Goldplat, the AIM quoted gold producer with international gold recovery operations located in South Africa and Ghana and a gold mine in Kenya, provides a corporate and operational update. Good progress is being made on all areas of strategic focus. At Goldplat Recovery Ltd (GPL) in South Africa, a strategic stockpile of in excess of a year of planned production through the CIL circuits has been procured and metallurgical test work is currently being undertaken to optimise metal recoveries from and profitability of this material. This has been an important initiative to de-risk the most profitable production stream at GPL and the Board is encouraged to note that this strategic objective has been reached within the first six months of the financial year.
At Gold Recovery Ghana (GRG), the elution plant construction is progressing according to plan, and commissioning is expected to begin before the end of December 2017. This progress has recently been acknowledged very positively by the Ghanaian Ministry of Mines. A team is on the ground in Ghana to commission the tailings project pilot plant, with surveys of target material for the pilot testing on going.
At Kilimapesa Gold (Pty) Ltd, production remains on target for 5,800 ounces of gold in FY2018 and profitability is being achieved on an operational level. This has been achieved despite a number of days of lost production, caused by the election process which affected diesel supplies.
Further to its announcements in April and September t6his year, the company is pleased to announce that both parties, being Rand Refinery and GPL have formally agreed on an arbitration process for the recovery of the amounts owed to GPL, and have appointed a retired Appeal Court Judge to act as arbitrator. The arbitration proceedings have been scheduled for 25-29 June 2018.
Gerard Kisbey-Green, CEO of Goldplat commented: “We are pleased to have finally made tangible progress towards settlement of the dispute with Rand Refinery after a protracted period of negotiations. We remain confident that this arbitration process will result in the full recovery of the amounts owed to GPL and company will keep shareholders informed of progress. From an operational point of view, I am delighted to say that progress is being made across the board which positions us strongly for the remainder of the 2018 financial year.
Goldplat plc has two market leading recovery operations in South Africa and Ghana and an operational gold mine in Kenya. It produced 42,857 oz of gold during FY 2017, with 40,285 gold equivalent ounces sold and transferred, resulting in an operating profit from continuing operations of £2.9 million for the year. This result does not benefit from the increased processing capacity that was achieved at the Kilimapesa gold mine towards the end of FY 2017, with operational profitability achieved during last two months of FY 2017. Accordingly, the company believes it is well placed to build upon production and profitability during FY 2018.
The company’s strategy is focussed on using cash flow generated from its flagship gold recovery and mining operations to self-fund the sustainable growth and expansion of its niche gold recovery business model internationally. It is also committed to increasing its primary mining production output through acquisition and/or gaining interests in producing or near-production assets, preferably in Africa. Goldplat retains exposure to a small exploration project in Ghana, in which Ashanti Gold is earning an interest via an earn-in option agreement.
