24 Jul 2020 07:00
24 July 2020
Trans-Siberian Gold plc
("TSG", the "Company" or the "Group")
Q2 Production & Operations Update
Trans-Siberian Gold plc (TSG.LN), a low cost, high grade gold producer in Russia, announces its production update at the Asacha Gold Mine for the three months ended 30 June 2020 ("Q2" or the "Period") and the first six months of 2020 ("H1").
Q2 Highlights
· Total gold doré production rose by 66.5% QoQ to 11,419 oz (Q1 2020: 6,859 oz)
· Average gold grade 46.9% higher QoQ at 7.6 g/t (Q1 2020: 5.2 g/t)
· Average realised gold price increased by 8.7% QoQ to $1,738/oz (Q1 2020: $1,599/oz)
· Total gold sales rose by 94.6% QoQ to 11,357 oz (Q1 2020: 5,847 oz)
· Gold revenue increased by 111.5% QoQ to $19.7 million (Q1 2020: $9.3 million)
H1 Highlights
· Total gold doré production of 18,278 oz in H1 2020 (H1 2019: 21,899 oz)
· Average gold grades of 6.4 g/t (H1 2019: 8.6 g/t)
· Gold revenue remained stable at $29 million (H1 2019: $29 million)
· Gold recovery rate remained consistent YoY at 94.2% (H1 2019: 95.3%)
· On track to meet full year production guidance
The Company is deeply saddened to report a non-operational fatality during Q2 as a result of an off-site road accident that occurred during low visibility weather conditions. TSG remains wholly committed to achieving a zero-harm rate, and a thorough investigation has been undertaken following the incident. Additional safety training and education has been provided to employees and assistance given to the employee's family.
Alexander Dorogov, Chief Executive Officer of TSG, commented:
"We made solid operational progress in the first half of 2020. In spite of lockdown measures being implemented around the world due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have managed to maintain our operations without interruption.
In addition, the second quarter of 2020 saw a return to substantially higher average gold grades as we began to process high-grade ore extracted from Vein 25 in the East Zone. We have made considerable progress in our mine development works at Vein 25 during the period, and these remain ahead of schedule. There is significant potential to explore additional areas around the East Zone and within close proximity to the Asacha Gold Mine.
We deeply regret the fatal accident which occurred in Q2 2020. The health and wellbeing of our people remains our absolute priority, and we remain committed to ensuring a safe working environment for all of our employees."
Production Summary
Mining and production data for Q2 and H1 2020 at the Asacha Gold Mine is shown in the following tables:
Q2 2020
Metric | Q2 | Q1 | Q-on-Q | Q2 | Y-on-Y | |||
2020 | 2020 | % Change | 2019 | % Change | ||||
Mine development | (m) | 1,510 | 1,541 | -2.0% | 1,864 | -19.0% | ||
Ore extracted | (tonnes) | 43,497 | 34,009 | 27.9% | 39,017 | 11.5% | ||
Ore processed | (tonnes) | 50,316 | 44,221 | 13.8% | 37,058 | 35.8% | ||
Grade, gold | (g/t) | 7.6 | 5.2 | 46.9% | 8.4 | -9.9% | ||
Grade, silver | (g/t) | 19.8 | 19.2 | 3.0% | 26.4 | -24.9% | ||
Recovery, gold | (%) | 94.0 | 94.5 | -0.5% | 95.2 | -1.3% | ||
Recovery, silver | (%) | 79.3 | 78.6 | 0.8% | 84.0 | -5.6% | ||
Gold in doré | (oz) | 11,419 | 6,859 | 66.5% | 9,544 | 19.6% | ||
Silver in doré | (oz) | 25,774 | 21,691 | 18.8% | 27,629 | -6.7% | ||
Gold refined | (oz) | 11,114 | 6,035 | 84.2% | 11,298 | -1.6% | ||
Silver refined | (oz) | 26,062 | 22,205 | 17.4% | 32,683 | -20.3% | ||
Gold sold | (oz) | 11,357 | 5,837 | 94.6% | 10,113 | 12.3% | ||
Silver sold | (oz) | 47,989 | 0 | 32,937 | 45.7% | |||
Gold price | ($/oz) | 1,738 | 1,599 | 8.7% | 1,313 | 32.4% | ||
Silver price | ($/oz) | 17.7 | 0.0 | 14.7 | 20.3% | |||
Gold Revenue* | ($,000) | 19,740 | 9,333 | 111.5% | 13,276 | 48.7% | ||
Silver Revenue* | ($,000) | 849 | 0 | 484 | 75.2% | |||
Total Revenue* | ($,000) | 20,588 | 9,333 | 120.6% | 13,761 | 49.6% |
H1 2020
Metric | H1 | H1 | Y-on-Y | H2 | H-on-H | |||
2020 | 2019 | % Change | 2019 | % Change | ||||
Mine development | (m) | 3,051 | 3,884 | -21.4% | 3,355 | -9.1% | ||
Ore extracted | (tonnes) | 77,506 | 73,856 | 4.9% | 68,295 | 13.5% | ||
Ore processed | (tonnes) | 94,537 | 81,804 | 15.6% | 97,569 | -3.1% | ||
Grade, gold | (g/t) | 6.4 | 8.6 | -25.2% | 7.1 | -9.8% | ||
Grade, silver | (g/t) | 19.6 | 27.1 | -27.8% | 20.4 | -4.1% | ||
Recovery, gold | (%) | 94.2 | 95.3 | -1.1% | 95.1 | -0.9% | ||
Recovery, silver | (%) | 79.0 | 82.3 | -4.0% | 78.4 | 0.8% | ||
Gold in doré | (oz) | 18,278 | 21,889 | -16.5% | 21,589 | -15.3% | ||
Silver in doré | (oz) | 47,466 | 59,787 | -20.6% | 51,770 | -8.3% | ||
Gold refined | (oz) | 17,149 | 23,155 | -25.9% | 20,578 | -16.7% | ||
Silver refined | (oz) | 48,267 | 63,557 | -24.1% | 46,294 | 4.3% | ||
Gold sold | (oz) | 17,194 | 22,062 | -22.1% | 21,719 | -20.8% | ||
Silver sold | (oz) | 47,989 | 69,266 | -30.7% | 46,536 | 3.1% | ||
Gold price | ($/oz) | 1,691 | 1,312 | 28.9% | 1,488 | 13.7% | ||
Silver price | ($/oz) | 17.7 | 15.1 | 16.9% | 17.3 | 2.5% | ||
Gold Revenue* | ($,000) | 29,072 | 28,951 | 0.4% | 32,308 | -10.0% | ||
Silver Revenue* | ($,000) | 849 | 1,048 | -19.0% | 803 | 5.7% | ||
Total Revenue* | ($,000) | 29,921 | 29,998 | -0.3% | 33,112 | -9.6% |
*Note: Unaudited figure
Totals may not add up due to rounding
Commentary
TSG is pleased to report another busy and productive quarter, in which the Group has recorded significant production and exploration successes.
The Group achieved significant improvements in production performance from Q1 2020 despite gold mineralisation in the Main Zone becoming lower-grade and more erratic at depth. The average grade of the mill feed increased to 7.6 g/t which was in part supported by high-grade test ore extracted from Vein 25. Since April 2020, approximately 9,488 tonnes of ore with an average gold grade of 19.8 g/t has been extracted from Vein 25 and processed to produce approximately 6,028 oz of gold.
As announced on 10 July 2020, significant mine development work was completed at Vein 25 during the Quarter. The Group remains on track to commence commercial mining in the East Zone of the Asacha Gold Mine, which contains significantly higher grade ore, next year. Bulk sampling will continue for the remainder of 2020.
The planned 25,000 metres of exploration drilling over the Asacha licence area was completed during the Period. This has been a very successful campaign delineating additional mineral resources (see RNS announcement dated 16 June 2020) and identifying new exploration targets around the East Zone and within close proximity to the Asacha Gold Mine. Building on the successful drilling to date, a further 11,600 metres is planned to be drilled at Vein 25 North during the remainder of 2020.
In addition, the Group continues to progress with the evaluation of, and scoping study for, the development of the Rodnikova deposit, and expects to provide an update in the second half of this year.
As previously announced, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a limited impact on the Group's operations. Managing the health of the Group's staff is increasingly challenging as lock-down measures are eased. The Group remains vigilant, and strict protective and sanitary measures remain in place at our operations.
Existing guidance for 2020 production estimates remains unchanged.
TSG expects to publish unaudited interim financial results for H1 2020 in September 2020.
ENDS
Contacts: |
|
TSG Stewart Dickson | +44 (0) 7799 694195 |
Arden Partners plc Paul Shackleton (Corporate Finance)Tim Dainton / Fraser Marshall (Equity Sales) | +44 (0) 207 614 5900 |
Hudson Sandler (Financial PR) Charlie Jack / Katerina Parker / Elfreda Kent | +44 (0) 207 796 4133 |
About TSG
TSG is focused on low cost, high grade mining operations and stable gold production from its 100% owned Asacha Gold Mine in Far East Russia. The Company also holds the licence for the development and exploration of the Rodnikova deposit, one of the largest gold fields in South Kamchatka.
Additional information is available from the Company's website: www.trans-siberiangold.com
Market Abuse Regulations
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 ('MAR'). Upon the publication of this announcement via Regulatory Information Service ('RIS'), this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.
Abbreviations
g/t grammes per tonne
oz ounce
m metre
Disclaimer
This announcement contains "forward-looking statements" - that is, statements related to future, not past, events. In this context, forward-looking statements often address our expected future business and financial performance, and often contain words such as "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes," "seeks," "should" or "will." Forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain. For us, uncertainties arise from the behaviour of financial and metals markets, fluctuations in interest and/or exchange rates and metal prices; and from numerous other matters of national, regional and global scale, including those of a political, economic, business, competitive or regulatory nature. These uncertainties may cause our actual future results to be materially different that those expressed in our forward-looking statements.