Serabi Gold plc A Strong Start With Over 10,000 Ounces Produced In The First Quarter Of 2019

 
TIDMSRB 
 
 
   For immediate release 
 
   15 April 2019 
 
   Serabi Gold plc 
 
   ("Serabi" or the "Company") 
 
   A strong start with over 10,000 ounces produced in the first quarter of 
2019 
 
   Serabi Gold plc (AIM: SRB, TSX: SBI), the Brazilian focused gold mining 
and development company, is pleased to provide the results and a review 
of its first quarter operational and development activities in the 
Tapajos region of Para State, Northern Brazil. 
 
   OPERATIONAL and DEVELOPMENT HIGHLIGHTS 
 
 
   -- First quarter gold production of 10,164 ounces of gold, maintaining the 
      momentum from the end of 2018. 
 
   -- Second successive quarter of production above 10,000 ounces for the first 
      time. 
 
   -- Mine tonnage totalled 42,609 tonnes at 7.47 grams per tonne ("g/t") of 
      gold. 
 
   -- 43,451 tonnes of run of mine ("ROM") ore were processed through the plant 
      from the combined Palito and Sao Chico orebodies, with an average grade 
      of 7.69 g/t of gold. 
 
   -- 1,868 metres of horizontal development completed during the quarter. 
 
   -- Completion and announcement of the Company's updated mineral resource 
      estimate for its Coringa gold project ("Coringa"): 
 
          -- the new mineral resource estimate represents a 37% increase over 
             the previously disclosed estimation (as of May 3, 2017). 
 
          -- an Indicated Resource for Coringa of 216,000 ounces of contained 
             gold (845,000 tonnes at an average in-situ grade of 7.95 g/t). 
 
          -- an additional Inferred Resource of 298,000 ounces of contained 
             gold (1,436,000 tonnes at an average in-situ grade of 6.46 g/t). 
 
   -- Production guidance for 2019 is maintained in the range of 40,000-44,000 
      ounces representing a significant improvement on 2018 production of 
      37,108 ounces. 
 
 
   Key Operational Information 
 
 
 
 
                     SUMMARY PRODUCTION STATISTICS TO DATE FOR 2019 AND 
                                             2018 
                               Qtr 1   Qtr 1   Qtr 2   Qtr 3   Qtr 4    Total 
-------------  -------------- 
                                2019    2018    2018    2018    2018    2018 
-------------  --------------  ------  ------  ------  ------  ------  ------- 
 
    Gold 
  production 
   (1) (2)     Ounces          10,164   9,188   9,563   8,101  10,256   37,108 
 
Mined ore -- 
 Total         Tonnes          42,609  39,669  36,071  42,725  44,257  162,722 
 Gold grade (g/t)                7.47    7.49    8.12    6.23    7.45     7.29 
 
Milled ore     Tonnes          43,451  43,145  38,155  41,405  45,548  168,253 
 Gold grade (g/t)                7.69    7.04    7.71    6.11    7.39     7.06 
 
 
Horizontal 
 development 
 -- Total      Metres           1,868   2,353   2,744   2,814   2,460   10,371 
 
 
   1. Gold production figures are subject to amendment pending final agreed 
      assays of the gold content of the copper/gold concentrate and gold 
      doré that is delivered to the refineries. 
 
   2. Gold production totals for 2019 include treatment of 3,136 tonnes of 
      flotation tails at a grade of 4.00 g/t (2018 full year: 16,466 tonnes at 
      3.71g/t) 
 
   3. The table may not sum due to rounding. 
 
 
   Mike Hodgson, CEO, said: 
 
   "With production for the first quarter of 10,164 ounces of gold, this 
has been another excellent quarter and continues the momentum of the 
fourth quarter of 2018 when we also produced over 10,000 ounces in the 
quarter.  This is the first time that the operations have achieved two 
successive quarters with gold production above 10,000 ounces and puts 
the Company in a strong position to meet its 2019 production guidance 
and significantly improve on the 2018 production level of 37,108 ounces 
of gold. 
 
   "Mine output remains very steady, with performance very much in line 
with 2018.  The plant continued to perform very well during the quarter, 
processing over 43,000 tonnes of hard rock ore with mill feed grades of 
7.69g/t being 8% higher than the 2018 average. 
 
   "Development and production of the Palito orebody remains focussed on 
the Pipocas, Senna, Zonta and Mogno veins, whilst lateral ore 
development of the Sao Chico orebody is now being advanced on both the 
-19mRL and the -33mRL levels. 
 
   "We remain focussed on improving efficiencies and growing production 
especially in light of the exciting potential that the 2018 exploration 
results have identified, in particular around the Sao Chico deposit. 
Whilst to expand production we could look to simply add additional 
milling capacity, the old adage 'tonnes cost, grade pays' is an 
expression we live by. Therefore, the first step to producing more 
ounces out of our existing infrastructure is the installation of an ore 
sorter, which will help screen out waste rock from crushed mill feed 
ahead of the plant, improving grade and therefore ounces.  I am pleased 
to report that the ore sorter is now in transit to Brazil and will be 
commissioned in the second half of the year.  Whilst we are not 
forecasting production benefits from the ore sorter in 2019, we are 
planning for its impact to be significant in 2020. 
 
   "I also previously advised that to improve gold production we took 
delivery towards the end of 2018 of a 'scrubber', an item of equipment 
that will allow us to feed and process, more easily, the stockpile of 
historic flotation tailings.  This equipment has now been commissioned 
and after some minor adjustments, we should begin to realise the full 
benefits in this second quarter. 
 
   "Whilst the operational performance of the quarter has been noteworthy, 
the other significant news for the Company was the 37 per percent 
increase in the total geological resource at Coringa.  Following the 
exploration drilling campaign that was started in the fourth quarter of 
2018, total mineral resources now exceed 500,000 ounces at over 7.0 g/t 
of gold, a substantial improvement on the previous estimate of 370,000 
ounces issued in May 2017.   Following on from this updated geological 
resource modelling, we are preparing a Preliminary Economic Assessment 
("PEA"), the results of which the Company expects to announce before the 
end of June 2019. 
 
   "In parallel, we are continuing to progress the permitting of the 
Coringa project.  Following the award of the trial mining licence for 
the project during the second quarter of 2018, we have cleared the 
surface areas to expose the initial mine portal and are awaiting the 
award of blasting licenses to begin underground development. 
 
   "As was reported at the end of March 2019 and in light of recent events 
involving tailings dams in Brazil, we are permitting the Coringa project 
with the intention of installing a filtration plant allowing for the dry 
stacking of tails and eliminating the need for a conventional tailings 
dam.  The state environmental agency, SEMAS, have already approved the 
original environmental impact assessment ("EIA") on the basis of a 
conventional dam and we are working with them on this amendment and to 
arrange the necessary public hearings, which we hope will be held in the 
coming quarter, following which we will hope to receive the Preliminary 
Licence ("Licencia Previa") during the second half of the year. 
 
   "With an excellent start to the year, I anticipate continued production 
success throughout 2019.  Further, with the new updated resource at 
Coringa and the forthcoming PEA, we look forward to further positive 
progress on licencing and permitting and I look forward to reporting 
further positive news in the coming months". 
 
   Production Results 
 
   Total production for the first quarter of 2019 was 10,164 ounces of gold, 
generated from the processing of 43,451 tonnes of ore at overall average 
grades of 7.69 g/t of gold. This processed ore was sourced from hard 
rock mined ore from the Palito and Sao Chico orebodies, supplemented by 
the processing of 3,136 tonnes of surface stockpiled flotation tailings 
grading approximately 4.0 g/t gold.  Mined tonnage for the quarter 
totalled 42,609 tonnes with a grade of 7.47 g/t of gold. 
 
   On 31 March 2019, there were coarse ore stocks of approximately 6,600 
tonnes of ore with an average grade of 2.67 g/t of gold, and 
approximately 30,000 tonnes of flotation tails with an average grade of 
3.00 g/t of gold. These stockpiles are being consumed, albeit not as 
quickly as forecast, and for now the operation remains plant 
constrained. 
 
   A total of 1,868 metres of horizontal development has been completed 
during the quarter, of which approximately 926 metres was ore 
development.  The balance is the ramp, cross cuts and stope preparation 
development. 
 
   2019 Production Guidance 
 
   The Company confirms its guidance for 2019 gold production, which is 
forecast to be in the range of 40,000-44,000 ounces. 
 
   This announcement is inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of 
Regulation 596/2014. 
 
   The person who arranged for the release of this announcement on behalf 
of the Company was Clive Line, Director. 
 
   Enquiries: 
 
 
 
 
Serabi Gold plc 
Michael Hodgson                                     Tel: [phone] 
Chief Executive                                     Mobile: [phone] 
 
Clive Line                                          Tel: [phone] 
Finance Director                                    Mobile: [phone] 
 
Email: mailto:[e-mail] 
[e-mail] 
-------------------------------------------------- 
Website: http://www.serabigold.com 
www.serabigold.com 
-------------------------------------------------- 
 
Beaumont Cornish Limited 
 Nominated Adviser and Financial Adviser 
Roland Cornish                                      Tel: [phone] 
Michael Cornish                                     Tel: [phone] 
 
Peel Hunt LLP 
 UK Broker 
Ross Allister                                       Tel: [phone] 
James Bavister                                      Tel: [phone] 
 
 
 

   Copies of this announcement are available from the Company's website at 
www.serabigold.com. 
 
   Neither the Toronto Stock Exchange, nor any other securities regulatory 
authority, has approved or disapproved of the contents of this 
announcement. 
 
   GLOSSARY OF TERMS 
 
   The following is a glossary of technical terms: 
 
   "Au" means gold. 
 
   "assay" in economic geology, means to analyse the proportions of metal 
in a rock or overburden sample; to test an ore or mineral for 
composition, purity, weight or other properties of commercial interest. 
 
   "development" - excavations used to establish access to the mineralised 
rock and other workings 
 
   "DNPM" is the Departamento Nacional de Produção Mineral. 
 
   "grade" is the concentration of mineral within the host rock typically 
quoted as grammes per tonne (g/t), parts per million (ppm) or parts per 
billion (ppb). 
 
   "g/t" means grams per tonne. 
 
   "granodiorite" is an igneous intrusive rock similar to granite. 
 
   "igneous" is a rock that has solidified from molten material or magma. 
 
   "Intrusive" is a body of igneous rock that invades older rocks. 
 
   "on-lode development" - Development that is undertaken in and following 
the direction of the Vein 
 
   "mRL" -- depth in metres measured relative to a fixed point -- in the 
case of Palito and Sao Chico this is sea-level.  The mine entrance at 
Palito is at 250mRL. 
 
   "saprolite" is a weathered or decomposed clay--rich rock. 
 
   "scrubber" -- a machine for cleaning ore and removing impurities such as 
clays, coatings or other deleterious materials. 
 
   "stoping blocks" -- a discrete area of mineralised rock established for 
planning and scheduling purposes that will be mined using one of the 
various stoping methods. 
 
   "vein" is a generic term to describe an occurrence of mineralised rock 
within an area of non-mineralised rock. 
 
   Qualified Persons Statement 
 
   The scientific and technical information contained within this 
announcement has been reviewed and approved by Michael Hodgson, a 
Director of the Company. Mr Hodgson is an Economic Geologist by training 
with over 26 years' experience in the mining industry. He holds a BSc 
(Hons) Geology, University of London, a MSc Mining Geology, University 
of Leicester and is a Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and 
Mining and a Chartered Engineer of the Engineering Council of UK, 
recognising him as both a Qualified Person for the purposes of Canadian 
National Instrument 43-101 and by the AIM Guidance Note on Mining and 
Oil & Gas Companies dated June 2009. 
 
   Forward Looking Statements 
 
   Certain statements in this announcement are, or may be deemed to be, 
forward looking statements. Forward looking statements are identi ed by 
their use of terms and phrases such as "believe", "could", "should" 
"envisage", "estimate", "intend", "may", "plan", "will" or 
the negative of those, variations or comparable expressions, including 
references to assumptions. These forward looking statements are not 
based on historical facts but rather on the Directors' current 
expectations and assumptions regarding the Company's future growth, 
results of operations, performance, future capital and other 
expenditures (including the amount, nature and sources of funding 
thereof), competitive advantages, business prospects and opportunities. 
Such forward looking statements re ect the Directors' current beliefs 
and assumptions and are based on information currently available to the 
Directors. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ 
materially from the results discussed in the forward looking statements 
including risks associated with vulnerability to general economic and 
business conditions, competition, environmental and other regulatory 
changes, actions by governmental authorities, the availability of 
capital markets, reliance on key personnel, uninsured and underinsured 
losses and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the 
Company. Although any forward looking statements contained in this 
announcement are based upon what the Directors believe to be reasonable 
assumptions, the Company cannot assure investors that actual results 
will be consistent with such forward looking statements. 
 
   ENDS 
 
 
 
 
 
   Attachment 
 
 
   -- Q1 2019 Operational Update 
      https://ml-eu.globenewswire.com/Resource/Download/c8a62a17-53e8-47e6-b235-8878419fb362 
 
 
 
 
 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 15, 2019 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)

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