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Hambledon Mining PLC (HMB)
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Friday 20 April, 2012
Hambledon Mining PLC
Production Update
Production Update
Hambledon Mining PLC
20 April 2012
Hambledon Mining Plc
(“Hambledon” or “the Company”)
Activities Report for the Quarter Ended 31 March 2012
Hambledon Mining plc (AIM: HMB), the Kazakhstan gold mining and development company, today provides its operational and corporate report for the three months from 1 January to 31 March 2012. A copy of this report will be available on the Company’s website, www.hambledon-mining.com
Q1 OPERATIONAL & CORPORATE OVERVIEW
Gold Production and Mineral Processing
Year-on-year gold production in Q1 increased 9.4%
Year-on-year mined tonnes in Q1 increased by 18%
The winterisation programme completed during 2011 aided overall production figures
Underground Development
Development of the trial stopes has progressed in accordance with design
Design and underground development of the first bulk mining zones is on target
The underground drilling programme to continue throughout 2012
Finance
RaisedUS$8.6M net of expenses through share issue
Raised US$3M through a private share placement with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (“EBRD”),
Agreed a US$15M debt facility with EBRD.
Received proceeds of US$1.2M from the liquidation of Ognevka
Tim Daffern, Chief Executive Officer of Hambledon, commented today: “Q1 has been a quarter of mixed fortunes for the Company. It was the first full quarter of gold production from the underground mine which performed in line with expectations and is a solid base from which to grow production. Extraction from underground remains on schedule to attain a full year target of 100,000 tonnes in 2012 . Because of the extremely cold weather, the first quarter is always the most challenging , but nevertheless the Company produced a total of 4,870 ounces gold, an increase year-on-year for Q1 of almost 10% and improvements were seen across a number of key indicators. The performance and reliability of the process plant was encouraging during severe weather condition, helped by the winterisation programme carried out in 2011. We are also delighted to receive the backing of the EBRD and look forward to a successful partnership in building Hambledon’s future.”.
Production figures for the three months from 1 January – 31 March 2012:
January February March Total
Total milled tonnes (dry) 50,373 48,044 47,663 146,080
Gold grade (g/t) 1.24 1.43 1.32 1.33
Contained gold (gms) 62,462 68,703 62,915 194,080
Contained gold (oz) 2,008 2,209 2,023 6,240
Gold recovery % 79.12 76.21 79.01 78.1
Total recovered gol