GoldPlat Regulatory News (GDP)

24 Oct 2006 07:01

Goldplat plc24 October 2006 Goldplat plc / Ticker: GDP / Index: AIM / Sector: Mining & Exploration 24 October 2006 Goldplat plc ('Goldplat' or 'the Company') Subsidiary Results Goldplat plc, the AIM-traded producer of gold and platinum group metals ("PGM")recovered from by-products of the mining process, is pleased to announce thefull year results for its wholly owned subsidiary, Goldplat Recovery (Pty)Limited ('Goldplat Recovery') for the year ended 30 June 2006. The Company(whose year end is also 30 June 2006) acquired the whole of the issued sharecapital of Goldplat Recovery on 26th July 2006 upon admission to trading on AIM.As such the results for Goldplat Recovery will not be included in theconsolidated final results of the Company for the period ending 30 June 2006.The results of the Company for the year ended 30 June 2006 are expected to bepublished by the end of November 2006. Since the publication of the nine month audited accounts for Goldplat Recoverywhere a loss after tax of ZAR306,868, (£27,229), was recorded, the Directors arepleased to report a significant turnaround in profitability during the lastquarter which has resulted in a profit after tax of ZAR1,327,674 (£116,463),(2005: ZAR4,717,627 or £409,084) for the year as a whole. As reported in theCompany's Admission document, the results of Goldplat Recovery for the firstnine months of the financial year were impacted by a number of technicalproblems which impacted on the full year results. Most of the problems were due to one specific source of material not lendingitself to the processes that were in place at that time. During the yearmanagement successfully installed two gravity concentrators and a flotationcircuit. This has enabled the plant to process the more problematic rawmaterials at higher recovery rates. Also, during the year two additional millswere acquired to provide extra capacity at the low grade milling circuit andflotation circuit and two sets of spirals were purchased to be used inconjunction with the fluidized bed furnace. The Directors believe that the strong improvement in the last quarter'sprofitability demonstrates they have resolved the previous processing problemswith the new source of material. The unaudited management accounts indicate thatthe strong final quarter performance has continued into the first quarter of the2006/07 financial year. In the year to 30 June 2006, Goldplat Recovery processed 55,128 tons of goldbearing ore (2005: 44,052), selling 9,088 ounces (2005: 10,900) and processed4,115 tons of platinum bearing ore (2005: 6,476), selling 2,956 ounces (2005:3,851). In the three months to 30 September 2006, Goldplat Recovery has processed 16,212tons of gold bearing ore, selling 3,088 ounces. The Directors believe that the steps taken throughout 2006 have had a positiveeffect on overall performance and that the benefits from these improvements willcontinue in years to come. The company has continued with its procurementprogramme and is in a strong position as far as reserves are concerned goingforward. CEO Demetri Manolis said: 'Whilst the overall profitability of Goldplat Recoverywas down compared to 2005 we believe we have dealt with the specific processingproblems encountered during the period and are now in a stronger position than12 months ago and able to process a wider range of materials at differing gradesin a cost effective manner. The last quarter of the financial year ended 30 June2006 was extremely positive and this strong trading has continued in thisfinancial year. Coupled to this, work on our Ghana plant is underway and, onceoperational, should see a good contribution to the Company's total sales.' Profit and Loss Statement for Goldplat Recovery (Pty) Limited For the year ended 30 June 2006 Year ended 9 month period ended 31 March Year ended 30 June 2006 2006 30 June 2005 ZAR ZAR ZAR Revenue 43,736,123 29,663,626 44,306,912Cost of Sales -37,472,081 -27,191,810 -34,467,402 ---------- ------------ ----------Gross profit 6,264,042 2,471,816 9,839,510 Administrativeexpenses -4,065,919 -2,980,162 -2,799,282 ---------- ------------ ----------Operatingprofit (loss)before financecosts 2,198,123 -508,346 7,040,228 Finance income 68,127 185,255 395,990Finance expense -273,534 -92,772 -130,468 ---------- ------------ ----------Net financing(costs) income -205,407 92,483 265,522 ---------- ------------ ---------- ---------- ------------ ----------Profit (loss)before tax 1,992,716 -415,863 7,305,750Income taxexpense -665,042 108,995 -2,588,123 ---------- ------------ ----------Profit (loss)for the period 1,327,674 -306,868 4 ,717,627 ========== ============ ========== Average exchange rates used to convert the profit and loss statement figures: Year/Period End Exchange Rate (ZAR/GBP) 30 June 2005 11.5322 : 131 March 2006 11.2698 : 130 June 2006 11.3999 : 1 The full report and accounts for Goldplat Recovery will be available on theCompany's website, www.goldplat.com, in due course. * * ENDS * * For further information please visit www.goldplat.com or contact: Brian Moritz Goldplat plc Tel: +44 (0) 7976 994300Demetri Manolis Goldplat plc Tel: +27 11 423 1203 Mob: +27 82 454 7392 Hugo de Salis St Brides Media & Finance Ltd Tel: +44 (0) 20 7242 4477Felicity Edwards St Brides Media & Finance Ltd Tel: +44 (0) 20 7242 4477 Edward Hutton HB Corporate Tel: +44 (0) 20 7510 8600 Notes: Goldplat, which listed on AIM on 26 July 2006, is a market leader in therecovery of gold and platinum group metals from metallurgically-challengingmaterials consisting primarily of by-products from gold and platinum mines inSouth Africa. Significant stockpiles of gold bearing materials exist on mine sites, which havebeen enriched rather than depleted during mining, but which cannot be profitablyprocessed by individual mines. Mines need an economic method to dispose of suchmaterial while adhering to environmental obligations. By providing a channel formines to generate revenue from waste material and save on disposal cost meansthat a recovery operation is profitable given the Company's economies of scale. The management team has vast experience in mining and the extraction of preciousmetals, and has established strong relationships with many of the major miningcompanies, including Anglogold Ashanti, Goldfields, Harmony and Bema for goldand Impala Platinum, Lonmin and Angloplats on the PGM side. Goldplat is now replicating the South African recovery business model in Ghana.With the revenues generated from both plants, the Company aims to identify andacquire further gold mining assets and to become a leading gold exploration andproduction vehicle in Africa. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange