VANCOUVER, BC, March 22, 2022 /CNW/ - Filo Mining Corp.
(TSX: FIL) (Nasdaq First North Growth Market: FIL) (OTCQX: FLMMF)
("Filo Mining" or the "Company") announces its results for the year
ended December 31, 2021. PDF
Version.
HIGHLIGHTS AND OUTLOOK
Filo Mining Well Positioned to Rapidly Define the Filo del
Sol Deposit
Jamie Beck, President & CEO,
remarked, "Our 2021/2022 drill campaign is now well underway and
initial assays from holes 54 and 55 have built confidence in our
geological model and returned excellent results. Drilling to date
has identified continuous mineralization over a north-south
distance of 4.5km, an east-west distance over 1km, and almost 1.5km
deep. The deposit remains open to the north, south, east and at
depth. With the closing of the $100
million, non-brokered private placement to BHP earlier this
month, the Company is now well funded to significantly ramp up our
exploration efforts at Filo del Sol.
Two additional diamond rigs are currently being mobilized to
site, which will bring our total diamond rig count to seven. By
mid-year, we will look to add an additional four diamond rigs,
which would bring the total diamond rig count to eleven. The
additional rigs will dramatically increase the pace of drilling at
the project and expedite our exploration objectives - searching for
the edges of the system and enhancing our geological understanding
of this remarkable deposit."
On March 11, 2022, the Company
closed a non-brokered private placement of 6,270,000 common shares
to BHP Western Mining Resources International Pty Ltd, a wholly
owned subsidiary of BHP Group Limited (collectively, "BHP"), at a
price of $15.95 per common share for
total gross proceeds of $100 million
(the "Private Placement") (see news releases dated February
28, 2022 and March 11, 2022). No
finder's fee or commissions were payable in connection with the
Private Placement.
Filo Mining intends to use the proceeds of the Private Placement
to advance exploration and development of the Company's Filo del
Sol project and for working capital and general corporate purposes.
In this regard, the completion of the Private Placement, and the
resulting replenishment of the Company's treasury, will afford Filo
Mining valuable flexibility as it seeks to expand its operations,
starting with the 2021/2022 drill program currently underway.
The 2021/2022 drill program is currently operating with five
diamond drill rigs, and the Company is in the process of adding two
additional diamond drills and a reverse circulation ("RC") drill
before the end of March 2022 for the
purposes of pre-collaring the upper portion of holes in areas that
have been historically challenging to diamond drill. Initial
drilling has focused around an area the Company is calling Breccia
41. This area was named after its discovery hole, FSDH041, which
intersected 163m at 5.43% copper
equivalent1 ("CuEq") (2.31% Cu; 2.07g/t Au; 183.0g/t Ag) from
780m depth within a broader interval
of 858m at 1.80% CuEq (0.86% Cu;
0.70g/t Au; 48.1g/t Ag) from 188m
depth. Breccia 41 represents an area of elevated grades within the
high-grade Aurora Zone, an
approximate 1 km3 zone which extends from FSDH034 in the south, to
FSDH041 to the north, and remains open in all directions. The
current campaign seeks to improve the Company's understanding of
Breccia 41 and the Aurora Zone's geometry while also testing some
new exploration targets at Filo del Sol.
Assay results from two holes of the 2021/2022 campaign have been
received and released. Hole FSDH055A returned the best precious
metal intersections on the project to date, with 64m at 1,213.8g/t Ag and 0.49g/t Au from a depth
of 362m. Meanwhile, hole FSDH054
intersected 172m at 3.22% CuEq (1.51%
Cu; 1.42g/t Au; 75.9g/t Ag) from 830m
depth within a broader interval of 1,224m at 1.26% CuEq (0.71% Cu; 0.54g/t Au;
18.0g/t Ag) from a depth of 146m.
Hole FSDH054 was collared 60m east
of, and drilled parallel to, FSDH041, and the mineralization
intersected is completely outside of the current Mineral Resource,
successfully extended Breccia 41, and remains open to the west,
east, north and at depth.
Assay results for initial holes FSDH054 and FSDH055A are summarized
in the table below:
Hole-ID
|
From
(m)
|
To
(m)
|
Length
(m)
|
Cu
(%)
|
Au
(g/t)
|
Ag
(g/t)
|
CuEq
(%)
|
FSDH054
|
146.0
|
1,369.5
|
1,223.5
|
0.71
|
0.54
|
18.0
|
1.26
|
plus
|
435.9
|
442.0
|
6.1
|
0.59
|
0.24
|
127.5
|
1.89
|
plus
|
498.0
|
1,090.0
|
592.0
|
1.15
|
0.84
|
31.9
|
2.04
|
incl.
|
830.0
|
1,001.5
|
171.5
|
1.51
|
1.42
|
75.9
|
3.22
|
FSDH055A
|
362.0
|
426.0
|
64.0
|
0.01
|
0.49
|
1,213.8
|
|
incl.
|
374.4
|
402.0
|
27.6
|
0.01
|
0.50
|
2,439.2
|
|
incl.
|
380.0
|
388.0
|
8.0
|
0.01
|
0.45
|
5,280.0
|
|
The Company will also advance exploration drilling on the
project this season, the objective of which will be to find the
edges of the deposit, which remains open to the north, south, east
and at depth. Step-out drilling will be a combination of holes
testing the sparsely drilled area north of FSDH037, the undrilled
area north-east of FSDH051 and, eventually, the area south of the
southern extent of the current Mineral Resource. Hole locations
will be determined as the drill program progresses, guided by drill
results, surface mapping, and geophysical interpretations. In
particular, data collected from the drilling will be used to
develop a comprehensive geological model which will guide further
exploration and form the basis of eventual Mineral Resource
estimates.
The Company also plans to undertake preliminary metallurgical
testwork on the sulphide mineralization, as well as the
continuation of environmental and social baseline data collection
in support of future project permitting.
FINANCIAL RESULTS
(In thousands of
Canadian dollars, except per share amounts)
|
|
Three months
ended
|
Year
ended
|
|
December
31,
|
December
31,
|
|
2021
|
2020
|
2021
|
2020
|
Exploration and
project investigation
|
10,328
|
4,214
|
40,901
|
19,055
|
General and
administration ("G&A")
|
1,678
|
665
|
6,113
|
4,059
|
Net loss
|
8,053
|
3,271
|
32,419
|
18,879
|
Basic and diluted
loss per share
|
0.07
|
0.03
|
0.29
|
0.19
|
The financial
information in this table were selected from the Company's
consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31,
2021 (the "Financial Statements"), which are available on SEDAR at
www.sedar.com and the Company's website
www.filo-mining.com.
|
SELECTED FINANCIAL INFORMATION
(In thousands of
Canadian dollars)
|
|
December
31,
|
December
31,
|
|
2021
|
2020
|
Cash
|
19,417
|
36,326
|
Working
capital
|
13,052
|
33,026
|
Mineral
properties
|
8,063
|
8,857
|
Total
assets
|
33,660
|
47,663
|
The financial
information in this table were selected from the Financial
Statements, which are available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and
the Company's website www.filo-mining.com.
|
The Company incurred a net loss of $32.4
million during the year ended December 31, 2021, comprised primarily of
$40.9 million in exploration and
project investigation costs and $6.1
million in G&A costs, which were partially offset by a
gain of approximately $15.3 million
resulting from the use of marketable securities for the purposes of
facilitating intragroup funding transfers (a "Funding Gain"). For
the 2020 comparative period, the Company reported a net loss of
$18.9 million, consisting mainly of
$19.1 million in exploration and
project investigation costs and $4.1
million in G&A costs, which were partially offset by a
Funding Gain of $4.6 million.
LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES
As at December 31, 2021, the
Company had cash of $19.4 million and
net working capital of $13.1 million,
compared to cash of $36.3 million and
net working capital of $33.0 million
as at December 31, 2020. The decrease
in the Company's cash and net working capital is due primarily to
funds used to advance exploration at the Filo del Sol Project, and
to a lesser extent, funds spent for general corporate purposes.
These decreases have been partially offset primarily by
$9.6 million in gross proceeds
received by the Company in relation to the exercise of stock
options during the year ended December 31,
2021.
The Company will continue to deploy the majority of its
treasury, including the proceeds received from the Private
Placement, to fund ongoing exploration and advancement of the Filo
del Sol Project.
About Filo Mining
Filo Mining is a Canadian exploration and development company
focused on advancing its 100% owned Filo del Sol copper-gold-silver
deposit located in Chile's Region
III and adjacent San Juan Province, Argentina. The Company's shares are listed on
the TSX and Nasdaq First North Growth Market under the trading
symbol "FIL", and on the OTCQX under the symbol "FLMMF". Filo
Mining is a member of the Lundin Group of Companies.
Technical Information
1Copper Equivalent is calculated based on
US$ 3.00/lb Cu, US$ 1,500/oz Au and US$
18/oz Ag, with 80% metallurgical recoveries assumed for all
metals. The formula is: CuEq % = Cu % + (0.7292 * Au g/t) + (0.0088
* Ag g/t).
Details on assay procedures and the drill intersections provided
above can be found in the Company's news releases dated
January 12, 2022 and January 19, 2022.
Qualified Persons
The scientific and technical disclosure for the Filo del Sol
Project included in this news release have been reviewed and
approved by Bob Carmichael, P.Eng.
and Jamie Beck, P. Eng. Mr.
Carmichael is Filo Mining's Vice President of Exploration and a
Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101 Standards of
Disclosure of Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101"). Mr. Beck is Filo
Mining's President and CEO and is also a Qualified Person under NI
43-101.
Additional information
The Company's consolidated financial statements for the year
ended December 31, 2021 and related
management's discussion and analysis are available on the Company's
website at www.filo-mining.com or under its profile on SEDAR at
www.sedar.com.
The Company's certified adviser on the Nasdaq First North Growth
Market is Aktieinvest FK AB, +46 8 506 51703,
rutger.ahlerup@aktieinvest.se.
The information contained in this news release was accurate at
the time of dissemination, but may be superseded by subsequent news
release(s). The Company is under no obligation nor does it
intend to update or revise the forward-looking information, whether
as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
This information was submitted by Filo Mining Corp. for
publication, through the agency of the contact person set out
below, on March 22, 2022 at
16:00 Pacific time.
On behalf of the board of directors of Filo Mining,
Jamie Beck, President and CEO
Filo Mining Corp.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements made and information contained herein in this
press release constitutes "forward-looking information" and
"forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable
securities legislation (collectively, "forward-looking
information") concerning the business, operations, financial
performance and condition of Filo Mining. The forward-looking
information contained in this press release is based on information
available to the Company as of the date of this press release.
Except as required under applicable securities legislation, the
Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to
update this forward-looking information. Generally, any statements
that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions,
expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions
or future events or performance, (often, but not always, identified
by words or phrases such as "plans", "expects" or "does not
expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates",
"forecasts", "intends", "projects" , "estimates", "budgets",
"scheduled", "forecasts", "assumes", "intends", "strategy",
"goals", "objectives", "potential", "possible", "anticipates" or
"does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words
and phrases or statements that certain actions, events, conditions
or results "will", "may", "could", "would", "should", "might" or
"will be taken", "will occur" or "will be achieved" or the negative
connotations thereof and similar expressions) are not statements of
historical fact and may be forward-looking statements.
All statements other than statements of historical fact may be
forward-looking statements. Forward-looking information is
necessarily based on estimates and assumptions that are inherently
subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors
that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance
or achievements of the Company to be materially different from
those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information,
including but not limited to: risks and uncertainties relating to,
among other things, the inherent uncertainties regarding Mineral
Reserve and Resource estimates, cost estimates, changes in
commodity prices, currency fluctuation, financings, unanticipated
resource grades, infrastructure, results of exploration activities,
cost overruns, availability of materials and equipment, timeliness
of government approvals, taxation, political risk and related
economic risk and unanticipated environmental impact on operations
as well as other risks, and uncertainties and other factors,
including, without limitation, those referred to in the "Risks and
Uncertainties" section of the Company's most recent MD&A and/or
Annual Information Form, under the heading "Risks Factors", and
elsewhere, which may cause the actual results, level of activity,
performance or achievements of the Company to be materially
different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking
information.
The Company believes that the expectations reflected in the
forward-looking information included in this press release are
reasonable but no assurance can be given that these expectations
will prove to be correct and such forward-looking information
should not be unduly relied upon. Information contained in this
press release is as of the date of this press release. In
particular, this press release contains forward-looking information
pertaining to the assumptions used in the PFS for the Filo del Sol
project, the assumptions used in the Mineral Reserves and Resources
estimates for the Filo del Sol project, including, but not limited
to, geological interpretation, grades, metal price assumptions,
metallurgical and mining recovery rates, geotechnical and
hydrogeological conditions, as applicable; ability to develop
infrastructure; assumptions made in the interpretation of drill
results, geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits;
expectations regarding access and demand for equipment, skilled
labour and services needed for exploration and development of
mineral properties; and that activities will not be adversely
disrupted or impeded by exploration, development, operating,
regulatory, political, community, economic and/or environmental
risks. In addition, this press release may contain forward-looking
statements or information pertaining to: the potential exploration
results or anticipated outcomes of infill or step-out drilling
planned at Filo del Sol; exploration and development plans and
expenditures, including, but not limited to, its plans to add rigs
to the 2021/2022 drill campaign, the sequencing or prioritization
of drill targets, , the impact of reverse circulation drilling for
the purposes of pre-collaring, and a transition to year-round
operations; the ability of the Company's COVID-19 operating
protocol to continue to meet government mandated health and safety
guidelines enabling it to conduct its field programs as planned;
the ultimate size and scope of its field programs and the Company's
ability to achieve the objectives thereof; the impact of the
Company's winterization efforts at Filo del Sol, and whether such
efforts will enable year-round operations and have adequately
anticipated the challenges of winter operation, including, but not
limited to, weather and potential supply chain disruptions; the
anticipated use of proceeds from the Private Placement; the timing
or results of an upgrade to the Mineral Resources estimate at Filo
del Sol, including the inputs used therein; opportunities to
improve project economics; the success of future exploration
activities; potential for resource expansion; potential for the
discovery of new mineral deposits; ability to build shareholder
value; expectations with regard to adding to its Mineral Reserves
or Resources through exploration; expectations with respect to the
conversion of inferred resources to an indicated resources
classification; ability to execute planned work programs;
estimation of commodity prices, Mineral Reserves and Resources,
estimations of costs, and permitting time lines; ability to obtain
surface rights and property interests; currency exchange rate
fluctuations; requirements for additional capital; government
regulation of mining activities; environmental risks; unanticipated
reclamation expenses; title disputes or claims; limitations on
insurance coverage; and other risks and uncertainties.
Forward-looking information is based on certain assumptions that
the Company believes are reasonable, including that the current
price of and demand for commodities will be sustained or will
improve, the supply of commodities will remain stable, that the
general business and economic conditions will not change in a
material adverse manner, that financing will be available if and
when needed on reasonable terms and that the Company will not
experience any material labour dispute, accident, or failure of
plant or equipment. These factors are not, and should not be
construed as being, exhaustive. Although the Company has
attempted to identify important factors that would cause actual
results to differ materially from those contained in
forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause
results not to be as anticipated, estimated, or
intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will
prove to be accurate, as the Company's actual results and future
events could differ materially from those anticipated in such
statements, as a result of the factors discussed in the "Risk and
Uncertainties" section of the Company's most recent management's
discussion and analysis and elsewhere and in the "Risk Factors"
section in the Company's most recent Annual Information Form, which
are available under the Company's profile on SEDAR at
www.sedar.com. All the forward-looking information contained
in this document is qualified by these cautionary
statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance
on forward-looking information due to the inherent uncertainty
thereof.
Statements relating to "Mineral Resources" are deemed to be
forward looking information, as they involve the implied
assessment, based on certain estimates and assumptions, that the
Mineral Resources described can be profitably produced in the
future.
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SOURCE Filo Mining Corp.