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Gold/Mining/Energy : Royal Oak-RYO -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Michael Bidder who wrote (1193)	8/16/1998 2:05:00 AM
From: roger fontaine	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1706

Royal Oak gold production declines The Vancouver Sun Rod Nutt, Sun Business Reporter Vancouver Sun Royal Oak Mines lost $35 million or 25 cents a share in the three months ended June 30, 1998, compared with a loss of $52.1 million or 38 cents a share in the same quarter one year earlier.. Revenues declined to $22.6 million from $58.8 million, due to the closure of the Hope Brook and Colomac mines. Gold production fell to 45,732 ounces in the second quarter from 104,845 ounces a year earlier. The Kirkland, Wash., company lost $32.7 million or 24 cents a share in the first half of 1998, compared with a loss of $60.2 million or 43 cents a share in the first six months of 1997. Revenue declined to $45 million from $106.8 million, and gold production skidded to 91,289 ounces from 189,925. Royal Oak's Kemess gold-copper mine in northern B.C. came into production May 19. "We are very pleased with the start of operations at our new Kemess mine," said Royal Oak president and CEO Margaret Witte. "Our main focus is to increase the gold and copper recoveries in the concentrator. We have already exceeded the design throughput of the mill on a consistent basis and we are gaining a better understanding of the mineralogy of the ore and the metallurgy of the flotation circuit." She said commercial production should begin around the end of September, when it is expected to reach full capacity on an annualized basis. Kemess has an estimated 16-year mine-life. "The company is working with its financial advisers in seeking a long-term refinancing alternative to ensure it will be able to meet principal payments on debt as they fall due and other financial obligations beyond the end of the year," Witte said. "We are concerned about the continuing weakness in gold and copper prices and their impact on cash flow from operations." Royal Oak's share price closed unchanged in Toronto at 85 cents on volume of nearly18,000 shares.