TORONTO, ONTARIO - High River Gold Mines Ltd. ("High River" or the "Company") (TSX: HRG) would like to provide an update on the operating status of its four gold mines, on its financial situation, and on recent personnel changes:
Operations Update
Taparko
After a prolonged mill shutdown, the Taparko mill was restarted in November 2008. Early indications were that the mill vibration issue was resolved with the replacement of the gearbox. However, after several weeks of operation, the vibrations previously encountered in the mill drive-train have recently re-occurred. As a result, throughput for December has varied from zero to just over 2,000 tonnes per day, substantially below the planned average throughput rate of 2,450 tonnes per day. December gold production will consequently total approximately 4,100 ounces. A 7 to 10 day mill shutdown is scheduled for mid-January during which operating personnel will undertake action designed to correct the problem. Remedial action will include the reinstallation of the electric motor base plate, and a rotation of the ball mill bull gear 180 degrees about the vertical axis.
Berezitovy
After the achievement of commercial production on October 1, 2008, Berezitovy mill throughput regularly exceeded 85% of the design capacity with satisfactory recoveries. Recently, throughput and recoveries at the mill have suffered due to mining in the pit encompassing the old underground workings, which resulted in fragments of the old timbers entering the process plant. Also the mill has been producing too coarse a grind, which has also adversely affected recoveries. As a result, gold production during the month of December is only expected to total approximately 1,400 ounces, with a further 3,200 ounces in material available for future processing in the furnace. Operating personnel at the mine are currently planning remedial action to resolve the issue.
Buryatzoloto (Zun-Holba and Irokinda)
The Zun-Holba and Irokinda underground gold mines continue to operate according to plan, and are currently on track to meet the budgeted 2008 whole year production target of 145,000 gold ounces (100% basis).
Financial Status
Cash Position
As of December 31, 2008, High River's head office cash position totalled approximately $11 million, a lower than anticipated amount due to the negative impact on Company cashflow from the unexpected operational difficulties at Taparko and Berezitovy.
Lenders
High River and its operating subsidiaries have three lenders which comprise the majority of current and long term debt outstanding.
Approximately one half of the consolidated current and long term debt outstanding of $193 million, as of September 30, 2008, is comprised of various loans due to Nomos Bank by Buryatzoloto and Berezitovy. All scheduled loan repayments have been made to Nomos Bank, including a US $15 million loan repayment on November 21, 2008 on behalf of Berezitovy, and a further US $10 million loan repayment on December 21, 2008 on behalf of Buryatzoloto.
High River's Somita SA subsidiary, which operates the Taparko mine, continues to be in breach of loan covenants pursuant to the US $35 million loan agreement with Royal Gold Inc. The present balance of the facility with Royal Gold Inc. is US $30.3 million. Discussions are ongoing regarding obtaining a waiver of the covenant breaches.
Standard Bank Plc, with loans to Somita SA and High River of approximately $27 million, was recently granted a corporate guarantee from Severstal after completion of the Severstal private placement in High River. The repayment date on these facilities has been extended into 2010.
Total High River consolidated debt at the end of December 2008 is anticipated to be approximately US $142 million.
Trade Creditors
Recently, High River advised Somita SA trade creditors that it will slow down payments for accounts payable for a brief period in light of lower than expected cashflows from the group's operations. Management plans to pay suppliers for current purchases of goods and services.
Actions being taken to meet financial obligations
High River is currently in discussions relating to additional debt or equity financing arrangements to meet its financial obligations. It hopes to finalize these arrangements by January 31, 2009.
Personnel Changes
Two officers of High River, Don Whalen, Executive Vice President, and Mike Kelly, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, have left the Company. In the interim, until a permanent replacement can be found, Chief Operating Officer duties will be shared by High River CEO, Nikolay Zelenskiy, and the mine managers of the Company's 4 operating mines. As well, Valery Dmitriev, General Director of Buryatzoloto, has left High River. Replacing him is Vladimir Baltsat, who previously worked for Peter Hambro Mining Plc as the mine manager of the Pokrovsky mine in Russia.
About High River
High River is a gold company with interests in producing mines, mines under development, and advanced exploration projects in Burkina Faso and Russia.
FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS
This release and subsequent oral statements made by and on behalf of the Company may contain forward-looking statements. Wherever possible, words such as "intends", "expects", "scheduled", "estimates", "anticipates", "believes", and similar expressions or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved, have been used to identify these forward-looking statements. Although the forward-looking statements contained in this release reflect management's current beliefs based upon information currently available to management and based upon what management believes to be reasonable assumptions, High River cannot be certain that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. A number of factors could cause events and achievements to differ materially from the results expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. These factors should be considered carefully and prospective investors should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements necessarily involve significant known and unknown risks, assumptions and uncertainties that may cause High River's actual results, event, prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Although High River has attempted to identify important risks and factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors and risks that cause actions, events or results not to be anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that the forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, prospective investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this release, and High River assumes no obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances, unless otherwise required by law.
Contacts:
High River Gold Mines Ltd.
Dan Hrushewsky
Vice President Investor Relations
(416) 947-1440
(416) 360-0010 (FAX)
Email: info@hrg.ca
Website: www.hrg.ca
© MarketWire 2009
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Paramount Gold and Silver Corp. Completes $2,000,000 Financing with the MineralFields Group
Paramount Gold and Silver Corp. (TSX: PZG)(NYSE-A: PZG)(AMEX: PZG)(FRANKFURT: P6G)is pleased to announce a private placement of CDN$2,000,000 through the sale of 3,636,363 units at $0.55 each to the MineralFields Group. Each flow through unit is comprised of one restricted common share and one share purchase warrant exercisable for a period of two years from closing at a price of $1.00 per share during the first year and $1.25 during the second year. First Canadian Securities received commission of 5% of the proceeds and warrants for acting as agent in the financing.
"We are very pleased to be entering into this relationship with MineralFields Group", said Christopher Crupi, CEO. "This is an important milestone in the growth of Paramount Gold and Silver Corp. and we look forward to working with MineralFields Group as we develop our projects in Canada.
Paramount Gold and Silver Corp. has also executed an agreement to acquire an interest in the Vidette Lake Gold Mine located in British Columbia, Canada and continues to look at other properties of interest. Further details regarding Paramount is available at www.paramountgold.com.
MineralFields Group (a division of Pathway Asset Management), based in Toronto and Vancouver, is a mining fund with significant assets under administration that offers its tax-advantaged super flow-through limited partnerships to investors throughout Canada as well as hard-dollar resource limited partnerships to investors throughout the world. Pathway Asset Management also specializes in the manufacturing and distribution of structured products and mutual funds (including the Pathway Multi Series Funds Inc. corporate-class mutual fund series). Information about MineralFields Group is available at www.mineralfields.com.
Contacts:
Paramount Gold and Silver Corp.
Christopher Crupi
CEO
613-226-9881
"We are very pleased to be entering into this relationship with MineralFields Group", said Christopher Crupi, CEO. "This is an important milestone in the growth of Paramount Gold and Silver Corp. and we look forward to working with MineralFields Group as we develop our projects in Canada.
Paramount Gold and Silver Corp. has also executed an agreement to acquire an interest in the Vidette Lake Gold Mine located in British Columbia, Canada and continues to look at other properties of interest. Further details regarding Paramount is available at www.paramountgold.com.
MineralFields Group (a division of Pathway Asset Management), based in Toronto and Vancouver, is a mining fund with significant assets under administration that offers its tax-advantaged super flow-through limited partnerships to investors throughout Canada as well as hard-dollar resource limited partnerships to investors throughout the world. Pathway Asset Management also specializes in the manufacturing and distribution of structured products and mutual funds (including the Pathway Multi Series Funds Inc. corporate-class mutual fund series). Information about MineralFields Group is available at www.mineralfields.com.
Contacts:
Paramount Gold and Silver Corp.
Christopher Crupi
CEO
613-226-9881
New Gold Places the Amapari Mine on Temporary Care and Maintenance
VANCOUVER, Jan. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - New Gold Inc. ("New Gold") (TSX and AMEX - NGD) today placed its Amapari Mine in Brazil on temporary care and maintenance.
Robert Gallagher, New Gold's President and Chief Executive Officer stated: "We had hoped to mine and process oxide ores through the third quarter of 2009, but efforts to maintain recent improvements in production and costs with the increasing amounts of hard transition ore and waste in the Amapari pits have been unsuccessful. While significant resources remain at Amapari, the additional capital required to maintain economic production levels and the limited remaining oxide reserves justifies the decision to place the mine on care and maintenance."
New Gold has determined that it would be more cost-effective to process the remaining oxide ore (including transition material) with the underlying sulphide resource in a new process facility. New Gold is preparing a Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") to exploit this resource with a conventional crush/grind/CIL mill. It is expected that this study will be completed in the first quarter of 2009. New Gold will also investigate other strategic alternatives for the Amapari operation.
In the meantime, mining at Amapari is being suspended immediately. The leaching of stacked material is expected to continue until it is no longer economic to do so. The operation will be placed on care and maintenance pending the results of the PEA. All environmental monitoring and on-going remediation programs will continue during this period and beyond, as will on-going exploration programs on New Gold's concessions at Amapari.
New Gold is an intermediate gold mining company with operating assets in Mexico and Australia and two development projects in Canada and Chile. For further information on New Gold, please visit our website at www.newgold.com.
CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Certain information contained in this press release, including any information relating to New Gold's future financial or operating performance, may be deemed "forward looking". All statements in this press release, other than statements of historical fact, that address events or developments that New Gold expects to occur, are "forward-looking statements". Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "does not expect", "plans", "anticipates", "does not anticipate", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential", "scheduled", "forecast", "budget" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could", "should" or "might" occur. All such forward-looking statements are subject to important risk factors and uncertainties, many of which are beyond New Gold's ability to control or predict. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based on estimates and assumptions that are inherently subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause New Gold's actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, without limitation: the results of the preliminary economic assessment assessing the viability of a new process facility; New Gold's operations are subject to significant capital requirements ; fluctuations in the international currency markets and in the rates of exchange of the currencies of Canada, the United States, Australia, Brazil, Mexico and Chile; price volatility in the spot and forward markets for commodities; impact of any hedging activities, including margin limits and margin calls; discrepancies between actual and estimated production, between actual and estimated reserves and resources and between actual and estimated metallurgical recoveries; changes in national and local government legislation in Canada, the United States, Australia, Brazil, Mexico and Chile or any other country in which New Gold currently or may in the future carry on business; taxation; controls, regulations and political or economic developments in the countries in which New Gold does or may carry on business; the speculative nature of mineral exploration and development, including the risks of obtaining necessary licenses and permits; diminishing quantities or grades of reserves; competition; loss of key employees; additional funding requirements; actual results of current exploration or reclamation activities; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; accidents; labour disputes; defective title to mineral claims or property or contests over claims to mineral properties. In addition, there are risks and hazards associated with the business of mineral exploration, development and mining, including environmental hazards, industrial accidents, unusual or unexpected formations, pressures, cave-ins, flooding and gold bullion losses (and the risk of inadequate insurance or inability to obtain insurance, to cover these risks) as well as "Risks and Uncertainties" included in New Gold's MD&A filed November 12, 2008 available at www.sedar.com. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, and actual results and future events could materially differ from those anticipated in such statements. All of the forward-looking statements contained in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements. New Gold expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, events or otherwise, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.
SOURCE New Gold Inc.
Robert Gallagher, New Gold's President and Chief Executive Officer stated: "We had hoped to mine and process oxide ores through the third quarter of 2009, but efforts to maintain recent improvements in production and costs with the increasing amounts of hard transition ore and waste in the Amapari pits have been unsuccessful. While significant resources remain at Amapari, the additional capital required to maintain economic production levels and the limited remaining oxide reserves justifies the decision to place the mine on care and maintenance."
New Gold has determined that it would be more cost-effective to process the remaining oxide ore (including transition material) with the underlying sulphide resource in a new process facility. New Gold is preparing a Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") to exploit this resource with a conventional crush/grind/CIL mill. It is expected that this study will be completed in the first quarter of 2009. New Gold will also investigate other strategic alternatives for the Amapari operation.
In the meantime, mining at Amapari is being suspended immediately. The leaching of stacked material is expected to continue until it is no longer economic to do so. The operation will be placed on care and maintenance pending the results of the PEA. All environmental monitoring and on-going remediation programs will continue during this period and beyond, as will on-going exploration programs on New Gold's concessions at Amapari.
New Gold is an intermediate gold mining company with operating assets in Mexico and Australia and two development projects in Canada and Chile. For further information on New Gold, please visit our website at www.newgold.com.
CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Certain information contained in this press release, including any information relating to New Gold's future financial or operating performance, may be deemed "forward looking". All statements in this press release, other than statements of historical fact, that address events or developments that New Gold expects to occur, are "forward-looking statements". Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "does not expect", "plans", "anticipates", "does not anticipate", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential", "scheduled", "forecast", "budget" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could", "should" or "might" occur. All such forward-looking statements are subject to important risk factors and uncertainties, many of which are beyond New Gold's ability to control or predict. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based on estimates and assumptions that are inherently subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause New Gold's actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, without limitation: the results of the preliminary economic assessment assessing the viability of a new process facility; New Gold's operations are subject to significant capital requirements ; fluctuations in the international currency markets and in the rates of exchange of the currencies of Canada, the United States, Australia, Brazil, Mexico and Chile; price volatility in the spot and forward markets for commodities; impact of any hedging activities, including margin limits and margin calls; discrepancies between actual and estimated production, between actual and estimated reserves and resources and between actual and estimated metallurgical recoveries; changes in national and local government legislation in Canada, the United States, Australia, Brazil, Mexico and Chile or any other country in which New Gold currently or may in the future carry on business; taxation; controls, regulations and political or economic developments in the countries in which New Gold does or may carry on business; the speculative nature of mineral exploration and development, including the risks of obtaining necessary licenses and permits; diminishing quantities or grades of reserves; competition; loss of key employees; additional funding requirements; actual results of current exploration or reclamation activities; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; accidents; labour disputes; defective title to mineral claims or property or contests over claims to mineral properties. In addition, there are risks and hazards associated with the business of mineral exploration, development and mining, including environmental hazards, industrial accidents, unusual or unexpected formations, pressures, cave-ins, flooding and gold bullion losses (and the risk of inadequate insurance or inability to obtain insurance, to cover these risks) as well as "Risks and Uncertainties" included in New Gold's MD&A filed November 12, 2008 available at www.sedar.com. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, and actual results and future events could materially differ from those anticipated in such statements. All of the forward-looking statements contained in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements. New Gold expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, events or otherwise, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.
SOURCE New Gold Inc.
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