REG - Goldplat plc - 3rd Quarter Operating Results update 31 March 2023

GoldplatAnnouncement

05/05/2023 07:00

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RNS Number : 4805Y  Goldplat plc  05 May 2023

Goldplat plc / Ticker: GDP / Index: AIM / Sector: Mining & Exploration

5 May 2023

Goldplat plc

('Goldplat' or the 'Company')

3(rd) Quarter Operating Results update for period ended 31 March 2023

Goldplat Plc, (AIM:GDP) the AIM listed Mining Services Group, with
international gold recovery operations located in South Africa and Ghana,
servicing the African and South American Mining Industry, is pleased to
announce an operational update for the 3(rd) quarter ended 31 March 2023
("Q3"), of the current financial year.

The two recovery operations achieved a combined operating profit for the
quarter of £1,470,000 which represents a 36% decrease against Q3 in the
previous period (Q3 2022 - £2,286,000) (excluding listing and head office
costs and foreign exchange losses).

The combined operating profit for the operating entities for 9 months ending
31 March 2023 decreased by 20% to £4,840,000 (Q3 2022 -
£6,045,000).

This quarter's results were a consequence of reduced operating performances in
South Africa of £1,175,000 (Q3 2022 - £1,627,000) and in Ghana of £295,000
(Q3 2022 - £659,000).

Despite the reduced operating performance in Q3, the Company still expects to
meet current market expectations for the current financial year.

The following events have contributed to the reduced Q3 operating results:

Gold Recovery Ghana ("GRG")

·      During Q3, GRG production remained in line with previous
quarters, however, we have experienced delays to the export of product as a
result of the finalisation of the renewal of our Gold Licence, which is
required for export. Although the licence has been approved by the Minerals
Commission of Ghana, the final signature from the regulated authorities has
taken longer than expected. As a result, production is currently locked up in
inventory on site since the previous licence expired at the end of January
2023. This situation has not been resolved as of the date of this
announcement. Once the new license is signed, accumulated inventory will be
sold which is expected to lead to non-recurring higher sales volumes in Q4.

 

·      The supply of material from South America and Ghana has remained
steady and we continue to have positive engagements with clients in South
America and West Africa.

Goldplat Recovery (Pty) Ltd

·      The operating profit for the period did improve from the previous
quarter by £356,000 to £1,175,000 as a result of good supply from
by-products towards the end of Q2 and during Q3. However, production in our
lower grade circuits was impacted by electricity cuts from the electricity
provider in South Africa. The South African operation lost a total of 19
operating days, 20% of the total days available in the quarter, due to
electricity cuts and infrastructure related issues during Q3. We expect that
the current electricity situation will continue during the next 12 months. We
continue to explore mitigating actions and viable power generation solutions
to minimize the impact on the business. The most viable solutions involve
additional connections to the local Municipality Grid or a new direct
connection to Eskom (South Africa Electricity Generator and Supplier), however
the timelines of these options is uncertain and unclear. As a result, we are
re-evaluating options of securing diesel generators to run all or part of the
operations in South Africa, whilst we continue to explore options mentioned
above. We will update the market on the cost and impact of the solution once a
decision has been made.

 

·      The construction of the new tailings storage facility ('TSF')
continued in Q3. The capital spent during Q3 on the TSF was £250,000 and we
estimate we will need to spend a further £250,000 to completion. This is
£200,000 higher than we expected and is the result of the Company gaining
clarity on the requirement to install specific monitoring equipment. We
continue to discuss and confirm certain detail with the regulator on this
requirement.

 

·      Apart from the capital incurred on the TSF, we incurred an
additional £100,000 capital expenditure during Q3, of which £80,000 was
spent on the refurbishment of one of our circuits.

 

·      We estimate that we will require a further £1,150,000 (including
£250,000 for TSF) during the next 9 to 15 months to be spent on repairing and
maintaining current operations, on completing the TSF and improving the
environmental impacts of our current operations.

 

·      We do not have any further update on the processing of our TSF
which has a JORC Resource of 81,959 ounces (Table 1) at a DRD Gold process
facility.

We continue to assess the economic and environmental feasibility of the fine
coal recovery technology company we invested in, which is in line with our
strategy to diversify our recovery operations into other commodities.

Our cash balances in the group remained strong at £2,750,000 at the end of
Q3, with significant balances invested in inventory and debtors with our main
exposures to smelters in Europe and South Africa. We have been experiencing
longer than expected delays at one of the smelters but remain comfortable of
the outturn. We are dealing with delays on a daily basis and expect the
situation to improve in the last quarter of the current financial year.

Werner Klingenberg, CEO of Goldplat commented: "I am pleased with the
operating results achieved by the group, considering some of the difficult
circumstances we've experienced during the third quarter in South Africa and
delays of the gold licence in Ghana. The impact of the gold licence should be
in a position to be reversed out once we can export the material produced on
site, however the electricity supply issues in South Africa will continue to
have a significant impact into the fourth quarter."

For further information visit www.goldplat.com, follow on Twitter @GoldplatGDP
or contact:

 Werner Klingenberg                            Goldplat plc                                     Tel: +27 (0) 82 051 1071

                                               (CEO)
 Colin Aaronson / George M Grainger            Grant Thornton UK LLP                            Tel: +44 (0) 20 7383 5100

                                               (Nominated Adviser)
 James Bavister / Andrew de Andrade            WH Ireland Limited                               Tel: +44 (0) 207 220 1666

                                               (Broker)
 Tim Thompson / Mark Edwards / Fergus Mellon   Flagstaff Strategic and Investor Communications  Tel: +44 (0) 207 129 1474

                                                                                                goldplat@flagstaffcomms.com

 

 

Table 1

Mineral Resource Estimate of the TSF, South Africa

 Total Resource
 Domain          Class      Tonnes (Mil)  Density  Au (g/t)  Au (Oz)  U(3)O(8) (g/t)   U(3)O(8) (lbs)   Ag (g/t)  Ag (Oz)
 TOTAL RESOURCE  Measured   0.87          1.32     1.82      50,907   61.41            117,754          4.85      135,573
                 Indicated  0.49          1.37     1.77      27,897   59.73            64,506           4.71      74,165
                 Inferred   0.07          1.30     1.4       3,154    71.40            11,016           2.82      6,356
 Grand Total                1.43          1.34     1.78      81,959   61.32            193,276          4.70      216,094

 

The Tailings Mineral Resource Estimate was announced in accordance with the
JORC Code (2012) in a press release on 29 January 2016. Mark Austin of Applied
Geology & Mining (Pty) Ltd was the Competent Person responsible for that
announcement. The Company confirms that all material assumptions and technical
parameters underpinning the Resource Estimate continue to apply and have not
materially changed.

 

The information contained within this announcement is deemed to constitute
inside information as stipulated under the retained EU law version of the
Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014 (the "UK MAR") which is part of UK
law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. The information is
disclosed in accordance with the Company's obligations under Article 17 of the
UK MAR. Upon the publication of this announcement, this inside information is
now considered to be in the public domain.

 

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