Last checked at 19 Mar 2018 07:00
Hummingbird Resources plc / Ticker: HUM / Index: AIM / Sector: Mining
Hummingbird Resources plc
("Hummingbird" or the "Company")
Positive Ramp-up Update at the Yanfolila Gold Mine
Hummingbird Resources (AIM: HUM) is pleased to announce a ramp up update from the Yanfolila Gold Mine in Mali ("Yanfolila"), which commenced gold production in December 2017, in advance of an analyst site visit this week.
Production Update
Completion of plant construction and ore commissioning in 2017, was achieved within both the planned 18-month schedule and the US$88.5 million budgeted capital cost. Since first gold was poured on 19 December 2017, the performance of the plant has steadily improved month by month. In the first 14 days of March, the plant operated at an average of 95% of design throughput and has consistently achieved a gold recovery rate of approximately 96%, which is in excess of design specification.
Total gold recovered to 14 March 2018 was 16,804 ounces, of which 11,958 ounces has been poured and 4,846 ounces are currently within circuit inventory.
During the initial ore commissioning phase, the plant was processing ore from the lower-grade stockpiles in order to ensure plant performance and gold recovery were satisfactory before increasing the head grade. Over the past two months, the amount of high grade ore fed into the mill blend has been steadily increased and the plant is now running close to name-plate capacity with recoveries remaining consistently above design; higher-grade ore continues to be increasingly introduced to the plant.
Month 1 Commencing 9 December 2017 | Month 2 Commencing 8 January 2018 | Month 3 Commencing 8 February 2018 | |
Tonnes Milled (dry) | 55,699 | 72,346 | 86,592 |
Mill Feed Grade (g/t) | 2.02 | 2.34 | 3.35 |
Throughput (dry tonnes/hour) | 102 | 117 | 139 |
Plant Availability * (%) | 78 | 83 | 87 |
Gold Recovery ** (%) | 95.9 | 95.8 | 96.5 |
*Plant availability is due to be 91% when in steady state operations
**Recovery calculations based on gold lost to tailings
Dan Betts, CEO of Hummingbird, commented:
"We are delighted that the plant has performed so well and that the work carried out by our highly experienced team and contractors has so far been rewarded in ramp-up operations with 96% recoveries, over 3g/t head grade and a steady increase in plant throughput towards design. This is an impressive achievement in such a short space of time."
**ENDS**
For further information, please visit www.hummingbirdresources.co.uk or contact:
Daniel Betts Thomas Hill Robert Monro | Hummingbird Resources plc | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7409 6660 |
James Spinney Ritchie Balmer James Bellman | Strand Hanson Limited Nominated Adviser & Broker | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7409 3494
|
Lottie Wadham Susie Geliher | St Brides Partners Ltd Financial PR/IR | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7236 1177 |
About Hummingbird Resources Plc
Notes to Editors
Hummingbird Resources (AIM: HUM) is building a leading gold production, development and exploration company. The Company has two core gold projects, the Yanfolila Gold Mine in Mali and the Dugbe Gold Project in Liberia.
Yanfolila produced its first gold pour on time and budget in December 2017 and is expected to produce approximately 107,000oz gold/year on average over the Life of Mine. Yanfolila holds Probable Reserves of 709,800oz @ 3.14g/t, total Resources of 1.8Moz of gold and an additional 390,700oz of non-compliant exploration potential.
The Dugbe Gold Project has Resources currently totalling 4.2Moz of gold and a completed NI 43-101 compliant PEA on the project showing a 29% IRR and US$186m NPV.
In addition to Hummingbird's production and development assets, the Company also has an exploration footprint of ~5,000km2 and a 34% interest in AIM listed Cora Gold, which is advancing a portfolio of prospects in Mali and Senegal.
The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014.