RSS UpdatesCompany Information for Resolute Mining Ltd
Company stock charts - 6 Month chart
 ASX; RSG
View full financial data |
Company Statement
Resolute is building shareholder value through its strength as a successful developer and operator of quality gold projects. Its projects to date have yielded over 5 million ounces (155 tonnes) of gold. The Company is actively progressing its portfolio of projects to further enhance shareholder value.
Current Operations
Golden Pride
The Golden Pride mine is located in Tanzania, East Africa, 750km north-west of the port of Dar es Salaam and 200km south of Lake Victoria. Resolute has a 100% interest in the project through its Tanzanian subsidiary, Resolute (Tanzania) Limited.
Operations
The 2009 financial year produced 127,047 (2008: 150,224) ounces of gold at a cash cost of US$488 (2008: US$449) per ounce.
Plant throughput reached record tonnes of 3.45 (2008: 2.5) million tonnes at an average head grade of 1.24g/t Au (2008: 2.04g/t) and a recovery rate of 92.5% (2008: 90%).
Gold production decreased from the previous year with reduced grade from the open pit together with significant blending of low grade stockpiled ore for plant feed. Blending of this low grade oxide ore assisted with plant throughput and gold recoveries with the overall cost per ounce marginally higher.
The open pit mined 5.0 million cubic metres of material at an increased strip ratio of 9.4:1 (2008: 4.8:1). The increase in waste movement was predominately from the central pit cutback so that ore mining could commence towards year end. Waste stripping has also commenced on the western section of the open pit.
The Golden Pride mine has now produced in excess of 1.68 million ounces of gold since commissioning in 1998.
Outlook
The coming year should see an increase in gold production with ore grade from the open pit increasing as the fresher ore is exposed in the central pit. The majority of the ore from the central pit will be mined in the first half of the year so that weather conditions do not hinder mine production. Minimal ore will be exposed during the stripping of the western pit.
Waste stripping of the western pit will continue with material from this cutback being used in the wall raising of the tailing storage facilities.
Plant throughput will decrease from the record tonnage of the past year. The increase in fresh material with a limited amount of low grade oxide blend will see a slowing of the circuit to maintain gold recoveries.
Ravenswood
The Ravenswood gold mine is located approximately 95km south-west of Townsville and 65km east of Charters Towers in north-east Queensland. Resolute has a 100% interest in the mine through its subsidiary Carpentaria Gold Pty Ltd.
Ore for the Ravenswood Operations was sourced from the Sarsfield open pit, the low-grade screening plant and the Mt Wright underground mine. The ore is treated using conventional three stage crushing, ball-milling and carbon-in-pulp (CIP) processing at the rate of 5Mtpa.
Operations
During the 2009 financial year, the operation produced 151,913 (2008: 142,833) ounces of gold at a cash cost of A$762 (2008: A$743). The main reason for the higher cash cost per ounce is due to the higher unit mining costs associated with mining at the bottom of the pit and lower production rates resulting from a lower strip ratio of 0.98:1 (2008: 1.45:1) whilst mining in the confined base of the pit. Partly offsetting this was the increase in ounces due to the higher average head grade and improved recovery.
Total material movement from the Sarsfield open pit was approximately 1.8 (2008: 3.6) million cubic metres. The lower mine production was due to the Sarsfield open cut operations ceasing in February 2009 as economic ore reserves were fully depleted. Ore production was 2.57 million tonnes at 1.12g/t. The Sarsfield pit is now being used as the tailings disposal facility.
The Mt Wright underground project, which continues to progress to expectations, developed 4,171 (2008: 3,824) metres and produced 547,724 (2008: 474,282) tonnes @ 2.43g/t (2008: 2.24g/t) Au. Ore tonnes were sourced from five stopes during the year with the completion of the H7, L8 and N8 stopes.
Resource drilling has upgraded the resource at Mt Wright from indicated to measured to the 880 RL and converted the resource from inferred to indicated to the 840 RL.
For the period the processing plant treated 5.0 (2008:5.0) million tonnes at an average head grade of 1.11g/t (2008: 1.07g/t) Au. Recovery improved to an average 85% (2008: 83%). The gain in recovery can be attributed to improved carbon management and tails monitoring.
Since closure of the Sarsfield pit in February, the processing plant has successfully continued to treat ore at a rate of 5.0 million tonnes per annum by blending Mt Wright ore with low grade stocks left from Sarsfield.
Outlook
While the milling priority will be the higher grade Mt Wright ore, it will continue to operate at approximately 5 million tonnes per annum by processing low grade stocks left over from the Sarsfield open pit. Due to the significant percentage of low grade Sarsfield ore, the overall head grade will drop to below 1g/t.
Planning and design work for reconfiguration of the plant for reduced throughput (Mt Wright only) post completion of the Sarsfield low grade will occur during the year.
Mt Wright underground will continue development and increase production while detailed planning work continues to improve the overall efficiency and profitability of the operation.
Syama
The Syama Gold Project is located in the south of Mali, West Africa approximately 30kms from the Côte d’Ivoire border and 300km southeast of the capital Bamako. Resolute has an 80% interest in the project through its equity in Sociêtê des Mines de Syama S.A. (SOMISY). The Malian Government holds a 20% interest in SOMISY, 15% of which is free carried.
Operations
The 2009 financial year saw the commencement of oxide treatment, the completion of construction and the commencement of operational commissioning of the sulphide circuit. During this period, the operation produced 24,762 ounces, with all costs being capitalised.
The initial trials of treating oxide material through the completed sections of the circuit, which commenced in October, were eventually abandoned during February due to a range of difficulties in treating this material. Once this decision was made, all efforts were focused on commissioning the flotation circuit to commence stockpiling concentrate in preparation for the completion of the roasting circuit. Treatment of sulphide ore commenced through the flotation circuit in mid March with the recoveries and concentrate specifications within expected ranges.
The roaster commenced initial heat-up in April and after overcoming some initial operational factors began autothermal operations. The roaster performance has been steadily improved as operator’s have gained operational experience. Performance of the remainder of the processing plant has been affected by a large number of failures in smaller components, mainly pumps and fans.
Good progress has been made in the development of the pit, with the east wall failure rectification almost complete by year end, as well as improvements to the contractor’s performance and system development.
Total material moved for the year was 5.05 million BCM, with the focus on waste removal to facilitate ore production. The contract miner’s performance improved steadily over the year and at year’s end, total movement figures were in line with budgeted levels.
For the period the processing plant treated 716,768 tonnes at an average head grade of 1.71g/t Au. Recovery averaged 63%. The low recovery is a result of the issues relating to the oxide treatment and related preg-robbing, as well as the commissioning issues, particularly with the earlier inconsistent operation of the roaster. The roaster needs to operate in a steady, controlled manner to ensure roasting is complete and the maximum carbon is burnt off.
Outlook
Although the early phase of commissioning has been frustrated by many interruptions, small component failures and difficulty in achieving timely delivery of spares, it has shown that the overall process will achieve expected results. A major delivery of spares is due for delivery in August and a major maintenance programme is planned to coincide with a mill re-line in September. Following this programme, all of the identified components will have been overhauled and brought to their required installation specifications. The operation will also have additional spares available for future maintenance and the required critical (insurance) spares will have been identified and the procurement process started for their delivery. This will allow the processing plant to run consistently and allow the focus to switch to optimization, both in throughput and recovery.
A drilling programme in the pit is planned to commence in the first quarter of 2010. This will allow for better definition of the distribution of sulphides in the ore and hence result in better scheduling of the ore delivered to the ROM pad which will in turn allow for optimal operation of the roaster. The improvement in contractor performance focus will remain in place to further reduce unit costs, as well as to give better flexibility in ore deliveries to the ROM pad to further improve feed blending.
All of the above improvements will allow the operation to ramp up to the 250,000 ounce production per annum target in an orderly manner.
Geographical Spread
Australia and Africa (Tanzania, Mali, Ghana)
Board of Directors and Key Management
| Chairman - PE Huston |
| Chief Executive Officer - PR Sullivan |
| Non-Executive Director - TC Ford |
| Non-Executive Director - HTS Price |
Company Address4th Floor
|
Additional Address/Key ContactPO Box 7232 Cloisters Square |
CapitalIssued Shares (ASX: RSG); 352 million
|
Annual General MeetingNovember, Perth | Year EndJune 30 |
Major Shareholders
| Alliance Life Common Fund | 39.9% |
| Baker Steel | 8.5% |
| Acorn Capital | 6.5% |
Related News
08/06/10 - Resolute Mining Targets Output From Syama At 250,000 ozs Within The Next 18 Months26/11/09 - Resolute Mining Turns Syama Into A Silk Purse Stitched Together With Golden Thread
08/07/09 - Resolute’s Syama Gold Project In Mali Moves One Step Closer To Its Initial 250,000 Ounces Per Year Production Target
10/02/09 - Resolute Mining Can Now See The Light At The End Of The Tunnel On The Syama Gold Mine In Mali
Most Recent Statement
27/07/10 - Quarterly Activities Report13/07/10 - Syama Operations
30/06/10 - Convertible Note Interest Payment
11/06/10 - Change in substantial holding
11/06/10 - Convertible Note Interest Payment
09/06/10 - Issue of Shares