REG - SolGold PLC - Business Activity Update

SolGoldAnnouncement

28/07/2022 08:00

For best results when printing this announcement, please click on link below:
http://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20220728:nRSb0580Ua&default-theme=true

RNS Number : 0580U  SolGold PLC  28 July 2022

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION FOR THE PURPOSES OF ARTICLE 7 OF
THE EU REGULATION 596/2014 (WHICH FORMS PART OF DOMESTIC UK LAW PURSUANT TO
THE EUROPEAN UNION (WITHDRAWAL) ACT 2018 ("EUWA")) ("UK MAR")

 

28 July 2022

SolGold plc

("SolGold" or the "Company")

Business Activity Update

 

The Board of Directors of SolGold (LSE & TSX: SOLG) is pleased to provide
an update on the progress of activities within its exploration portfolio and
the Cascabel project.

SolGold's regional exploration programme is focused on a number of highly
prospective projects where extensive and systematic geological and geochemical
field programmes are underway to rank the priority drill targets, notably at
the Company's Porvenir and Helipuerto projects located in southern Ecuador.

Porvenir is the Company's second priority after Cascabel and SolGold has
engaged M3 to progress the Porvenir project Pre-Economic Assessment ("PEA")
that is on track for completion by year-end. Additionally, field programmes
are continuing at numerous satellite targets to the Cacharposa deposit that
comprises a Mineral Resource of 397Mt at 0.44% CuEq in the Indicated category
and contained metal content of 1.40Mt Cu and 1.80Moz Au (1.75Mt CuEq).
Cacharposa is the second Resource to be defined by SolGold as part of its
strategy to define a multi project portfolio over the length of Ecuador.

Regional exploration activity has identified the Helipuerto project as the
next most important target for the Company.  The Helipuerto concessions lie
on the southern margin of the Solaris Resources discovery at Warintza where
Solaris has published an in-pit Mineral Resource of 579Mt at 0.59% CuEq in the
Indicated category. Geophysical, geochemical and geological analysis indicates
extension of the Warintza system into SolGold ground and SolGold is expediting
the delivery of drilling and environmental permits to drill test extensions to
the mineralised system. An initial focus at Helipuerto is on the delineation
of the size and tenor of the Tinkimints copper prospect including mapping and
sampling of the area directly south of Solaris's Warintza copper-gold porphyry
deposit.

SolGold is investigating a number of strategic initiatives to provide the
Company with funding options for the development of Cascabel and progression
of regional projects.

Cascabel Project

Following the Pre-Feasibility Study ("PFS") for the Cascabel Project which was
announced in April 2022, SolGold has continued to develop the funding path to
achieve the next milestones in the form of delivering the PFS Addendum
(targeting Q4 2022) and the Definitive Feasibility Study ("DFS") (targeting H2
2023. The purpose of the proposed funding exercise is to finance completion of
the Cascabel DFS, further de-risk the project and realise its world class,
Tier 1 potential. The Company is targeting total potential pre-tax NPV uplift
of approximately US$1-1.8bn at the Cascabel project from the continued
evaluation of optimisations and other upside opportunities to be incorporated
within the upcoming studies.

In addition to the cash position of approximately US$26m as at 30 June 2022,
SolGold continues to consider, and has had discussions with its major
shareholders regarding possible financing structures and options to obtain
funding to further progress the Cascabel development, including a potential
equity raise. SolGold also continues to assess potential alternative funding
structures which may involve strategic investors. The funds raised would be
allocated to financing the completion of the Cascabel DFS, regional
exploration and general corporate purposes through to the second half of 2023
to maintain momentum on development plans.

Upon completion Cascabel will be a significant, multi-decade and very low cost
producer of copper that can help enable Ecuador's emergence as the next copper
frontier at a time when the world needs copper the most as we transition to a
net zero carbon emissions future.

 

By order of the Board

Dennis Wilkins

Company Secretary

 

CONTACTS

 

 Dennis Wilkins

 SolGold Plc (Company Secretary)                            Tel: +61 (0) 7 3303 0660

 dwilkins@solgold.com.au (mailto:dwilkins@solgold.com.au)

 Ayten Saridas

 SolGold Plc (Group CFO)                                    Tel: +61 (0) 7 3303 0660

 Fawzi Hanano

 SolGold Plc (Investor Relations)                           Tel: +44 (0) 20 3823 2130

 fhanano@solgold.com.au (mailto:fhanano@solgold.com.au)

Follow us on twitter @SolGold_plc

 

ABOUT SOLGOLD

SolGold is a leading resources company focussed on the discovery, definition
and development of world-class copper and gold deposits and continues to
strive to deliver objectives efficiently and in the interests of shareholders.
SolGold is exploring the length and breadth of this highly prospective and
gold-rich section of the Andean Copper Belt which is currently responsible for
c40% of global mined copper production.

The Company operates with transparency and in accordance with international
best practices. SolGold is committed to delivering value to its shareholders,
while simultaneously providing economic and social benefits to impacted
communities, fostering a healthy and safe workplace and minimizing the
environmental impact.

Dedicated stakeholders

SolGold employs a staff of approximately 800 employees of whom 99% are
Ecuadorian. This is expected to grow as the operations expand at Cascabel, and
in Ecuador generally. SolGold focusses its operations to be safe, reliable and
environmentally responsible and maintains close relationships with its local
communities. SolGold has engaged an increasingly skilled, refined and
experienced team of geoscientists using state of the art geophysical and
geochemical modelling applied to an extensive database to enable the delivery
of ore grade intersections from nearly every drill hole at Alpala. SolGold has
close to 60 geologists on the ground in Ecuador exploring for economic copper
and gold deposits.

About Cascabel

The Alpala deposit is the main target in the Cascabel concession, located on
the northern section of the heavily endowed Andean Copper Belt, the entirety
of which is renowned as the base for nearly half of the world's copper
production. The project area hosts mineralisation of Eocene age, the same age
as numerous Tier 1 deposits along the Andean Copper Belt in Chile and Peru to
the south. The project base is located at Rocafuerte within the Cascabel
concession in northern Ecuador, an approximately three-hour drive on sealed
highway north of the capital Quito, close to water, power supply and Pacific
ports.

Having fulfilled its earn-in requirements, SolGold is a registered shareholder
with an unencumbered legal and beneficial 85% interest in ENSA (Exploraciones
Novomining S.A.) which holds 100% of the Cascabel concession covering
approximately 50km(2). The junior equity owner in ENSA is required to repay
15% of costs since SolGold's earn in was completed, from 90% of its share of
distribution of earnings or dividends from ENSA or the Cascabel concession. It
is also required to contribute to development or be diluted, and if its
interest falls below 10%, it shall reduce to a 0.5% NSR royalty which SolGold
may acquire for US$3.5million.

SolGold's Regional Exploration Drive

SolGold is using its successful and cost-efficient blueprint established at
Alpala, and Cascabel generally, to explore for additional world class copper
and gold projects across Ecuador. SolGold is a large and active concessionaire
in Ecuador.

The Company wholly owns four other subsidiaries active throughout the country
that are now focussed on a number of high priority copper and gold resource
targets, several of which the Company believes have the potential, subject to
resource definition and feasibility, to be developed in close succession or
even on a more accelerated basis compared to Cascabel.

SolGold is listed on the London Stock Exchange and Toronto Stock Exchange
(LSE/TSX: SOLG). The Company has on issue a total of 2,295,152,615 fully paid
ordinary shares and 42,250,000 share options.

See www.solgold.com.au (http://www.solgold.com.au) for more information.
Follow us on twitter @SolGold plc

 

CAUTIONARY NOTICE

News releases, presentations and public commentary made by SolGold plc (the
"Company") and its Officers may contain certain statements and expressions of
belief, expectation or opinion which are forward looking statements, and which
relate, inter alia, to interpretations of exploration results to date and the
Company's proposed strategy, plans and objectives or to the expectations or
intentions of the Company's Directors, including the plan for developing the
Project currently being studied as well as the expectations of the Company as
to the forward price of copper.  Such forward-looking and interpretative
statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important
factors beyond the control of the Company that could cause the actual
performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from
such interpretations and forward-looking statements.

Accordingly, the reader should not rely on any interpretations or
forward-looking statements; and save as required by the exchange rules of the
TSX and LSE or by applicable laws, the Company does not accept any obligation
to disseminate any updates or revisions to such interpretations or
forward-looking statements.  The Company may reinterpret results to date as
the status of its assets and projects changes with time expenditure, metals
prices and other affecting circumstances.

This release may contain "forward‑looking information" within the meaning of
applicable Canadian securities legislation.  Forward‑looking information
includes, but is not limited to, statements regarding the Company's plans for
developing its properties.  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".

Forward‑looking information is 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: transaction risks; general
business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; future
prices of mineral prices; accidents, labour disputes and shortages and other
risks of the mining industry.  Although the Company has attempted to identify
important factors that could 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 information will prove to be accurate, as actual
results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in
such statements.  Factors that could cause actual results to differ
materially from such  forward-looking information include, but are not
limited to, risks relating to the ability of exploration activities (including
assay results) to accurately predict mineralization; errors in management's
geological modelling and/or mine development plan; capital and operating costs
varying significantly from estimates; the preliminary nature of visual
assessments; delays in obtaining or failures to obtain required governmental,
environmental or other required approvals; uncertainties relating to the
availability and costs of financing needed in the future; changes in equity
markets; inflation; the global economic climate; fluctuations in commodity
prices; the ability of the Company to complete further exploration activities,
including drilling; delays in the development of projects; environmental
risks; community and non-governmental actions; other risks involved in the
mineral exploration and development industry; the ability of the Company to
retain its key management employees and skilled and experienced personnel; and
those risks set out in the Company's public documents filed on SEDAR at
www.sedar.com (http://www.sedar.com) .  Accordingly, readers should not place
undue reliance on forward‑looking information. The Company does not
undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with
applicable securities laws.

The Company and its officers do not endorse, or reject or otherwise comment on
the conclusions, interpretations or views expressed in press articles or
third-party analysis, and where possible aims to circulate all available
material on its website.

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact
rns@lseg.com (mailto:rns@lseg.com)
 or visit
www.rns.com (http://www.rns.com/)
.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our
Privacy Policy (https://www.lseg.com/privacy-and-cookie-policy)
.   END  UPDQVLBLLDLZBBZ