.
Underground delineation drilling continued during Q2 with 13,350
feet of core drilled yielding extremely positive results including
the previously released assay results for hole iCHU23-11 which
indicated 15.7 g/t Au over 22.5 meters and 18.9 g/t Au over 29.3
meters.
Expenditures continued during the quarter on the exploration
ramp and hydrology studies, and engineering of de-watering and
mining options. During the three and six month periods of 2023,
development footage completed was 1,193 feet and 2,501 feet,
respectively. As of the second quarter, the remaining footage
development to complete the exploration ramp at McCoy-Cove was 143
feet.
Ruby Hill
During the second quarter of 2023, drilling at Ruby Hill was
focused on advancing exploration and delineation of multiple CRD
mineralized discoveries. Including the previously released assay
results of hole iRH23-10 which indicated 0.6 g/t Au, 165.6 g/t Ag,
6.7% Zn, and 6.6% Pb, over 13.4 meters (East Hilltop CRD
discovery). Definition and expansion drilling of high-grade
polymetallic mineralization along the Hilltop fault structure
remains a priority. 13,439 feet of core drilling and 13,275 feet of
RC drilling was completed during the quarter. In addition to
drilling at Hilltop, multiple holes are being drilled for infill of
the Blackjack Zone. A workplan was approved late in Q2 that will
allow for additional exploration drill pads and roads to be built
south of the current Hilltop drilling.
Residual leaching activities at Ruby Hill produced and sold
1,629 ounces of gold during the quarter and 2,871 ounces of gold
YTD at a realized gold price of $1,899 and $1,901
per ounce sold1, respectively.
The Company will hold a conference call and webcast on
August 3, 2023, commencing at
10:00 am ET to discuss its second
quarter results and answer questions from participants.
Conference Call
Participant Details
|
Webcast
URL:
|
https://app.webinar.net/Z6rA1Gg1JW5
|
Phone Number
Information:
|
North American
Toll-free:
1-888-664-6383
|
|
Local
Toronto:
1-416-764-8650
|
Qualified Persons
Tyler Hill, CPG-12146, Chief
Geologist, and Tim George, PE, Mining Operations Manager, at i-80
have reviewed this press release and are the Qualified Persons for
the information contained herein and are a "Qualified Person"
within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101.
About i-80 Gold Corp.
i-80 Gold Corp. is a Nevada-focused mining company with a goal of
achieving mid-tier gold producer status through the development of
multiple deposits within the Company's advanced-stage property
portfolio with processing at i-80's centralized milling facilities.
i-80 Gold's common shares are listed on the TSX and the NYSE
American under the trading symbol IAU:TSX and IAUX:NYSE. Further
information about i-80 Gold's portfolio of assets and long-term
growth strategy is available at www.i80gold.com or by email at
info@i80gold.com.
Forward-looking
information
Certain statements in this release constitute "forward-looking
statements" or "forward-looking information" within the meaning of
applicable securities laws, including but not limited to, actual
production results and costs, results of operation outcomes and
timing of updated technical studies at the Company's mineral
projects, timing to advance mineral projects to production
and advance permitting and feasibility work on the on its mineral
projects and future production, development and exploration
results. Such statements and information involve known and unknown
risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual
results, performance or achievements of the company, its projects,
or industry results, to be materially different from any future
results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such
forward-looking statements or information. Such statements can be
identified by the use of words such as "may", "would", "could",
"will", "intend", "expect", "believe", "plan", "anticipate",
"estimate", "scheduled", "forecast", "predict" and other similar
terminology, or state that certain actions, events or results
"may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be
achieved. These statements reflect the Company's current
expectations regarding future events, performance and results and
speak only as of the date of this release.
Forward-looking statements and information involve significant
risks and uncertainties, should not be read as guarantees of future
performance or results and will not necessarily be accurate
indicators of whether or not such results will be achieved. A
number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially
from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements or
information, including, but not limited to: material adverse
changes, unexpected changes in laws, rules or regulations, or their
enforcement by applicable authorities; the failure of parties to
contracts with the company to perform as agreed; social or labor
unrest; changes in commodity prices; and the failure of exploration
programs or studies to deliver anticipated results or results that
would justify and support continued exploration, studies,
development or operations. For a more detailed discussion of such
risks and other factors that could cause actual results to differ
materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking
statements, refer to i-80's filings with Canadian securities
regulators, including the most recent Annual Information Form,
available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
NON-IFRS FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE
MEASURES
The Company has included certain terms or performance measures
commonly used in the mining industry that are not defined under
IFRS in this document. These include: adjusted net earnings and
average realized price per ounce. Non-IFRS financial performance
measures do not have any standardized meaning prescribed under
IFRS, and therefore, they may not be comparable to similar measures
employed by other companies. The data presented is intended to
provide additional information and should not be considered in
isolation or as a substitute for measures prepared in accordance
with IFRS and should be read in conjunction with the Company's
Financial Statements.
Definitions
Adjusted earnings / (loss) and adjusted earnings / (loss) per
share excludes from net earnings / (loss) significant
write-down adjustments and the gain / (loss) from financing
instruments.
Average realized gold price represents the sales price of
gold per ounce before deducting mining royalties, treatment and
refining charges and gains or losses derived from the offtake
agreement with Orion.
Average realized gold price per
ounce of gold sold
Average realized gold price per ounce of gold sold is a non-IFRS
measure and does not constitute a measure recognized by IFRS and
does not have a standardized meaning defined by IFRS. It may not be
comparable to information in other gold producers' reports and
filings.
|
|
Three months
ended
June 30,
|
Six months
ended
June 30,
|
(in thousands of
U.S. dollars, unless otherwise noted)(i)
|
2023
|
2022
|
2023
|
2022
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Nevada
production
|
|
|
|
|
|
Revenue per financial
statements
|
$
|
8,490
|
6,382
|
13,038
|
9,246
|
Silver revenue from
mining operations
|
$
|
(41)
|
(32)
|
(62)
|
(39)
|
Gold revenue from
mining operations
|
$
|
8,449
|
6,350
|
12,976
|
9,207
|
Ounces of gold
sold
|
ounce
|
4,329
|
3,507
|
6,678
|
4,996
|
Average realized
gold price
|
$/ounce
|
1,952
|
1,811
|
1,943
|
1,843
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Lone
Tree
|
|
|
|
|
|
Revenue per financial
statements
|
$
|
5,371
|
1,827
|
6,675
|
3,459
|
Silver revenue from
mining operations
|
$
|
(15)
|
(10)
|
(19)
|
(17)
|
Gold revenue from
mining operations
|
$
|
5,356
|
1,818
|
6,656
|
3,442
|
Ounces of gold
sold
|
ounce
|
2,700
|
941
|
3,363
|
1,785
|
Average realized
gold price
|
$/ounce
|
1,983
|
1,931
|
1,979
|
1,928
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ruby
Hill
|
|
|
|
|
|
Revenue per financial
statements
|
$
|
3,119
|
4,555
|
5,502
|
5,788
|
Silver revenue from
mining operations
|
$
|
(26)
|
(22)
|
(42)
|
(22)
|
Gold revenue from
mining operations
|
$
|
3,093
|
4,533
|
5,460
|
5,765
|
Ounces of gold
sold
|
ounce
|
1,629
|
2,565
|
2,871
|
3,211
|
Average realized
gold price
|
$/ounce
|
1,899
|
1,767
|
1,901
|
1,795
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Granite
Creek
|
|
|
|
|
|
Revenue per financial
statements
|
$
|
—
|
—
|
861
|
—
|
Silver revenue from
mining operations
|
$
|
—
|
—
|
—
|
—
|
Gold revenue from
mining operations
|
$
|
—
|
—
|
861
|
—
|
Ounces of gold
sold
|
ounce
|
—
|
—
|
444
|
—
|
Average realized
gold price
|
$/ounce
|
—
|
—
|
1,938
|
—
|
(i) May not add due to
rounding.
|
Adjusted Earnings /
(Loss)
Adjusted earnings / (loss) and adjusted earnings / (loss) per
share are non-IFRS measures that the Company considers to better
reflect normalized earnings because it eliminates non-recurring
items. Certain items that become applicable in a period may be
adjusted for, with the Company retroactively presenting comparable
periods with an adjustment for such items and conversely, items no
longer applicable may be removed from the calculation. Neither
adjusted earnings / (loss) nor adjusted earnings / (loss) per share
have any standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS and are therefore
unlikely to be comparable to similar measures presented by other
companies.
The following table shows a reconciliation of adjusted earnings
/ (loss) for the three and six months ended June 30, 2023 and 2022, to the net earnings /
(loss) for each period.
|
Three months
ended
June 30,
|
Six months
ended
June 30,
|
(in thousands of
U.S. dollars, unless otherwise noted)(i)
|
2023
|
2022
|
2023
|
2022
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net income / (loss)
for the period
|
$
(15,962)
|
$
19,276
|
$
(29,078)
|
$
(3,988)
|
Adjust
for:
|
|
|
|
|
Gain on
warrants
|
4,607
|
12,004
|
10,175
|
8,900
|
Gain on convertible
loans
|
2,097
|
16,307
|
10,463
|
10,214
|
Gain on convertible
debenture
|
900
|
—
|
900
|
—
|
Loss on deferred
consideration
|
(351)
|
(792)
|
(778)
|
(1,636)
|
Gain / (loss) on fair
value measurement of gold prepay
|
838
|
4,084
|
(2,252)
|
4,084
|
Gain on fair value
measurement of silver purchase
|
1,309
|
9,125
|
452
|
9,125
|
Inventory net
realizable value adjustment
|
(4,506)
|
—
|
(8,531)
|
—
|
Total
adjustments
|
$
4,894
|
$
40,728
|
$
10,429
|
$
30,687
|
Adjusted loss for
the period
|
$
(20,856)
|
$
(21,452)
|
$
(39,507)
|
$
(34,675)
|
Weighted average
shares for the period
|
265,433,411
|
240,312,422
|
255,573,142
|
239,800,687
|
Adjusted loss per
share for the period
|
$
(0.08)
|
$
(0.09)
|
$
(0.15)
|
$
(0.14)
|
(i) May not add due to
rounding.
|
SOURCE i-80 Gold Corp