Goldplat crashes following 'very difficult quarter'

(Sharecast News) - AIM-listed gold producer Goldplat remains confident its strategic initiatives will yield "improved results" in future despite having just endured a "very difficult quarter".Goldplat said it would put its Kilimapesa mine in South Western Kenya on care and maintenance by the end of November if it could not secure funding for expansion, though management have made "good progress" in trying to drum up some cash.Problems sourcing sufficient material for processing at its Ghanaian asset carried over into the first quarter of its new trading year, as expected. However, the firm said improvements at its South African operations at the tail end of September had begun to bear fruit in the second quarter, with a return to normalised production now expected following a challenging quarter.Production for the quarter came to 6,138 ounces of gold equivalent - a 40% drop year-on-year.Goldplat also revealed that gold equivalent ounces sold and transferred during the quarter had dropped year-on-year as a result of reduced production and first-quarter sales from 2017 being augmented by a carry-over from a large contract produced during 2016.Gold equivalent ounces sold and transferred during the quarter dropped 62% to 5,407 ounces.As of 0850 BST, Goldplat shares had sunk 32.63% to 3p.