Last checked at 12 Jul 2012 07:00
12 July 2012
Hambledon Mining Plc
("Hambledon" or "the Company")
Activities Report for the Quarter Ended 30 June 2012 and Appointment of Non-executive Director
Hambledon Mining plc (AIM: HMB), the Kazakhstan gold mining and development company, today provides its operational and corporate report for the three months to 30 June 2012. A copy of this report will be available on the Company's website, www.hambledon-mining.com
Production figures for the three months from 1 April - 30 June 2012:
| April | May | June | Total | |||||||||||||
| Total milled tonnes (dry) | 56,340 | 58,869 | 63,947 | 179,156 | ||||||||||||
| Gold grade (g/t) | 1.46 | 1.18 | 1.22 | 1.28 | ||||||||||||
| Contained gold (gms) | 82,521 | 69,437 | 77,865 | 229,825 | ||||||||||||
| Contained gold (oz) | 2,653 | 2,232 | 2,503 | 7,388 | ||||||||||||
| Gold recovery % | 77.26 | 80.73 | 79.12 | 79.03 | ||||||||||||
| Total recovered gold (oz) | 2,049 | 1,802 | 1,980 | 5,840 | ||||||||||||
| Total recovered silver (oz | 2,397 | 2,382 | 2,077 | 6,856 | ||||||||||||
| Of which: | ||||||||||||||||
| Underground mined waste (t) | 9,568 | 8,168 | 12,182 | 29,918 | ||||||||||||
| Underground mined ore (t) | 3,435 | 2,723 | 742 | 6,900 | ||||||||||||
| Underground milled tonnes (t) | 6,254 | 0 | 0 | 6,254 | ||||||||||||
| Underground gold grade (g/t) | 3.08 | 0 | 0 | 3.08 | ||||||||||||
MINERAL PROCESSING FROM OPEN PIT AND UNDERGROUND
Gold production for the quarter ended 30 June 2012 of 5,917 ounces was in line with management expectations, held back slightly by the constraint in tailings disposal from the process plant during Tailings Dam 3 (" TD3") remedial works.
Mining activities were primarily from the main open pit, with small quantities coming from the north pit. There were modest amounts of ore extracted from the underground mine. These underground ores are for the time being stockpiled until the planned improvements to the mineral process plant are completed in early Q4 2012, this will allow the high grade ores to be processed once the plant recovery levels are consistently above 81% and not at the current 78-79% recovery levels.
The process plant recovery continues to be below budgeted levels. The cause of this relates to an increased level of ore hardness and increased abrasiveness. Remedial works to modify the plant are on-going and are expected to be complete in early Q4, 2012; so that higher recovery levels can be attained and the stockpiled higher grade underground ores can be processed more efficiently.
UNDERGROUND
The mining of ores from the underground was temporarily suspended in early June and re-scheduled until mid-July to take into account significant water in-flows that diverted equipment from ore mining to a focus and accelerate infrastructure development. This allowed continued development of the underground decline which acted as an additional temporary sump and the construction of an additional water chamber. The main water pump station at the base of the shaft was augmented with new pumps. In addition the access to the next level of stopes below the 310mrl was commenced; this then allows two stopes to be worked at any one time providing flexibility in the deployment of men and machinery.
INFRASTRUCTURE
The remedial works associated with TD3 are well advanced and are expected to be completed in Q3, 2012. All site works are being supervised by onsite technicians and engineers employed by Golders Associates and SRK.
The construction of the Tailings Dam 4 embankment is 85% complete. All design and construction supervision is being undertaken by Golders Associates (UK).
Appointment of Non-executive Director
The Company is pleased to announce that Mrs Sabine Franca Anderson (née Severin), aged 39, a Chartered Mining Engineer, has joined the Board of Hambledon as a Non-Executive Director on behalf of EBRD with effect from 10th July, 2012.
Since 2011, Sabine has been a director and founder of Severin Mining and Development Limited, a company focusing on acquiring mineral exploration assets at various stages of development in Uganda and Ethiopia as well as other East African countries.
Between 2005 and 2011, Sabine was employed by SRK Consulting (UK) Ltd. acting as Principal Consultant responsible for independent technical assessment of exploration and mining projects in support of acquisitions, debt and equity finance. She has project managed numerous multi-disciplinary due diligence commissions of exploration assets through to operating mines and has been involved in scoping studies, pre-feasibility studies and Independent Engineer roles.
Sabine has experience in working with a range of commodities including precious, base and rare-earth metals, industrial and bulk minerals, diamonds and gemstones and has worked in numerous countries including Russia and the CIS, Western, Eastern and Southern Africa, Europe and South America.
Sabine was responsible for the start-up of a small scale tantalite mine, the Tantalite Valley Mine in Namibia in 2000. The project was taken from exploration stage through to construction. She previously held positions in Australia and South Africa with BHP Coal and Randgold, and was a co-founder of GlobalCoal.
Sabine has a Master of Engineering (Mining) degree from the Royal School of Mines, London and is a Chartered Engineer. She is also a Member of the Institute of Material, Minerals and Mining, sits on the Advisory Board of Women in Mining UK and is a member of the Association of Mining Analysts.
Sabine will be a member of the Company's Technical and Health and Safety committees.
George Eccles, Chairman of Hambledon, commented today: "We are very pleased that Sabine will be joining our board. She brings a wealth of experience especially in the gold mining sector, and will ensure that EBRD's high standards are adhered to at every level of the Company"
Additional information in respect of Sabine Anderson:
The directorships and partnerships currently held by Sabine and during the five years preceding the date of her appointment to the Board of Hambledon are as follows:
| Current directorships / partnerships | Past directorships / partnerships | |||
| Severin Mining and Development Ltd | Tantalite Valley Mining Pty Ltd (liquidation)* | |||
* Sabine Anderson was a director of Tantalite Valley Mining Pty Ltd, a Namibian company set up to operate the Tantalite Valley mine in Namibia. Following commissioning of the plant and during ramp up of production, the decision was taken to halt operations in December 2001. The demand and price of tantalite dropped and it became apparent that operations would not recommence. In July 2002, the company was placed into provisional liquidation which was granted in September 2002. The assets of the company were sold and final dividends were paid to creditors in December 2004.
Sabine Anderson does not beneficially hold any shares in the Company.
There are no further disclosures required to be made pursuant to the AIM Rules for Companies in respect of Sabine Anderson.
Enquiries:
Hambledon Mining plc:Telephone +44 (0)20 7233 1462Charles Zorab
Fairfax I.S. PLC (Nominated adviser and broker):Telephone +44 (0)20 7598 5368Ewan Leggat/Katy Birkin
Tavistock Communications:Telephone +44 (0)20 7920 3150Ed Portman/Jos Simson
Copyright Business Wire 2012