1998 results:
NEWS RELEASE TRANSMITTED BY CANADIAN CORPORATE NEWS
FOR: ECU GOLD MINING INC.
ME SYMBOL: ECU
MAY 26, 1999
ECU Announces Results for 1998
MONTREAL, QUEBEC--ECU Gold Mining Inc.. At the beginning of 1998,
the company began development of its Velardena project in Mexico.
During this first year, the mill processed 80,707 tonnes of ore
for a total production of 158,838 ounces of silver and 1,756
ounces of gold. The sale of the precipitate produced yielded
$1,147,600 US for an average realized sales price of $5.48 US per
ounce of silver and $294.48 US per ounce of gold. During this
pre-production phase, emphasis was placed on improving mill
performance, development work at the main mine, setting up a short
and medium- term development plan, and acquiring various mining
equipment. Exploration work also allowed the potential of the San
Diego property and of several neighboring sectors to be
quantified.
For the twelve-month fiscal year ending December 31, 1998, the net
loss was $9,373,210 ($0.24 per share) compared to $4,888,155
($0.19 per share) for the preceding eight-month period ended
December 31, 1997. This net loss is mainly attributable to
abandoning the Norris and Chartam properties in the US as well as
properties located in Brazil and in South Africa. This led to a
write-off of mining properties and deferred exploration
expenditures of $7,976,908. In order to reach its short-term
production and profitability objectives, the company decided to
concentrate its efforts on the properties nearest to the mining
stage. The exploration properties that were written off no longer
met these objectives. |
