MANICA GOLD ROYALTY UPDATE13 Jul 2023 12:39
MANICA GOLD ROYALTY UPDATE - Operations steadily improving
In June 2023, Empress completed a site visit of the Manica mine (“Manica”), located in Mozambique, and operated by Mutapa Mining & Processing Limitada (“MMP“). The site visit was technical in-nature with discussions ranging from the open pit operations and plant recovery, to the tailings facility, and resource estimation techniques. The Empress team spent time discussing optimization opportunities in geology, resource estimation, mine engineering and planning, plant processing, the elution circuit, and the assaying lab with the site operators.
Empress was overall impressed with the site team, which is reflected in the operational ramp-up and now the site operating at near steady-state operations. Since production started in July 2022, ore throughput has grown by 11% per month, grades have averaged 1.6 g/t, metallurgical recovery has risen to ~90%, and gold recovered has increased by 17% per month. Further, since the start of the year, internal guidance on production has either met or exceeded budget. The local communities supply the majority of the local work force, including women making up ~5% of the work force. ESG initiatives have been implemented and further plans for the local communities were discussed.
On July 12, 2023, Empress amended the Manica Royalty Agreement to reflect that Manica royalty payor MMP successfully obtaining its own gold export licence. This has allowed Empress and MMP to significantly simplify the mechanics of how Empress receives its Manica royalty payments and the monthly reporting of sales and royalty payment information to Empress. The royalty payable to Empress under the amended royalty agreement is unchanged and Empress will continue to receive a monthly payment of 3.375% on gold sales until MMP has sold 95,000 troy ounces of gold, after which the payment shall be reduced to 1.125% of gold sales. Empress looks forward to continuing to receive payments from MMP under the new simplified royalty agreement.
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