REG - Goldplat plc - 4th Quarter Operating Results

GoldplatAnnouncement

15/08/2023 07:00

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RNS Number : 2738J  Goldplat plc  15 August 2023

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

15 August 2023

Goldplat plc

('Goldplat' or the 'Company')

4(th) Quarter Operating Results update for period ended 30 June 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 4(th) quarter ended 30 June 2023
("Q4"), of the financial year just ended.

The South African operational results for the period continued to be impacted
by electricity cuts and infrastructure related issues. In addition, the Ghana
operation could not capitalise on its continued strong production profile as
it could only start exporting material produced during Q3 and Q4 towards the
end of Q4, resulting in minimal sales during the quarter.

As a result the two recovery operations achieved combined operating profit for
the quarter of £1,188,000 (excluding listing and head office costs, interest
and foreign exchange losses), comprising operating performances in South
Africa of £750,000 (Q4 2022 - £1,237,000) and in Ghana of £438,000 (Q4 2022
- £1,810,000, which included gains as a result of movements in the GHS
against the USD of circa £1 million, with exchange losses of circa £1
million recorded below the line).

Despite the reduced operating performance in Q4, the operating entities
delivered a strong combined operating profit performance for the year of
£6,028,000 (FY 2022 - £9,070,000) and the Company expects net profit before
tax to exceed market expectations for the 2023 financial year.

The following events have contributed to the reduced Q4 operating results:

Gold Recovery Ghana

·      Although the license was approved by Minerals Commission of Ghana
and signed by regulated authorities during Q4, it did not provide sufficient
time to sell and realise margins locked up in inventory at the end of the
year. During the period supply from clients and production remained strong and
we expect a higher than usual sales volume during Q1 of the 2024 financial
year.

 

·      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 South African operation lost a total of 23 operating days,
25% of the total days available in the quarter, due to electricity cuts and
infrastructure related issues during Q4. Due to the increased uncertainty of
supply in the medium term and as announced on 31 May 2023, we have made a
decision to invest in diesel generators which will be able to sustain
operations in South Africa during electricity cuts. We expect the diesel
generators to be operational by the end of October 2023.

 

·      The construction of the new tailings storage facility ('TSF') was
completed during the first week of August and commissioning has started. It is
expected that the commissioning of the new TSF will take 9 months during which
period tailings will be deposited between the new and old tailings facility.

 

·      With the new TSF commissioned we can turn our focus to the
processing of our old TSF which has a JORC Resource of 81,959 ounces (Table 1)
at a DRD Gold process facility. The processing of our old TSF remains
dependent on the approval of the water use license over certain areas for the
installation of a pipeline to the DRD Gold process facility and finalising
commercial agreements with DRD Gold in this regard.

 

·      We estimate that we will require a further £1,150,000 excluding
investment of £750,000 to be spent on generators the next 18 months to be
spent on repairing and maintaining current operations, on completing the TSF
and improving the environmental impacts of our current operations.

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 £2,800,000 at the end of
Q4, with significant balances invested in inventory and debtors with our main
exposure to smelters in Europe and South Africa. This was driven by delays
experienced in settlement from one of the smelters and we only started
receiving settlements on long outstanding batches of material delivered,
towards the end of Q4 and into Q1 of 2024, as well as the delay in receiving
our gold license in Ghana. As a result, we expect interest on pre-financing of
material to be higher than usual.

Werner Klingenberg, CEO of Goldplat commented: "The completion of the new TSF
in South Africa is a big milestone for the group from a business continuity
perspective, but it also opens up opportunities for the processing of the old
TSF and other potential projects. I am pleased with the operating results
achieved by the group during Q4 and the for the year as a whole, considering
some of the difficult circumstances we faced, and we look forward particularly
to improved operating results in Ghana during Q1 of the 2024 financial year."

 

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 / Samantha Harrison            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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