Annual Report

RNS Number : 0306H

Ovoca Gold PLC

23 May 2011

 

RNS Number :

Ovoca Gold PLC

23 May 2011

Ovoca Gold plc

Annual Report 2010

Ovoca Gold plc ("Ovoca" or the "Company") is pleased to announce its Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2010 are available on the Company's website www.ovocagold.com and have been posted to shareholders.

The Annual General Meeting will be held at Buswells Hotel, 23-25 Molesworth Street, Dublin 2 at 12.30 p.m. on Monday 20 June 2011.

Key points:

·      Total comprehensive income for 2010 of US$10.4 million

·      Cash and cash equivalents and available for sale financial assets of US$54.2 million as at 31 December 2010

·      Acquisition of three gold properties in the Magadan Region, Russia

Operating statistics:

·      Maiden resource for Olcha

·      Maiden resource for Stakhanovsky

·      10,234 metres of diamond drilling on Olcha

·      Total of 8,331 metres of drilling on Stakhanovsky (7,200 metres of RC drilling and 1,131 metres of diamond drilling)

·      Trenching, geochemical and geophysical work conducted on Podgorniy, Zet, Vist, Olcha and Stakhanovsky

Tim McCutcheon, chief executive of Ovoca Gold commented:

"In 2010 we put Ovoca firmly on its feet for future growth, with new projects, a new senior management team, Board appointments and the retention of core technical staff that were responsible for our past successes. Our projects are progressing well and exploration results have been very encouraging. Our financial position is very strong and we have the human and financial resources to advance our projects quickly and efficiently.

Our business plan for the short and medium term is to put Stakhanovsky into production in 2013 and to continue exploring and proving up ounces on Rassoshinskaya. For Stakhanovsky we believe that we have the financial and technical resources to put this project into production on our own, and we are committed to see the development of Stakhanovsky through to operation. Our preliminary development plan calls for an open-pit mine that will produce from 35,000 to 50,000 ounces of gold annually. For Rassoshinskaya, we believe we will need a partner for development. Given its location, for the economics of any project on Rassoshinskaya to work, it will have to be big - and big projects require partnership for a company like Ovoca. In the meantime, we are intent on proving up resources, demonstrating the attractiveness of the license area, and removing as much as possible geological risk.

Although we have a focus on Russia, we recognize that the mining business is global and gold deposits do not know national boundaries. We review and study acquisition opportunities on a constant basis, where we take into consideration the attractiveness of the asset, our ability to add value, and how a new asset can be a leverage point for further growth. In short, Ovoca Gold is set for growth, and I look forward to delivering results to shareholders in the coming years."

Notes to Editors

Ovoca Gold PLC ("Ovoca" or "the Company") is a mineral exploration and mine development company listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange (Ticker: OVG) and on the ESM market of the Irish Stock Exchange (Ticker: OVX). The Company's principal activity is gold exploration in the Magadan Region of the Russian Federation. Previously Ovoca acquired, developed and sold to JSC Polymetal the Goltsovoye silver project located in the Magadan Region. Currently, Ovoca is aggressively exploring and developing its 100 per cent owned Stakhanovsky, Rassoshinskaya and Nevsko-Pestrinskoye licenses.

Stakhanovsky is located approximately 40 kilometres north of Susuman, the second largest city in the Magadan region. It is accessible by year-round road and there is power infrastructure on site. Stakhanovsky's initial independently established resource was announced in an RNS on 2 February 2011 and is available on the Company's website. The Company intends to put Stakhanovsky into production by 2013.

Rassoshinskaya is in the North Eastern part of the Magadan Region about 200 kilometres from the town of Simchan. There is no nearby infrastructure. Rassoshinskaya hosts an epithermal gold deposit named Olcha, which is the focus of Ovoca's exploration program. Olcha and nearby satellite deposits have the potential to host a high grade multi-million ounce gold resource. Olcha's initial independently established resource was announced in an RNS on 22 June 2010 and is available on the Company's website.

Nevsko-Pestrinskoye is located in the central part of the Magadan region near the town of Omsukchan. A year-round road and powerline are near the site. The license completely surrounds the Goltsovoye silver deposit, which was owned by the Company from 2006 - 2009 and sold to JSC Polymetal for US$47.7 million at the time of closing. Ovoca intends to investigate and explore known mineral occurrences that extend beyond the Goltsovoye license area onto Nevsko-Pestrinskoye.

Ovoca Gold Plc

Timothy McCutcheon [phone] [e-mail]

Davy

John Frain [phone]

 

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