Antares Mining and Exploration Corp -
9mo results
Antares Mining and Exploration Corp ANZ Shares issued 18992219 1997-12-30 close $0.45 Wednesday Dec 31 1997 Mr Dennis Gray reviews the company The quarter ended October 31 1997 was highly eventful for the company. OJOLALI SILVER AND GOLD PROPERTY A gold equivalent resource of 504,362 oz has been identified on the Ojolali property based on the 8,022m of drilling completed to November 28. This gold equivalent resource is derived from 16,052,986 oz of silver and 222,731 oz of gold with silver converted to gold at a ratio of 57:1. Successful drill results since that date will have further increased the resource. Thus far, the value of silver contained in the resource identified to date exceeds the value of gold with silver accounting for 56% of the precious metal value contained in the resource versus 44% for gold. The high silver value arose from successful drilling of the silver rich South Tambang zone. The resource of 504,362 gold equivalent oz has arisen from the partial drilling of only two of 34 known mineralized zones. In November, Antares and one of its joint venture partners restructured their interests in the 31,644 hectare Ojolali property, whereby Antares increased its ownership of the property to 76.5% from 45% while assuming full control of the joint venture management committee. TOODOGGONE GOLD PROPERTY The potential of the 23,500 hectare Toodoggone property to host economic mineralization was boosted by late season results from the Creek zone hole CZ 97-08 which included a 4m interval from 91m to 95m depth yielding a metallic assay of 3.32 oz of gold per tonne. Including accompanying silver and base metals credits, this 4m intersection had an overall gross metal value of approximately US$1,100 per tonne. Because hole CZ 97-08 was positioned based on information available from seven earlier holes on the zone, all but one of which returned encouraging values, Antares believes that hole CZ 97-08 may have intersected the main structure of the zone. A major research project is under way during the closed winter season to integrate into a unified exploration scenario all known geoligical, geophysical, geochemical and mineral occurrence data for the entire Toodoggone property, including work completed by previous operators in the area. It is expected that a resource estimate and further drill targets will be generated on completion of this project. RAPPA HOLDINGS While a new roaster installed during the second quarter increased roasting capacity fourfold at South African based Rappa, a caustic leach plant was required to be added to generate satisfactory gold recoveries. This new caustic leach plant has been operational since the middle of November and has doubled earlier recoveries to over 80%. Despite the improvement in recovery provided by the new leach plant, further recovery improvement is anticipated to approximately 90% following the continuous usage of new rather than regenerated carbon. Laboratory tests show that using new carbon solely can further boost gold recoveries significantly. The new cobalt recovery operation continues to perform well. Work is also proceeding on rehabilitating a gold recovery operation in the Eastern Transvaal and the first shipment of high grade dump material has been removed and delivered to the ERGO gold recovery operation. LADY LINA MINE For the eight months ended September 30 1997, 19,194 tonnes of Lady Lina mine ore were milled by the joint venture yielding 2,483 oz of gold, a recovered grade of 0.13 oz per tonne. In addition, October's 2,343 tonnes of ore produced were sold to Forbes and Thompson (Pty) Ltd, Antares' joint venture partner in Zimbabwe, at mine production cash costs to be milled at the Forbes and Thompson mill, an initiative necessitated by the decline in the gold price. A cash flow deficit of $194,774 was recorded on mining operations for the nine months ended October 31 1997. FINANCIAL CONDITION As at October 31 1997 the Antares balance sheet was debt free with satisfactory liquidity in the form of $8.4 million in working capital. Expenditures during 1998 will be at a level which will ensure that Antares projects are adequately financed while a minimum level of working capital will be maintained. Over the next 12 months, Antares will continue to prioritize its various initiatives to ensure that sufficient financing is available to explore its most promising zones with the objective of continuing to add value by increasing its resource base. During this period, a prefeasibility study will likely be started on the Ojolali project. Additional exploration and mine development opportunities will continue to be reviewed. Over the next 12 months, an increase in Antares' resource base is anticipated.
STATEMENT OF EARNINGS
Nine months ended October 31
1997 1996
Operating
revenue $ 466,472 $ 327,281
Direct costs
Materials &
development 311,795 174,617
Utilities & rent 192,520 176,579
Wages & salaries 156,931 150,605
Amortization 106,824 169,461
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(Loss) on mining
operations (301,598) (343,981)
Share of income
of Cangold (Pty) 135,282 40,570
Other income 135,832 76,662
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(30,484) (226,749)
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Expenses
Professional &
consulting fees 589,573 340,725
Admin 529,021 156,771
Amortization 141,720 42,048
Travel 85,820 50,559
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Net (loss) ($1,376,618) ($ 816,852)
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Net (loss) per
share ($0.07) ($0.05)
(c) Copyright 1997 Canjex Publishing Ltd. canada-stockwatch.com
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