Wednesday February 17, 5:41 pm Eastern Time
Company Press Release
Original Sixteen to One Mine, Inc. Buys Time for Technical Exploration
ALLEGHANY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 17, 1999--Original Sixteen to One Mine, Inc. (PCX:OAU), announced
today a restructuring of its plan of operations and workforce.
The decision surprised none of the miners, who, like many in the industry, are facing hard times. The move is designed to
conserve capital and encourage more focused mining.
Unlike other companies in the gold mining industry who cite the price of gold as the main reason for reducing their operations,
Michael M. Miller, president, feels otherwise. ''Of course the price affects revenue,'' he said. ''A decline in production,
however, pushed us to reconsider where and how we were mining the underground quartz vein, not so much the price of gold.''
Production total for 1998 equaled 3,737 fine troy ounces (fozt) down 36% from 1997 production of 5,869 fozt.
The Sixteen to One mine has been in operation over 100 years and is the second oldest U.S. publicly traded gold mining
company. Over 1.1 million ounces of gold have been produced from the Northern California mine. Most production originates
in extremely high-grade concentrations. The California Division of Miners and Geology Bulletin 193 lists the largest high-grade
pockets found in California. The top three pockets were in the Sixteen to One mine. The last large pocket ($2 million) was
mined in 1995.
''Understanding the unique nature of the gold deposit in the Alleghany District corroborates the recent change in mining
methods,'' said Miller. ''There is great confidence that undetected high-grade pockets exist. In addition to geology, miners
intuition and just plain luck, we are benefiting from entrepreneurs improving the technology of identifying gold in the quartz
vein.''
Miller says that maintaining the miles of underground habitat as a beta site for scientists is a high priority. By reducing the
number of underground headings, thereby reducing the work force, the newly formed association of miners will focus on short
term targets with the highest probability for gold. The company has less expenses and the association of miners assumes risk
with the potential for greater rewards.
''Shareholders' interests are best served by preserving our accumulated inventory to allow for ongoing technology to advance
in reliability,'' Miller stated. |
