Goldplat plc / Ticker: GDP / Index: AIM / Sector: Mining &
Exploration
3 November 2008
Goldplat plc ('Goldplat' or 'the Company')
Trading Update
Goldplat plc, the AIM quoted gold producer, is pleased to report that
trading for the first quarter of the current financial year has
continued to be buoyant.
Overview:
* Positioned to maintain healthy growth with increasing cash
resources of £2 million
* On target to be producing gold before year end 2008 at Kilimapesa
Project in Kenya, with ore being stockpiled from the underground
operations and from local artisanal miners
* Significant progress at South African gold recovery business with
new raw material purchased and further steps underway to further
improve the plant's efficiency
* Gold Recovery Ghana growing rapidly having won a third large
contract, identified and evaluated further stockpiles of
artisanal tailings and progressed construction of an incinerator
to increase production potential
* Additional mining opportunities continue to be evaluated in other
African countries
Goldplat CEO Demetri Manolis said, "With demand for gold remaining
buoyant we are ideally positioned to maintain our strong growth.
Developments in Kenya are running according to plan with production
still on schedule for the end of the year, and our processing
operations in South Africa and Ghana are producing significant
cashflows which unlike many other juniors, means we have a strong
balance sheet. We are currently looking to utilise our recovery
technology to expand into other countries in Africa and in turn,
strengthen our connections with the mining industry to identify and
acquire additional brown field projects that we can rapidly advance
into production. In essence, I am confident we are in the right
sector with a strong business, which gives me the utmost confidence
for the future."
Mining
Kilimapesa Gold - Kenya:
Kilimapesa remains on target to be producing gold before year end.
To date 175m of quartz vein strike has been exposed in the
underground development constituting the 'Bulk Sampling Programme'
agreed with the Kenyan Commissioner of Mines. Sampling indicates an
average value of 6.28 g/t Au over a strike of 114m with a stope width
of 127cm, including 8.01 g/t Au over 60m with a mineable width of
144cm. The first 8m of the western-most raise indicates an average
grade of 5.26g/t Au over a stope width of 100cms. The orebody at
Kilimapesa Hill is thought to comprise at least 3 parallel quartz
veins, approximately 25m apart, striking east - west and dipping
steeply toward the south. The known mineralised strike length at
Kilimapesa Hill is now 1.2 km.
In addition to the on-reef development, a diamond drilling programme
has commenced comprising 14 holes for a total drill length of 500
metres on which the Company will update the market in due course.
A road to the adit entrance at Kilimapesa Hill has been developed and
a station comprising an ore tipping facility, a generator and
compressor house as well as a workshop has now been established. The
processing plant is currently being refurbished with the leach tanks,
thickener tank, ore handling, crushing section and new electric
reticulation now completed. The mill has also been relined, while
the area for the tailings facility has been cleared and the process
of building the retaining walls has started.
Ore from the underground operations is being stockpiled at the
processing plant site with some 1,500 tonnes accumulated to date.
Additional mill feed sources have been utilised and in keeping with
Kilimapesa's excellent local community relations, an agreement has
been reached with the local artisanal miners to purchase their high
grade tailings. These average 15g/t Au and to date we have
stockpiled 1,600 tonnes at the plant site with an additional several
thousand tonnes still due to be transported to the plant. By working
closely with the local artisanal miners, the Board hope that this may
lead to identifying other potential areas for mining activities.
In order to produce a JORC compliant resource, a drilling programme
has been implemented at Adit B. Holes have been designed to
intersect the quartz vein approximately 20m below the current drives.
Four holes have been completed which show the existence of the vein
below the current adit development. The data will be modelled in
three dimensions to produce an accurate geological model.
The mine is situated in a predominantly Masai area and community
relations are excellent. Management has committed to employing as
many local staff as is possible and to date, more than 95% of the
staff are Masai. The Kilimapesa Project has strong support from the
Kenyan Government agencies, particularly Mining and Environment. The
Permanent Secretary for the Department of Environment has made an
official visit to the property and has pledged his support for the
operation. Recent local meetings held for the Environmental Impact
Assessment Study have shown tremendous support for the operation and
all Government agencies have been consulted and to date no objections
or concerns have been raised.
Kilimapesa has also recruited highly experienced South African mining
staff, whose primary function will be to increase the development
rates and train local labour in areas of mining skills and safety.
Gold Recovery Business:
South Africa: Significant progress has been made to secure new raw
material for the South African gold recovery business. Agreements
were signed with the West Wits Business Unit of AngloGold Ashanti
Limited to purchase two stockpiles of raw material providing
sufficient material for twelve months of production for one of the
major lines of production. As a result of these two agreements,
Goldplat Recovery was invited to participate in a major sampling
programme of areas, under the jurisdiction of the same Business Unit,
that require rehabilitation. AngloGold Ashanti's strategy is to
first remove any viable gold bearing material before the final
rehabilitation is completed. This project is expected provide
significant material for future processing.
A further long term contract was signed with our strategic partner
Rand Refinery for the supply of toll processing facilities for one of
its by-products. A new automated gravity concentrator has also been
ordered and is due for delivery in October 2008, to further improve
efficiency at the Benoni plant.
Ghana: A third large contract has been awarded to Gold Recovery Ghana
by Goldfield's Tarkwa operation to process fine carbon, with carbon
now delivered to the works in Tema. Further stockpiles of artisanal
tailings raw material have been identified and evaluated.
The construction of an incinerator, for shipment to Tema, is
continuing in South Africa which when installed will increase
production potential in Ghana.
New prospects: The potential for expansion of the Company's
reprocessing operations into Tanzania and Zambia continues to be
evaluated. In Tanzania, artisanal high grade tailings in excess of
100,000 tonnes have been identified, measured and sampled.
Discussions with potential Tanzanian partners are ongoing regarding
cooperation, with Goldplat providing the technology and expertise,
with the partners supplying the tailings.
In Zambia, the Company has initiated a preliminary investigation of
the copper and gold potential of the region and look forward to
updating the market in due course.
Additional Opportunities:
Mining opportunities continue to be evaluated in other African
countries. In South Africa the agreement under which Goldplat
Recovery has become compliant with Black Economic Empowerment laws is
expected make the acquisition of projects easier. It should be
stressed that Goldplat will not become involved in exploration - it
is only examining brown field projects and known deposits, which it
believes can be exploited efficiently and at low risk. In this
context, the fact that Goldplat currently has cash resources of some
£2 million, and remains cash generative, gives it a great advantage
in the junior mining field.
Qualified Person
This announcement has been reviewed by Mr. Mark Austin, the group
geologist for Goldplat and has more than 25 years' relevant
experience in the field of activity concerned. He is a fellow member
of the Geological Society of South Africa ('GSSA') and has consented
to the inclusion of the material in the form and context in which it
appears.
* * ENDS * *
For further information visit www.goldplat.com or contact:
Demetri Manolis, CEO Goldplat plc Tel: +27 11 423
1203
James Joyce /Sarang Shah WH Ireland Limited Tel: 020 7220
1666
Bill Sharp/Andrew Garrett Alexander David Securities Tel: +44 (0)20
Limited 7448 9820
Felicity Edwards/ Isabel St Brides Media & Finance Tel: 020 7236
Crossley Ltd 1177
Notes
Goldplat plc is an AIM-listed gold producer with operations in
Africa. Its strategy is to create a mid-tier mining house focused on
gold production leveraged through revenue generated from its gold
recovery businesses.
The Company has two recovery business based in South African and
Ghana, which, by safely disposing of mining by-products, fulfil an
important aspect of the mines' environmental management programmes.
The South African plant is located near the centre of the East Rand
Goldfield and raw material feedstock's are sourced from many of the
major South African mining companies including Anglogold Ashanti,
Goldfields, Harmony, DRD Gold and other smaller producers,. The
Ghana plant, located in the free port of Tema, provides access to raw
materials from mines in Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Benin, Cote
D'Ivorie, Senegal, the DRC and Mauritania, as well as Ghana.
Goldplat has expanded into gold mining through the acquisition of
known deposits with targets of between 200,000 and one million
contained ounces. To this end, in a 50/50 JV, it is developing the
potential of the highly prospective 213 sq km Lolgorien licence area
located in the historically producing Migori Archaean Greenstone Belt
in western Kenya, which is scheduled to commence production Q4 2008.
A number of other potential projects across Africa are under review.
Glossary of Terms
STRIKE: the horizontal direction of a planar body (90º to the dip
direction)
TAILINGS: the residues from the processing of ore
ADIT: a near-horizontal tunnel driven into a hillside
DRIVE: a tunnel on strike that is developed on ore
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