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

To: Karen E Hoof who wrote (1437)	10/9/1998 7:42:00 PM
From: Michael Bidder	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1706

Karen here is the rest from a yahoo post by goldtech. Thursday 8 October 998 Kemess mine at full speed for commercial production The Vancouver SunRod Nutt, Sun Business Reporter Vancouver Sun Royal Oak Mines' $480-million Kemess gold-copper mine in north-central British Columbia has reached commercial production.The Kirkland, Wash.-based company started building Kemess in July 1996 and brought the mine into limited production May 19. In the start period to the end of September, Kemess produced about 38,300 ounces of gold and 11.2 million pounds of copper contained in concentrates, which are smelted and refined in the Far East to recover metal values. Kemess is designed to produce an average of about 250,000 ounces of gold and 60 million pounds of copper a year during a mine life estimated at 16 years based on current mineable reserves and planned production rates. The commissioning of Kemess will substantially reduce Royal Oak's average cost of producing an ounce of gold and is crucial to the survival of the company, one of North America's highest-cost producers. Royal Oak president and CEO Margaret Witte said Wednesday the company plans to produce a total of about 278,000 ounces of gold in 1998 at an average cost of $240 US an ounce. In 1999, production is forecast to be from 422,000 to 432,000 ounces at an estimated cash cost of $190 an ounce. In September, the company said it will take a pretax writedown of $81 million in its third-quarter results, a reflection of the impact of weak gold prices on the value of its reserves at mines in Ontario and the Northwest Territories. Kemess is not affected. In addition to soft gold prices, Royal Oak is saddled with a considerable debt load, including a two-year, $120-million loan from Trilon Financial Corp. and $175 million in outstanding senior subordinated notes. The company made a $10.4-million interest payment on the bonds Aug. 15 and has an $11.6-million payment due Feb. 12, 1999. The company has said it isn't preparing to ask for a formal debt restructuring or a revamping of the terms of its debt. Royal Oak shares closed up five cents in Toronto Wednesday at $1.24 on volume of 860,000. This world crisis is something I hadn't planed for. I am still negative on Royal long term however if gold should run I will agree this stock may run as well. messages.yahoo.com@m2.yahoo.com Michael Bidder