Marathon Announces 2008 Financial Results
Thu Mar 26, 6:30 PM
ca.news.finance.yahoo.com
TORONTO, March 26 /CNW/ - Marathon PGM Corporation ("Marathon" or the "Company") announced today its financial results for the year ended December 31, 2008.
At December 31, 2008, Marathon had cash of $16.3 million, compared to $12.3 million at December 31, 2007, with operations and project spending in the year amounting to $6.2 million and $7.8 million respectively. Exploration and development plans for 2009, particularly for the Marathon PGM-Cu project, have been reduced to conserve cash while still moving toward the acquisition of mining permits, and Marathon's cash resources are adequate to fund its general and administrative expenses, exploration, and permitting activities into 2011.
As a result of acquiring the Geordie Lake property in 2008 and the Bamoos property in March 2009, Marathon now owns a land package encompassing close to 8,000 hectares with total measured and indicated resources of 3.9 million ounces of PGM's and gold, 7.1 million ounces of silver and 779 million pounds of copper, making up the vast majority of the known mineral resources on the Coldwell PGM-copper complex in northern Ontario. The bulk of these resources are not subject to any royalties.
Financial and Operational Highlights
- Completing a definitive feasibility study on the Marathon PGM-Cu/BCF
properties, which outline proven and probable reserves of 79.3
million tonnes grading 0.27% Cu, 0.08 g/t Au, 0.23 g/t Pt, 0.76 g/t
Pd, and 1.6 g/t Ag.
- Closing a bought deal unit financing which raised gross proceeds of
$20 million in April 2008.
- Acquiring Discovery PGM Exploration Ltd., owner of the Geordie Lake
property approximately 14km west of the Marathon deposit with a
measured and indicated mineral resource of 26 million tonnes grading
0.63g/t PGM's and gold and 0.35% copper.
- Completing a 21,000 meter drilling program at the Marathon.
- Concluding an agreement to purchase the Bamoos property on March 23,
2009.
- Completing resource definition drilling programs on the Page and Ore
Fault zones at the Bird River Joint Venture.
- Compiling initial resource estimates at the Page and Ore Fault zones,
with indicated resources of 18 million pounds of nickel, 9.4 million
pounds of copper, 295,000 ounces of silver, and 32,000 ounces of
PGM's and gold.
- Completing a successful winter resource-expansion drilling program on
the Bird River Joint Venture in February 2009.
- Completing prospecting, geophysics and trenching programs at the
Steel Mountain and Tim's Brook properties in advance of a spring
drilling program in 2009.
Marathon's loss for the year ended December 31, 2008 is set out below.
2008 2007
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$ $
Exploration expenses 4,915,044 524,326
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Operating expenses:
General and administrative expenses 1,910,179 1,951,729
Depreciation 88,003 89,225
Stock based compensation 484,705 663,640
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2,482,887 2,704,594
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Operating loss 7,397,931 3,228,920
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Interest income (564,117) (455,428)
Foreign exchange loss 2,576 4,952
Loss before income taxes 6,836,390 2,778,444
Income taxes (1,526,768) (572,958)
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Loss for the year 5,309,622 2,205,486
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Marathon's accounting policy is to expense property acquisition and exploration costs on properties without a mineral resource. The increased exploration expenses in 2008 reflect the results of property acquisition costs totaling $2.1 million and extensive drilling and ground-work programs at the Bird River and Ore Fault properties.
This press release should be read in conjunction with Marathon's audited consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2008 and the related Management's Discussion and Analysis, both of which are available on www.sedar.com. Marathon's Web site may be found at marathonpgm.com.
About Marathon
Marathon completed a definitive feasibility study on the Marathon PGM-Cu deposit in December of 2008. Marathon also has development and exploration stage properties in southeastern Manitoba and western Newfoundland and Labrador. Marathon's management plans to build on this focus through the advancement of its properties, focusing on resource development, and by examining other strategic precious metal opportunities within North America.
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION
Except for statements of historical fact relating to the Company, certain information contained herein constitutes "forward-looking statements". Forward-looking statements include statements that are predictive in nature, depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, or include words such as "expects", "anticipates", "plans", "believes","considers","intends","targets", or negative versions thereof and other similar expressions, or future or conditional verbs such as "may", "will", "should", "would" and "could". We provide forward-looking statements for the purpose of conveying information about our current expectations and plans relating to the future and readers are cautioned that such statements may not be appropriate for other purposes. By its nature, this information is subject to inherent risks and uncertainties that may be general or specific and which give rise to the possibility that expectations, forecasts, predictions, projections or conclusions will not prove to be accurate, that assumptions may not be correct and that objectives, strategic goals and priorities will not be achieved. These risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to those identified and reported in Management's Discussion and Analysis for the year ended December 31, 2008.
Other than as specifically required by law, we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which such statement is made, or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, whether as a result of new information, future events or results otherwise.
The Toronto Stock Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept
responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
On Behalf of Marathon PGM
"Phillip C. Walford"
Phillip C. Walford
President, Chief Executive Officer
gen@marathonpgm.com
(416) 987-0711
Contacts
David Leng
P.Geo.: dleng@marathonpgm.com
Tel: (905) 537-5377
Fax: (416) 861-1925 |
