REG - Goldplat plc - Q1 Operating Results for period ended 30 Sept 2024

GoldplatAnnouncement

12/11/2024 07:00

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RNS Number : 7922L  Goldplat plc  12 November 2024

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

12 November 2024

Goldplat plc

('Goldplat' or the 'Company')

1st Quarter Operating Results update for period ended 30 September 2024

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 1(st) quarter ended 30 September 2024
("Q1").

The two recovery operations achieved a combined operating profit for the
quarter of £1,838,000 (excluding listing and head office costs, finance cost
and foreign exchange losses) (FY Q1 2024 - £1,865,000). The finance cost and
foreign exchange losses incurred in Q1 mainly related to trading activities
and resulted in a combined profit before tax excluding listing and head office
costs for Q1 of £1,451,000 (FY Q1 2024 - £1,455,000).

The Ghanaian operation which benefitted from an increasing gold price and
continuous good supply of material, achieved a profit before tax for Q1 of
£901,000 (FY Q1 2024 - £708,000). The Ghanaian operation is however going
through a business model change with the requirement to beneficiate all
concentrates to doré gold bars in country which is placing increased demands
on working capital. Further detail on this business model change is explained
in more detail below.

The South African operation achieved a profit before tax for Q1 of £550,000
(FY Q1 2024 - £747,000) and was supported by stable production, albeit lower
than the previous year, improved cost management and increasing gold price.

Gold Recovery Ghana ("GRG")

·      As announced in the FY Q4 2024 update, the focus and preference
of the authorities in Ghana is on local beneficiation of concentrate. The
transition in process for GRG has had the following impact:

o  A reduction in debtors as doré bars produced from concentrate can be sold
and payment received in less than 2 weeks, which is lower than the turnaround
of circa 4 months in the past;

o  Increase in inventory value on site which has been driven by a good supply
of material from our current customer base and healthy stock levels before the
transition started. Through investment in plant capacity and changes at our
operations, we believe these levels should normalise over the next 2
quarters;

o  We are actively engaging clients to manage supply against current and
future requirements and where possible, will divert material to South Africa
to ensure a more diversified solution for our customers; and

o  We plan to make use of working capital facilities to finance material
onsite in the medium term whilst our plant capacity is increased and stock
levels are managed.

 

·      As a result of these changes, GRG is currently the only local
gold by-product beneficiation provider in Ghana. We are still planning to
invest £900,000 to increase capacity in the short-term, after approval from
the authorities is obtained for the expansion. This investment is required to
increase plant capacity and to increase the recovery of gold from concentrate
on site.

 

·      Our objective is to improve and enhance our current solution so
that we are able to provide a niche solution to customers at their mine site
in future, who due to current country regulations may not be able to export
material to our premises in Ghana.

 

·      The local beneficiation requirement has impacted all aspects of
our business and we continue to review, update and change our process and
procedures to manage risks and maximize margins.

 

 

Goldplat Recovery (Pty) Ltd

·      Production during Q1 2025 remained stable, after declining during
the last 2 years, due to continuous improvement initiatives to improve
recoveries. Strict cost control measures have been implemented to conserve
cash in the short term.

 

·      Our focus remains on increasing our by-product market share in
South Africa as we expect reductions in by-products received from current
mining operations due to changes in their production profile.

 

·      During the quarter, we paid the last monthly instalment on the
loan from Nedbank. The loan of £3m was used to buy back 16.6% of shares from
minorities in South Africa in 2021.

 

·      We continue to focus on the work required to begin processing our
old TSF which has a JORC Resource (January 2016) of 81,959 ounces in 1.43m
metric tonnes (Table 1), at a DRD Gold processing facility. Since the
completion of the JORC resource, circa 800,000 metric tonnes of material have
been added to the facility at grades of circa 1.45g/t as per plant data and
not included in current resource statement.

 

·      The processing of the old TSF remains dependent on the approval
of the water use license by local authorities and approval from third parties
in certain areas for the installation of a pipeline to the DRD Gold processing
facility. During Q1 there has been several engagements with all parties
involved and good progress has been made, with the aim of getting all
approvals completed by June 2025.

 

Our cash balances in the group remained strong at £3,100,000 at the end of
Q1. The cash balances will mainly be used to manage working capital
requirements in Ghana and repayment of intercompany loan balances and other
capital requirements

Werner Klingenberg, CEO of Goldplat commented: "I am pleased with what our
teams in the two business units have achieved during Q1. In Ghana, the team
managed to implement several new processes and procedures in a short period to
focus the business on local beneficiation and in South Africa, on streamlining
the operations due to lower visibility of supply of material. This was all
done whilst maintaining operational profitability. There is still significant
work to be done, but all our efforts will create a more robust business
providing a niche solution to the industry it operates in.

The focus for the remainder of the year is to reduce inventory levels in
Ghana, whilst increasing cash on hand, improve the local beneficiation
solution in Ghana to ensure constant margins, progress the approval of the TSF
pipeline, continue cost management efforts in South Africa and increase market
share in South Africa."

 

For further information visit www.goldplat.com, follow on X @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            Zeus Capital Limited                             Tel: +44 (0) 203 829 5000

                                               (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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