Interim Results
Hambledon Mining PLC
17 September 2007
PRESS INFORMATION 17th September 2007
HAMBLEDON MINING PLC
(AIM: HMB)
Interim Results
Two producing assets before year end
Hambledon Mining plc ('Hambledon' or the 'Group' or the 'Company'), an
AIM-listed mining and exploration company on the cusp of gold, silver and copper
production from two operations in Kazakhstan, announces its results for the half
year ended 30 June 2007.
Highlights
• Grade control data shows 79 per cent increase in contained gold compared
with the geological model at 480 metre level
• Sekisovskoye processing facility completion expected in 4th Quarter 2007
• Ecological and operating permits received
• Start-up of Ognevka processing plant expected in October
• US$16 million raised
• Exploration activities continue: over 5,000 metres drilled
Nicholas Bridgen, Chief Executive of Hambledon Mining plc, commented:
'The increase in contained gold shown by our grade control sampling is even more
dramatic than previously announced. This reinforces our geologists' conviction
that the out-turn at this complex deposit will be far better than we have so far
been able to demonstrate and, if so, it will extend the life of the open pit,
reduce the stripping ratio and cut the cash costs per ounce.
Despite the late delivery of some of our equipment and the slow working of some
contractors, we still expect our first gold production before the end of the
year.
The Ognevka processing plant refurbishment is on schedule with production
expected to commence in late October and the first revenues expected before the
end of the year.'
Enquiries
Hambledon Mining plc
Nicholas Bridgen, Chief Executive Telephone + 7 701 733 8915
+44 7791 327 180
Bankside Consultants
Michael Spriggs / Michael Padley Telephone +44 207 367 8888
Seymour Pierce
Nicola Marrin Telephone +44 20 7107 8018
Note to editors
Hambledon Mining plc is an AIM-listed gold mining and exploration company which
is developing the Sekisovskoye gold deposit and owns the Ognevka processing
plant, both of which are close to Ust Kamenogorsk in East Kazakhstan.
At Sekisovskoye, the Company is mining from an open pit and constructing an
850,000 tonnes per year treatment plant. Production from the open pit will
average over 40,000 ounces per annum. After the start of open pit processing,
the Company plans to develop the much larger underground resource that is
expected to lead to a combined production rate of around 100,000 ounces per
year.
The Ognevka processing plant is being refurbished and will produce concentrates
containing gold, silver, copper, iron and coke from the re-treatment of zinc
smelter residues.
All references to '£' are to the British pound and 'ounces' are to troy ounces.
CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT
Review
The first half of the year has been as eventful as previous periods, with good
progress towards the completion of the refurbishment of the Ognevka processing
plant and construction of the processing facility at Sekisovskoye.
At the Sekisovskoye deposit a 79 per cent increase in contained gold, as shown
by some extensive grade control drilling, compared with our previous geological
model reinforces our geologists' conviction that the out-turn at this complex
deposit will be far better than we have so far been able to demonstrate.
Mining operations have been carried on for more than a year and, although the
initial target was pre-stripping waste for use in construction of the tailings
dam, a significant quantity of ore has now been stockpiled.
Construction of the processing facility is well advanced. All major components
are now in place, but a shortage of workers and qualified supervisors is slowing
the final electrical and piping stages. Nevertheless, the crushing plant has
been commissioned and is currently producing crushed material for roads. The
remainder of the plant is expected to start operating in the final quarter of
this year.
All important permits have now been received, except for the final reagent use
permits which are expected shortly following the completion of the associated
reagent handling facilities.
In January we announced that the Company had raised US$16m to fund two
acquisitions and, although one of them was subsequently abandoned, the other is
proving to be every bit as good as we had hoped.
Completion of the legal registration of our ownership of Ognevka was only
completed in May but very good progress in the plant refurbishment means that
the planned start-up date is the second half of October and we are reasonably
confident of first revenues before the end of the year. Very interesting
opportunities for further development of this operation are being examined.
Outlook
The outlook for the Company is extremely healthy. Although full operations at
Sekisovskoye have not yet started, we are already working on the next stage of
expansion. We have passed our plans for the development of the underground mine
at Sekisovskoye to Australian Mining Consultants of Perth for them to appraise
our ideas and bring them to feasibility study standard. Our plan is to move
ahead with the underground development as soon as possible. The profitability of
this operation will be far greater than the open pit due to the higher grade and
consequent higher production from the current treatment facility. The initial
production from open pit will be some 40,000 ounces per year but is expected to
rise to over 100,000 ounces when underground ore is partially substituted. An
expansion of the processing facility will be considered at that stage which
could potentially take production even higher.
At Ognevka, the tailings dam from the previous operations is currently being
sampled so that testwork can be carried out to assess the potential
profitability of re-treating those tailings. Information from previous
operations shows that they contain valuable feldspar and various metals.
George Eccles
Chairman
17th September 2007
REVIEW OF OPERATIONS
Sekisovskoye
Permitting
All necessary approvals for mining and milling operations, including the Overall
Environmental Approval, have now been received, with the exception of the
licences for dangerous goods (sodium cyanide and acids). These approval
processes are well-advanced with final granting of licences expected in October
following the completion of the handling facilities. We have pre-purchased first
fill quantities of these reagents and are storing them in nearby licensed
facilities until the licences are received.
Status of plant construction and commissioning
The 850,000 tonnes per annum ore processing facilities are now in the early
stages of commissioning. The crushing plant has begun crushing ore for initial
milling operations, waste rock for road construction and stemming material for
blasting. The carbon-in-pulp process plant and related facilities are nearing
completion after delays caused mainly by late delivery of the 1.2 MW main ball
mills from Russia. Poor local contractor performance and a shortage of
construction workers and supervisors have been off-set by Group employees taking
over most of the construction activities.
The initial tailings storage facility has been constructed and geomembrane
lining of the Stage 1 section is underway. The Company took advantage of the
delay in mill construction to increase the capacity of the 'starter dam' to
allow for longer operation while the Stage 2 section is completed.
The facilities constructed on site include a 16 MW substation and related
infrastructure, a 220 tonne per hour 3-stage crushing plant, a crushed ore
stockpile reclaim system, the main milling facilities including a gold-room,
warehouse and reagent storage buildings, change-rooms, mine offices and
maintenance facilities, security buildings, access roads, and fencing. Water for
processing and drinking will be supplied from the existing underground mine
shaft and from recycling of tailings return water.
The recovery process is a relatively standard carbon-in-leach (CIL) plant but
includes regrinding and intensive leaching of a pyrite concentrate. A gold /
silver dore will be produced for sale to Metalor Technologies Group in
Switzerland for refining. Cyanide tailings are neutralised before pumping to the
storage dam. Process equipment in the crushing and milling circuits has been
sourced from a mix of western and local suppliers.
Approximately 148,000 tonnes of open pit ore has been mined and stockpiled on
the ROM pad. Ore is segregated into oxide and primary ore types that will be
blended for initial milling operations. Ore grade to date has averaged 1.6 g/t
Au with some higher grade zones (+2.0 g/t Au) to be targeted after commissioning
is completed.
Mining operations
The mining group continues to lead the way at Sekisovskoye. The open pit ramp
system is now fully developed to the point of ensuring on-going ore supply from
the North Pit and from the top of Sedukha Hill - the main orebody. Importantly,
all major earthworks and construction activities were either all or in part
provided by the mining team.
Up to the end of August 2007, 0.92 million m3 of waste rock have been mined and
another 0.52 million m3 of in situ materials were moved as part of the
construction activities (topsoil, subsoils and clay). Ore mined to the end of
August 2007 totals some 148,000 tonnes.
As with the milling equipment, the mining fleet is from a mix of western and
former Soviet Union or Chinese suppliers, with key equipment supplied from high
quality manufacturers including Atlas Copco and Hitachi. In addition to the open
pit mining fleet (haul trucks, excavators, dozers, loaders and service
vehicles), a small earthmoving fleet has been purchased to conduct on-going
tailings dam construction. This will provide significant savings over contractor
costs during the life of the project.
The open pit mining reserve amounts to some 4.2 million tonnes of ore. However,
the bulk of the Sekisovskoye mining reserve will be accessed by underground
mining. Australian Mining Consultants of Perth has been commissioned to prepare
a feasibility study for the development of the initial phases of the planned
underground mine. The study is due to be completed in October and will form the
basis for detailed underground mine design which will be conducted in house.
Development activities will begin in early 2008 at Orebody 11, a high-grade
near-surface ore zone which will be accessed via a decline roadway.
We previously reported that during the course of mining over the past 15 months,
blast hole sample assays have confirmed an increase in contained gold in the
areas mined as compared to the approved geological model. This is consistent
with 2004 - 2006 exploration and extension drilling programmes which indicated
increases in contained gold of 17 per cent to 21 per cent compared with results
based on Soviet drilling. Our independent geological consultant has verified the
result and believes it is likely that overall gold gains will be encountered for
the whole deposit. More recent grade control sampling shows even higher
increases. An extensive contiguous blasthole grade control sampling pattern at
Sedukha Hill, representing 572 blastholes on a 3m x 3m grid, shows that at this
480m horizon, the resource model substantially underestimates the contained gold
and these results are tabulated below:
Table showing increase in contained gold compared with resource model
Model Mean Percentage Tonnes Oz Percentage increase oz
Au g/t increase g/t
Resource * 1.33 - 42,625 1,823 -
Bench 480m 1.56 17.3 65,015 3,261 79
Troy oz = 31.10348 grams * extracted blocks from resource model of September
2006.
In the North Pit, blasthole sampling on the 430m bench only encroaches the
marginal areas of Orebody 2, and at this stage there is insufficient coverage to
make a meaningful statistical assessment. However, interactive reviews of the
limited blasthole results with the resource model indicate a good correlation
trend.
Financial
At 30 June 2007 the Group had cash balances of £6 million. These were considered
to be sufficient to put both the Sekisovskoye processing facility and the
Ognevka treatment plant into production, but as reported in our last press
release, a facility with a local Kazakhstan bank is being finalised in order to
fund any cost over-run, delay, or other working capital requirements. In view of
the currently projected start-up date, a small drawdown under this facility is
likely.
EXPLORATION
The analytical laboratory at Sekisovskoye has recently received accreditation
from the Kazakhstan Standards Authority, so in-house analyses are now approved
for use in ore reserve calculations.
Exploration activities have continued throughout the year. In total some 5,088
metres of diamond core were drilled from 1 May 2006 to 31 August 2007. This
represents 65 drill holes, 56 of which were drilled in the area of the Tserkovka
deposit. The remaining holes were drilled around the base of Sedukha Hill as
part of an investigation into extensions of the known ore zones - in particular
around Orebody 11 which is the initial target for underground mining.
All 815 core sample results from the 9 Diamec drillholes that targeted updip ore
extensions west of Sedukha Hill have been received. Results confirm the overall
integrity of the geological resource model.
Overall, the Tserkovka drilling has been less encouraging. Only minor zones of
mineralization have been encountered so far. Our exploration team have several
more deep holes planned in the near future but, nevertheless, we have decided to
write off the expenditure to date. Other areas of interest within the
exploration lease will be targeted beginning in early 2008. These include
extensions to the Sekisovskoye ore zones to the south-southwest and possibly at
a polymetallic deposit which was discovered in Soviet times.
MINERAL RESOURCES
Resource statement
This mineral resource estimate for the Sekisovskoye deposit has been prepared
under the JORC Code and is unchanged since the update reported in September
2006.
Location Resource Tonnes Au g/t Contained Ag g/t Contained Au g/t
Cut-off
Category (millions) Metal Metal
Au oz * Ag oz *
Open pit Indicated 9.55 1.8 552,671 3.0 921,119 0.5
area Inferred 6.06 1.8 350,700 2.0 389,667
(b)
Underground Indicated 2.21 5.1 362,371 6.2 440,529 2.0
Inferred 7.16 5.2 1,197,036 7.1 1,634,415
(b)
Marginal Indicated 3.40 0.7 76,519 1.4 153,037 0.5
underground
(a) Inferred 0.96 0.6 18,519 1.2 37,038
Totals Indicated 15.16 2.0 991,561 3.1 1,514,685
Inferred 14.18 3.4 1,566,255 4.5 2,061,120
Total Indicated 29.34 2.7 2,557,816 3.8 3,575,805
& Inferred
*Troy oz = 31.10348 grams
(a) underground low grade material associated with high grade gold zones.
(b) includes resources that have been defined beyond the current limits of the
grade model. Note: 'Inferred' resources cannot be used for ore reserves until
they have been upgraded.
The updating of the resource estimate (announced in September 2006) was based
upon the analysis of the Diamec drilling results from the underground 441m level
and the remodelling at that time was confined to the open pit area at +250m
elevation. There was a slight increase in contained gold within the 'indicated'
category but lower in the 'inferred' category. The Diamec drilling supported a
better understanding of the gold distribution trends and continuity, and the
model reflected this greater confidence. This model update contained 244
separate gold zones indicating the complexity of the gold distributions above
the 0.5g/t Au cut-off level. This complexity was also exhibited by the
occurrence of gold intersections that could not be modelled because of limited
continuity problems and these zones will add additional contained gold within
the planned open pit.
Blasthole grade control sampling continues to show overall increases in
contained gold compared with the resource model and the expected global increase
may be higher than the 18 per cent previously reported. This increase in gold is
believed to be associated with the relatively poor core recoveries from the
historical Soviet drilling compared with the results from Hambledon's drilling
using modern hydraulic drill rigs. Although the resource model was last updated
in September 2006, the new grade control information is limited and therefore
insufficient to justify an updating of the current model.
Results so far from the exploration of the Tserkovka licence area have been
discouraging, but it is quite possible that some of the declared Soviet-based
resources totalling 740,000 ounces of gold in the C2 and P1 categories could be
categorised under the JORC Code after additional target results and assessment.
Reserve estimate
This ore reserve estimate for the Sekisovskoye open pit deposit has been
prepared under the JORC Code.
Location Reserve Tonnes Au g/t Contained Ag g/t Contained Au g/t
Category (million) Metal Metal Cut-off
Au oz Ag oz
Open pit Probable 4.19 1.6 213,352 2.6 346,665 0.5
area
Underground Probable 0.083 5.1 13,384 7.4 19,615 2.0
Total 226,736 366,280
*Troy oz = 31.10348 grams
The Sekisovskoye Open Pit ore reserve model is based on the ordinary kriging of
the mineral resource model using a 0.5 grams per tonne cut-off, taking into
consideration the expected dilution and losses. In the absence of underground
mining considerations, Whittle optimisations would have resulted in a pit shell
containing 7.25 million tonnes of ore representing a conversion of 76 per cent
of the indicated resource to probable reserve in this area. However, development
of this pit shell would have resulted in the loss of the existing underground
infrastructure and made the process of bringing the underground operation into
production much more difficult and on a much longer timeframe. It has therefore
been decided to leave the existing 320 level intact and access this level from a
decline developed from outside the pit limit. This will allow the western ore
bodies to be mined from underground concurrent with the open pit and other ore
zones below the pit bottom at the 340 level, which might otherwise have been
included in the open pit mine plan.
The resultant reserve estimate is calculated by applying mining costs, mining
dilution (4 per cent) and recoveries (97.5 per cent) to that portion of the
Indicated Resource falling entirely within the optimised open pit design. The
area of this open pit reserve is contained within the mineral resource as
reported above.
The Sekisovskoye underground ore reserve has been determined from the mine
design work carried out as a part of the approval of the General Resource
Estimate by the Kazakh authorities using a 2.0 gram per tonne cut-off. The
General Resource Estimate covered both the open pit resource and underground
resource. Mine designs were therefore required for both the open pit and the
underground areas. The underground design was carried out in detail on the
resources from Elevation 250 up and in less detail in the lower areas. The
design of some of the orebodies, notably Orebody 11, included stope design down
to detailed stope blast ring design. This level of design and financial analysis
has allowed for the ore tonnages in these orebodies to be classified as a
probable reserve. It is anticipated that as further detailed design and
financial evaluation is carried out on the indicated resources in these areas
then these too will be convertible to reserves.
The underground reserve estimate is calculated by applying mining costs, mining
dilution (8 per cent) and recoveries (96 per cent) to that portion of the
Indicated Resource falling entirely within the stope design. The area of this
underground reserve is contained within the underground mineral resource as
reported above.
Qualified person
These resource and reserve estimates have been prepared by Roger Rhodes BSc,
MSc, MIMMM, independent geological consultant with Computer Resource Services.
He has over 35 years of relevant experience and is a qualified person for the
purpose of reporting resources under the JORC Code and the AIM rules.
Consolidated income statement
Six months ended 30 June 2007
Note Six months to Six months to Year ended
30 June 2007 30 June 2006 31 December 2006
(unaudited) (unaudited) (audited)
£000s £000s £000s
Administrative expenses (846) (395) (774)
Exploration costs written
off (174) - -
Operating loss (1,020) (395) (774)
Net finance revenue 3 26 354 94
Loss on ordinary
activities
before and after taxation
retained for the financial
period 6 (994) (41) (680)
Loss per ordinary share
Basic 5 (0.24)p (0.01)p (0.19)p
Diluted 5 (0.24)p (0.01)p (0.19)p
Consolidated statement of recognised income and expense
Six months ended 30 June 2007
Six months to Six months to Year ended
30 June 2007 30 June 2006 31 December 2006
(unaudited) (unaudited) (audited)
£000s £000s £000s
Currency translation
differences on 263 (8) (1,107)
foreign currency net investments
Net income / (loss)
recognised directly in equity 263 (8) (1,107)
Loss for the financial period (994) (41) (680)
Total recognised expense for
the financial period (731) (49) (1,787)
Consolidated balance sheet
As at 30 June 2007
Six months to Six months to Year ended
30 June 2007 30 June 2006 31 December 2006
(unaudited) (unaudited) (audited)
£000s £000s £000s
Non-current assets
Intangible assets - 61 152
Property, plant and equipment 16,229 5,571 10,416
16,229 5,632 10,568
Current assets
Inventories 922 30 201
Other current assets 1,304 2,059 165
Cash and cash equivalents 5,977 9,753 4,352
8,203 11,842 4,718
Total assets 24,432 17,474 15,286
Current liabilities
Trade and other payables (1,632) (643) (503)
Net current assets 6,571 11,199 4,215
Non-current liabilities
Trade and other payables (536) - -
Long term provisions (834) (1,118) (789)
(1,370) (1,118) (789)
Total liabilities (3,002) (1,761) (1,292)
Net assets 21,430 15,713 13,994
Equity
Called up share capital 424 366 366
Share premium account 24,777 16,690 16,690
Merger reserve (148) (148) (148)
Accumulated losses (3,623) (1,195) (2,914)
Total equity 21,430 15,713 13,994
Consolidated cash flow statement
Six months ended 30 June 2007
Six months to Six months to Year ended
30 June 2007 30 June 2006 31 December 2006
(unaudited) (unaudited) (audited)
£000s £000s £000s
Net cash outflow from (1,048) (2,038) (1,312)
continuing operating activities
Investing activities
Interest received 160 153 280
Payments to acquire
intangible fixed assets (22) (5) (100)
Purchases of tangible fixed
assets (4,987) (2,496) (8,790)
Net cash (used in) investing
activities (4,849) (2,348) (8,610)
Financing activities
Net proceeds on issue of
shares 8,145 9,974 9,974
Interest paid (6) (12) (24)
Repayments of borrowings (290) - -
Net cash inflow from
financing activities 7,849 9,962 9,950
Increase in cash 1,952 5,576 28
Cash at beginning of the
period 4,352 4,021 4,021
Effect of foreign exchange
rate changes (327) 156 303
Cash at end of the period 5,977 9,753 4,352
Notes to the interim consolidated financial statements
Six months ended 30 June 2007
1 General information
These interim consolidated financial statements are for the six months ended 30
June 2007 and are unaudited. The information for the year ended 31 December 2006
does not constitute statutory accounts as defined in Section 240 of the
Companies Act 1985.
The financial information for the year ended 31 December 2006 has been extracted
from the statutory accounts of Hambledon Mining plc ('the Group') for that year
that were prepared under United Kingdom Law and Accounting Standards ('UK
GAAP'). A copy of the statutory accounts for that year has been delivered to the
Registrar of Companies. The auditors' report on those accounts was unqualified
and did not contain any statement under Section 237(2) or (3) of the Companies
Act 1985.
2 Accounting policies and adoption of International Financial
Reporting Standards
The Group adopted International Financial Reporting Standards ('IFRS') on 1
January 2007. These interim consolidated financial statements have been prepared
using accounting policies consistent with all applicable IFRS Standards. There
are no material differences between applicable IFRS and applicable UK GAAP under
which the Group's financial statements were prepared up to 31 December 2006.
The accounting policies under which these interim consolidated financial
statements have been prepared have been published on the company's web-site,
www.Hambledon-mining.com on 17 September 2007. These will be the principal
accounting policies used for Hambledon Mining plc's future financial statements.
The presentation of the interim consolidated financial statements has been
changed to conform to IFRS.
3 Net finance revenue
Six months to Six months to Year ended
30 June 2007 30 June 2006 31 December 2006
(unaudited) (unaudited) (audited)
£000s £000s £000s
Interest payable to related
party (6) (12) (23)
Other interest expense (45) - -
Bank interest receivable 165 153 282
Foreign exchange (loss) /
gain (88) 213 (165)
26 354 94
4 Dividend
The directors do not recommend the payment of a dividend.
5 Basic and diluted loss per share
The calculation of basic and diluted earnings per share is based on the retained
loss for the financial period.
The weighted average number of ordinary shares for calculating the basic loss
per share and diluted loss per share after adjusting for the effects of all
dilutive potential ordinary shares are as follows:
Six months to Six months to Year ended
30 June 2007 30 June 2006 31 December 2006
(unaudited) (unaudited) (audited)
Basic and diluted 414,005,611 314,265,328 348,931,995
6 Acquisition of TOO Ognevka
In January 2007, the Group acquired 100 per cent. of TOO Ognevka ('Ognevka').
Ognevka owns a processing facility in East Kazakhstan to treat up to 350,000
tonnes per year of copper, gold and silver containing residues (slag) from zinc
smelters. The facility had been closed and the company had not traded for two
years and Ognevka was undergoing a process of rehabilitation under court
protection from its creditors which had a total debt outstanding of £1.9
million. The Group acquired the debt of the principal creditor with a nominal
value of £1.4 million for a cash payment of £0.9 million and then acquired 100
per cent. of the share capital of Ognevka for a nominal amount. This transaction
has been accounted for by the acquisition of assets method of accounting and not
as a business combination in accordance with 'IFRS 3 - Business Combinations'.
7 Approval of interim financial statements
The interim report for the six months to 30 June 2007 was approved by the
Directors on 13 September 2007.
Company Information
Directors George William O'Neale Eccles
Non-Executive Chairman
Nicholas John Bridgen
Chief Executive
Randall Alan Pyper
Technical Director
Christopher James Thomas
Non-Executive Director
Baurzhan Yerkeyev
Executive Director
Company Secretary William Roy Morgan B. Sc. ACA
Registered Office Daws House
33-35 Daws Lane
London NW7 4SD
Nominated Advisor and Seymour Pierce Limited
Broker 20 Old Bailey
London EC4M 7EN
Registrars Neville Registrars
18 Laurel Lane
Halesowen
West Midlands B63 3DA.
Auditors Deloitte & Touche LLP
Hill House
1 Little New Street
London EC4A 3TR
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange