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Last checked at 
14 Jan 2010 07:30
Hambledon Mining plc("the Company")
PRODUCTION UPDATE
The Company reports its production for the three months from 1 October 2009 to 31 December 2009.
| October | November | December | Total | ||||||
| Milled tonnes (dry) | 75,596 | 70,352 | 55,246 | 201,194 | |||||
| Gold grade (g/t) | 1.01 | 1.02 | 1.13 | 1.05 | |||||
| Contained gold (gms) | 76,352 | 71,759 | 62,152 | 210,263 | |||||
| Contained gold (oz) | 2,455 | 2,307 | 1,998 | 6,760 | |||||
| Gold recovery % | 79.0% | 80.3% | 80.98% | 80% | |||||
| Recovered gold (oz) | 1,940 | 1,851 | 1,618 | 5,409 | |||||
| Recovered silver (oz) | 4,194 | 4,538 | 4,746 | 13,478 | |||||
Operation of the process plant ran very smoothly in October and November. Lower tonnages were processed in December due to mill relines and a major rebuild of the crushing facility, resulting in 5 days milling lost. Extreme (-45C) weather conditions in the second week of December also impacted the production for December. Currently, temperatures are even lower, which will have an impact on January figures.
The new mobile crushing facility has arrived in Ust Kamenogorsk, having been long delayed by customs. It is expected to be commissioned in early February. This machine will initially be used to re-crush frozen ore that has caused blockages in the circuit and low milling rates during the winter period. It will also be able to act as a back-up unit for the main jaw crusher, albeit with reduced capacity. During the summer period when the re-crushing of frozen ore is not required, it will be used to produce aggregates for own use or sale.
An engine failure on one of our two Hitachi excavators in October put the machine out of operation for seven weeks resulting in lower mining rates than planned and requiring low grade stockpiled ore to be blended with the higher grade ore mined during the quarter. This resulted in the overall grade of ore being processed being 1.05 g/t instead of the 1.27 g/t planned.
Negotiations for a renewal of the Alpha Bank stand-by loan facility of $2m. have been concluded and agreed.
UNDERGROUND DEVELOPMENT
Approval for the first phase of the underground development was received in late December. A contract with a local underground contractor was signed at the end of December to commence work on the development of the underground project. This work is expected to commence in mid January.
A tender process for supply of underground equipment has been completed. It is expected that orders will be placed for this equipment in the first quarter of 2010 which would result in delivery of equipment in time to allow commencement of stoping operations in late 2010.
Surface infrastructure construction for the underground operation started in the December quarter with a road being constructed to the portal site, surface sedimentation ponds being constructed and power lines and surface transformers being installed.
Enquiries:
Hambledon Mining:Telephone +44 (0)20 7233 1462Charles Zorab
Fairfax I.S. PLC:Telephone +44 (0)207 598 5368Nominated Adviser and BrokerEwan Leggat
Copyright Business Wire 2010
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