Orvana Minerals (ORV-T) Jan 16, '15 Continues to Deliver Results in the First Quarter 2015 and Reaffirms 2015 Production Guidance
-- Production of 22,195 ounces of gold and 7.0 million pounds of copper, an increase of 18% and 48%, respectively, compared with the first quarter of fiscal 2014
-- Gold equivalent production of approximately 41,545 ounces
-- Cash of $18.1 million and total debt of $3.5 million as at December 31, 2014
TORONTO, Jan. 17, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Orvana Minerals Corp. (TSX:ORV) (the "Company" or "Orvana") is pleased to provide the following estimated operating and financial performance results for the EVBC Mine in Spain and the Don Mario Mine in Bolivia for the first quarter of fiscal 2015. Dollar amounts are in U.S. dollars unless stated otherwise.
|
|
| Orvana Production
| Q1 FY2014 (ended Dec 31/13)
| Q1 FY2015 (ended Dec 31/14)
|
| EVBC
| Don
Mario
| Total
| EVBC
| Don
Mario
| Total
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Milled Tonnes (dmt)
| 180,713
| 206,416
| 387,129
| 140,946
| 221,730
| 362,676
| Gold
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Grade (g/t)
| 2.62
| 1.48
| 2.01
| 3.60
| 1.83
| 2.52
| Recovery (%)
| 92.0
| 49.7
| 69.5
| 93.5
| 53.1
| 68.8
| Production (oz)
| 13,988
| 4,867
| 18,855
| 15,276
| 6,919
| 22,195
| Sales (oz)
| 14,954
| 4,659
| 19,613
| 14,076
| 7,584
| 21,660
| Copper
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Grade (%)
| 0.40
| 1.38
| 0.92
| 0.71
| 1.40
| 1.13
| Recovery (%)
| 79.3
| 55.3
| 66.5
| 84.0
| 75.2
| 78.6
| Production (000's lbs)
| 1,258
| 3,461
| 4,719
| 1,845
| 5,145
| 6,990
| Sales (000's lbs)
| 1,412
| 2,986
| 4,398
| 1,588
| 5,345
| 6,933
| Silver
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Grade (g/t)
| 7.23
| 53.57
| 31.94
| 12.52
| 20.39
| 17.33
| Recovery (%)
| 80.5
| 61.6
| 70.4
| 77.5
| 62.9
| 68.6
| Production (oz)
| 33,838
| 218,992
| 252,830
| 43,946
| 91,359
| 135,305
| Sales (oz)
| 37,565
| 180,451
| 218,016
| 37,566
| 109,573
| 147,139
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| COC ($/oz) Gold (1) (2)
| 884
| 794
| 656
| 961
| 845
| 700
| AISC ($/oz) Gold (1) (2)
| 1,116
| 911
| 948
| 1,268
| 925
| 980
| (1)
| The Company is reporting estimated cash operating costs ("COC") and estimated all-in-sustaining costs ("AISC") (i) on a by-product basis (net of copper and silver by-product revenue) per ounce of gold sold for EVBC, and (ii) on a co-product basis for the Don Mario Mine per ounce of gold and per pound of copper sold. COC and AISC per pound of copper sold in the first quarter of fiscal 2015 are estimated at $2.15 and $2.34 per pound of copper sold compared with $2.23 and $2.52, respectively, in the first quarter of fiscal 2014. Consolidated COC and AISC for Orvana are reported net of by-product revenue from EVBC and the Don Mario Mine.
|
|
| (2)
| COC and AISC are non-IFRS performance measures with no standard definition under IFRS and should not be considered in isolation or as substitutes for measures of performance prepared in accordance with IFRS. AISC includes COC, sustaining capital, corporate general and administrative expenses, sustaining exploration expenses, share-based compensation and reclamation and remediation amortization.
|
Operating and Financial Performance
Orvana produced 22,195 ounces of gold in the first quarter of fiscal 2015, an increase of 18% compared with the first quarter of fiscal 2014. The focus on grade optimization at EVBC continued. An increase in average grade processed through the mill of 37%, partially off-set by a decrease in tonnes milled resulted in an increase in gold production of 9%. Gold production at the Don Mario Mine increased by 42% primarily as a result of mining a planned higher grade zone of the mine.
Orvana produced approximately 7.0 million pounds of copper in the first quarter of fiscal 2015, an increase of 48% compared with the first quarter of fiscal 2014. Copper production at EVBC increased by 47% primarily as a result of higher grade mined and milled. Higher recoveries in the flotation circuit due to processing higher quality sulphides resulted in an increase in copper production at the Don Mario Mine by 49%.
Orvana is reporting consolidated estimated COC and AISC (by-product) per ounce of gold sold in the first quarter of fiscal 2015 of $700 and $980, respectively, compared with COC and AISC (by-product) of $656 and $948, respectively, in the first quarter of fiscal 2014. The positive impact on unit costs of higher gold sales volumes in the quarter was off-set by lower by-product revenue from copper and silver compared with the first quarter of fiscal 2014 due to lower metals prices.
Orvana is maintaining its production guidance for fiscal 2015 of between 82,000 to 94,000 ounces of gold, 20 to 23 million pounds of copper and 550,000 to 680,000 ounces of silver. The Company continues to investigate optimization opportunities at its operations in order to further reduce cash costs for fiscal 2015.
Balance Sheet Update
On November 30, 2014, the Company repaid the final outstanding principal payment of $8.0 million under its long-term debt arrangement relating to EVBC, two years ahead of schedule. On December 16, 2014, the Company received the additional $7.5 million cash payment, which includes interest of $0.5 million relating to the sale of the Copperwood Project. The Company's cash position at December 31, 2014 was $18.1 million and its debt position was $3.5 million associated with the Don Mario Mine.
First Quarter Filing Date and Conference Call Information
Orvana plans to SEDAR file its unaudited financial statements and management, discussion and analysis report for the first quarter of fiscal 2015 as well as release highlights of its first quarter results after market on Wednesday, February 4, 2015. A conference call to discuss these results will be held on Thursday, February 5, 2015 at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time by Mr. Michael Winship, President and CEO, Ms. Daniella Dimitrov, CFO, and Mr. Neil Ringdahl, COO. Information relating to the call is set out on Orvana's website at www.orvana.com.
About Orvana
Orvana Minerals is a multi-mine gold and copper producer. Orvana's operating assets consist of the EVBC gold-copper mines in northern Spain and the copper-gold-silver Don Mario Mine in Bolivia. Additional information is available at Orvana's website ( www.orvana.com).
Contact:
Michael Winship, President & Chief Executive Officer,
(416) 369-1629;
Daniella Dimitrov, Chief Financial Officer,
(416) 369-1629;
Joanne Jobin, Investor Relations Officer,
(416) 369-6275,
Email: jjobin@orvana.com |
