Monument Mining Limited (TSX-V: MMY and FSE: D7Q1) “Monument” or
the “Company” today announced its first quarter production and
financial results for the three months ended September 30, 2020.
All amounts are expressed in United States dollars (“US$”) unless
otherwise indicated (refer to www.sedar.com for full financial
results).
President and CEO Cathy Zhai commented: “Fiscal
2021 started with new challenging as a global COVID-19 pandemic
carried forward from fiscal 2020. The Company has fully resumed its
production in the first quarter from eight-week’s mining ban at
Selinsing in the first quarter, the Selinsing Sulphide gold plant
upgrade is however still pending for financing.
“On the other hand, gold price surged to record
high and the gold mining sector was very active in Western
Australia, gold mining producers enjoyed high production margins,
and investment is flowing into that region for gold explorations.
The Company continues try hard to access to financing, and it is
very closely monitoring the market and looking for divesting of
base metal portfolio to focus on primary gold assets, as well as
new corporate development opportunities to lift up market value for
the best interest of its shareholders.”
First Quarter
Highlights:
- 3,504 ounces (“oz”) of gold
produced (Q1 2020: 4,852oz) with 3,100oz of gold sold for gross
revenue of $5.92 million (Q1 2020: 4,323oz of gold sold for revenue
of $6.34 million); Gross margin of $3.06 million (Q1 2020: $2.65
million);
- Average realized price per ounce,
excluding prepaid gold sales, of $1,909/oz (Q1 2020:
$1,475/oz);
- Cash cost per ounce of $923/oz (Q1
2020: $855/oz); All-in sustaining costs per ounce (“AISC”) of
$1,055/oz (Q1 2020: $1,158/oz);
- Peranggih grade control drilling
after positive trial mining results identified 58,662 tonnes at
0.93g/t Au materials;
- Production resumed at Selinsing
after lifting eight weeks mining ban in last quarter during
COVID-19 pandemic
- Entering into a Tuckanarra JV
arrangement with Odyssey subsequent to the quarter opens corporate
development opportunities in WA region.
First Quarter
Production and Financial
Highlights
|
Three months ended
September 30, |
|
2020 |
2019 |
Production |
|
|
Ore mined (t) |
81,576 |
46,797 |
Ore processed (t) |
166,432 |
234,030 |
Average mill feed grade
(g/t) |
0.98 |
0.99 |
Processing recovery rate
(%) |
64% |
71% |
Gold recovery (oz) |
3,343 |
5,327 |
Gold production (1) (oz) |
3,504 |
4,852 |
Gold sold (oz) |
3,100 |
4,323 |
Financial (expressed in
thousands of US$) |
$ |
$ |
Revenue |
5,919 |
6,343 |
Gross margin from mining
operations |
3,059 |
2,646 |
Income before other items |
1,943 |
745 |
Net income |
138 |
208 |
Cash flows provided from
operations |
747 |
1,212 |
Working capital |
18,482 |
23,288 |
Earnings per share - basic and
diluted (US$/share) |
0.00 |
0.00 |
|
Three months ended September 30, |
|
2020 |
2019 |
|
|
|
Other |
US$/oz |
US$/oz |
Average realized gold price
per ounce sold(2) |
1,909 |
1,475 |
|
|
|
Cash cost per ounce (3) |
|
|
Mining |
274 |
178 |
Processing |
481 |
538 |
Royalties |
163 |
121 |
Operations, net of silver
recovery |
5 |
18 |
Total cash cost per
ounce |
923 |
855 |
All-in sustaining costs per
ounce (4) |
|
|
By-product silver
recovery |
1 |
1 |
Operation expenses |
9 |
- |
Corporate expenses |
9 |
15 |
Accretion of asset retirement
obligation |
11 |
11 |
Exploration and evaluation
expenditures |
13 |
49 |
Sustaining capital
expenditures |
89 |
227 |
Total all-in sustaining costs
per ounce |
1,055 |
1,158 |
(1) Defined as good delivery gold bullion
according to London Bullion Market Association (“LBMA”), net of
gold doŕe in transit and refinery adjustment.(2) Monument realized
1,909US$/oz for the three months ended September 30, 2020.(3) Total
cash cost per ounce includes production costs such as mining,
processing, tailing facility maintenance and camp administration,
royalties and operating costs such as storage, temporary mine
production closure, community development cost and property fees,
net of by-product credits. Cash cost excludes amortization,
depletion, accretion expenses, idle production costs, capital
costs, exploration costs and corporate administration costs.
Readers should refer to section 14 “Non-IFRS Performance
Measures”.
All-in sustaining cost per ounce includes total
cash costs and adds sustaining capital expenditures, corporate
administrative expenses for the Selinsing Gold Mine including
share-based compensation, exploration and evaluation costs, and
accretion of asset retirement obligations. Certain other cash
expenditures, including tax payments and acquisition costs, are not
included. Readers should refer to section 14 “Non-IFRS Performance
Measures”.
Q1 2021 Production
Analysis
- Gold production of 3,504oz, a 28%
decrease as compared to 4,852oz of Q1 2020. The decrease mainly
resulted from lower mining rates and mill feed and more leachable
sulphide ore with lower recovery as compared to Q1 2020.
- Ore processed decreased to 166,432t
from 234,030t of Q1 2020. The decreased mill feed was mainly due to
a decrease in stockpiled super low-grade oxide ore, shortage of
explosives resulting in less oxide ore being mined and processed.
Average mill feed grade was 0.98g/t and was comparable to 0.99g/t
of Q1 2020. The decrease in processing recovery rate to 64% from
71% of Q1 2020 was mainly due to lower recoveries obtained from
processing leachable sulphide ore materials.
- Cash cost per ounce increased by 8%
to $923/oz from $855/oz of Q1 2020. The increase was mainly due to
additional reagents, processing time and energy required in
leaching sulphide materials.
- Ore stockpile has reduced mainly
due to adverse impact from lower mining rate in previous year that
has yet be caught up. Certain mining facilities were used to
deliver material borrowed from mining waste for tailing
development. Despite the impact from COVID-19 pandemic and
explosive supply shortage, the Company has devoted its effort to
improve the stockpile balance.
Q1 2021 Financial
Analysis
- Gold sales generated revenue of
$5.92 million for the period as compared to $6.34 million from Q1
2020. Gold sales revenue was derived from the sale of 3,100oz (Q1
2020: 4,323oz) of gold at an average realized gold price of $1,909
per ounce (Q1 2020: $1,475 per ounce) and the delivery of nil oz
(Q1 2020: 723oz) in fulfilling gold prepaid obligations at an
average London Fix PM gold price of $nil per ounce (Q1 2020: $1,429
per ounce).
- Total production costs decreased by
23% to $2.86 million as compared to $3.70 million from Q1 2020. The
decrease in production costs reflected less gold sold, offset by
higher mining and processing costs as compared to Q1 2020.
- Gross margin for the period was
$3.06 million before operation expenses and non-cash amortization
and accretion. That represented a 16% increase as compared to $2.65
million from Q1 2020. The increase in gross margin was attributable
to an increase in a higher average realized gold price but offset
by less gold sold and higher mining and processing costs.
- Net income for the period was $0.14
million, or $nil per share as compared to net income of $0.21
million or $nil per share from Q1 2020. The negative variance was
caused by higher foreign currency exchange loss and higher tax
expenses, offset by higher income from mining operations and less
corporate expenses.
- Cash and cash equivalents balance
as at September 30, 2020 was $13.94 million, an increase of $3.81
million from the balance at June 30, 2020 of $10.13 million. As at
September 30, 2020, the Company had positive working capital $18.48
million which was comparable to that at June 30, 2020 of $18.79
million.
- Cash provided from investing
activities for the period was $3.07 million (Q1 2020: used in
investing activities of $3.07 million), which was represented by
$0.39 million invested in Selinsing for cutbacks and sulphide
project development and tailings storage facility upgrades (Q1
2020: $1.26 million), $0.26 million and $0.03 million invested in
Murchison exploration and evaluation projects and Mengapur
exploration and evaluation projects, respectively (Q1 2020: $0.27
million and $0.04 million, respectively), and offset by the receipt
of $3.75 million (Q1 2020: nil) with respect to a refundable
deposit for the due diligence of a potential transaction.
Development
Selinsing Gold Mine
During the first quarter, project development
work include research and development (“R&D”) of gold
treatment, underground mining desktop study, TSF development/mining
cutback and test work for oxide mining assessment at Peranggih.
The sulphide gold project plan refinement is
ongoing to achieve maximum feasible return. The procurement team is
assessing project inputs, aiming to reduce the completion time for
long lead items such as stainless steels for BIOX® based
applications, the provision of HV power supply, BIOX® agitators,
flotation cells and thickeners.
R&D work included: improvement of the
sulphide treatment performance through the projected sulphide
treatment plant; maximize recoveries of leachable sulphide ore in
transition and oxide ore from Selinsing Deep, Buffalo Reef, Felda
land, and test third party gold concentrates to increase production
grade.
The TSF development construction lift to 535.5
mRL continued through the quarter, towards meeting fiscal 2021
production requirements. The final stage TSF lift planning to
540mRL continued for sulphide gold production capacity.
The Peranggih phase 1 GC drill program was
completed during Q1 2021 with additional 1,466 meters drilled
bringing total drilling to 5,002 meters. The drill program
identified a total of 58,662 tonnes at 0.93g/t Au, which increased
the mining inventory. The GC delineated indicates 54.2% higher
contained ounces, 63% higher gold grade, and 5.2% less tonnage gold
materials to be extracted than the initial assay results from 2017
GC drilling program at the same area. A further GC drill program
was planned, with 5,000m designed to target shallow mineralisation
and 2,000m allocated to continue to drill down dip from previous
drilling at the bottom of the pit.
Based on the new Grade Control, trial mining at
Peranggih resumed in late September 2020. The widening and gradient
improvement of the hauled road from Peranggih to Pantos Stockpile
was undertaken to increase material transportation efficiency. Site
clearing and sterilisation of the waste dump, stockpiling of
topsoil, and siltation pond construction were carried out to
facilitate the site's ongoing trial mining work.
Transaction
During the quarter, the Company reviewed its
Murchison gold portfolio and development strategy and decided to
divest Tuckanarra Gold Project, allowing it to be advanced faster;
and focus on the primary highly prospective gold projects Burnakura
and Gabanintha, and move these two projects closer to production
through the existing infrastructure.
Subsequent to the end of the first quarter in
October 2020, a joint venture arrangement was entered with Odyssey,
under which ODY will own 80% of the Tuckanarra interest. Monument
will hold 20% free carry interest till mining with consideration of
a total AUD$5 million cash payments and 1% royalty on Odyssey
shared interest. After closing of the Transaction, ODY will own
tenements covering 25km of strike of highly fertile banded iron
formation (“BIF”) and greenstones with extensive gold mining
history. The ore produced shall be preferentially processed by
Burnakura mill subject to commercial terms. The Odyssey team, a
part of Apollo Group in Perth has a long and successful history of
exploring and developing mining assets around the world. Apollo
Group collectively has financed in excess of $1bn of mining
projects. Establishment of an alliance with Odyssey owning
additional high-grade gold projects will open up more opportunities
to advance the Murchison Gold Project.
Exploration Progress
Malaysia
At Selinsing the exploration activities during
the quarter were related to grade control drilling at Peranggih and
geological assessment at Selinsing pits 4, 5 and 6.
At Peranggih grade control drilling continued to
detail the geological and assay data through close space drilling
(5mx5m) at 10m maximum target depth. This method was proved to be
effective in defining near-surface mineralisation, as demonstrated
by a previous campaign conducted at Peranggih Central, thus
continuing to aid the exploration at Peranggih and the nearby area.
In addition, the area covered with GC drilling could be mined
immediately, following the current practice in Peranggih
Central.
An exploration drill program at Pits 5 and 6 was
under review, as well as additional drill holes proposed to
investigate the Pit 4 mineralisation's southern extension. This
program is scheduled to be conducted in Q2 2021, with the main
objective to delineate resource extensions that could be mined as
immediate feed to the current CIL plant.
Western Australia
Exploration was focused on the generation of
regional targets for the Murchison Project as well as the
commencement of detailed deposit reviews that will be included in
the updated life of mine plan The regional targets were generated
from all available datasets including drilling, geophysics,
geochemistry, geological as well as previously defined exploration
targets.
In preparation for updated life of mine
planning, available data is being reviewed in detail for the
individual deposits so that risks can be identified, and work plans
can be designed to help mitigate these risks. Various aspects,
including collar surveys, specific gravity, weathering surfaces as
well as models including geological, structural and mineralization
were assessed. The historical and GIS Compilation database
refinement work and upgrades continued to realize improved
efficiencies.
Burnakura: A total of 30 regional exploration
targets were identified at the Burnakura Project. High potential
exploration targets that were identified includes greenfield style
targets with no known first pass sampling with potential strike
lengths of over 3km, and brownfields style targets along strike and
adjacent to known deposits such as New Alliance and the NOA group
of deposits. There are at least six deposits from Burnakura that
are included in the life of mine plan and five of these contain
Resources that have been classified as Indicated or Inferred
Resources under NI43-101 standards.
Gabanintha:
A total of 30 regional exploration targets were
identified at the Gabanintha Project. High potential targets along
strike to the north and south of Tumblegum South were identified as
well as along strike to the south of the Kavanagh pit and north of
the Golden Hope trend. There is a general lack of first pass
sampling data for the Gabanintha project which creates opportunity
to discover substantial new deposits. The portions of the resource
inventory that are included in the life of mine plan were reviewed
which is composed predominantly of mineralization around the
existing pit areas including Yagahong, Canterbury and Terrells.
Tuckanarra:
A total of 18 regional exploration targets were
identified at the Tuckanarra Project. The targets are focused on
underexplored magnetic BIF units along strike direction, from known
gold occurrences.
About Monument
Monument Mining Limited (TSX-V: MMY, FSE: D7Q1)
is an established Canadian gold producer that owns and operates the
Selinsing Gold Mine in Malaysia. Its experienced management team is
committed to growth and is advancing several exploration and
development projects including the Mengapur Copper-Iron Project, in
Pahang State of Malaysia, and the Murchison Gold Projects
comprising Burnakura, Gabanintha and Tuckanarra in the Murchison
area of Western Australia. The Company employs approximately 205
people in both regions and is committed to the highest standards of
environmental management, social responsibility, and health and
safety for its employees and neighboring communities.
Cathy Zhai, President and CEOMonument Mining
LimitedSuite 1580 -1100 Melville Street Vancouver, BC V6E 4A6
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION visit the company web
site at www.monumentmining.com or contact:
Richard Cushing, MMY Vancouver T:
+1-604-638-1661 x102 rcushing@monumentmining.com
"Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services
Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX
Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or
accuracy of this release."
Forward-Looking Statement
This news release includes statements containing
forward-looking information about Monument, its business and future
plans (“forward-looking statements”). Forward-looking statements
are statements that involve expectations, plans, objectives or
future events that are not historical facts and include the
Company’s plans with respect to its mineral projects and the timing
and results of proposed programs and events referred to in this
news release. Generally, forward-looking information can be
identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as
"plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget",
"scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or
"does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words
and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may",
"could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be
achieved". The forward-looking statements in this news release are
subject to various risks, uncertainties and other factors that
could cause actual results or achievements to differ materially
from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements.
These risks and certain other factors include, without limitation:
risks related to general business, economic, competitive,
geopolitical and social uncertainties; uncertainties regarding the
results of current exploration activities; uncertainties in the
progress and timing of development activities; foreign operations
risks; other risks inherent in the mining industry and other risks
described in the management discussion and analysis of the Company
and the technical reports on the Company’s projects, all of which
are available under the profile of the Company on SEDAR at
www.sedar.com. Material factors and assumptions used to develop
forward-looking statements in this news release include:
expectations regarding the estimated cash cost per ounce of gold
production and the estimated cash flows which may be generated from
the operations, general economic factors and other factors that may
be beyond the control of Monument; assumptions and expectations
regarding the results of exploration on the Company’s projects;
assumptions regarding the future price of gold of other minerals;
the timing and amount of estimated future production; the expected
timing and results of development and exploration activities; costs
of future activities; capital and operating expenditures; success
of exploration activities; mining or processing issues; exchange
rates; and all of the factors and assumptions described in the
management discussion and analysis of the Company and the technical
reports on the Company’s projects, all of which are available under
the profile of the Company on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Although the
Company has attempted to identify important factors that could
cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in
forward-looking statements, 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
actual results and future events could differ materially from those
anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not
place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company
does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements, except
in accordance with applicable securities laws.
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