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MEAOF has lots of volume but, 95% of the shares traded are for some reason redirected to (hidden on) the MTO exchange, all the MEAOF shares (100's of thousands) I purchased showed up under MTO with no change to MEAOF. I see it all the time, when volume does appear on MEAOF the same exact # of shares, same exact times traded show up on both exchanges. MEAOF volume is being manipulated.
Primero mining (PPP) bought out Burgis Gold (BGD) a while back and destroyed BGD shareholder value. Tahoe Resources (TAHO) is buying out Lake Shore Gold LSG and will probably destroy LSG shareholder value as well. St Andrews Gold SAS got bought out cheap when they didn't have to sell and lost any share holder value that would have been realized during this run up. What is going on with these M&A's, why do these good well managed juniors with cash flow and money in the bank agree to be taken over on the cheap, especially now? I hope it doesn't happen but, could CRJ get taken over on the cheap as well? Why would management agree to it, except to line their own pockets? Just some thoughts.
We will see, the bid/ask is starting to drop again, just can't hold onto any substantial gains, never has since I've own them, always has to trade for a week to regain one day gap up highs.
Thanks for the info Geo, we are due for at least one 10% day this week. Many missed opportunities these last two weeks (maybe last chance, MUX has doubled, even ABX is about to double, I can't see it at $6 dollars again) for 50%-100% gains due to not being able to short this pig and having all my remaining cash wasting away in MEAOF.
Geo, I'm still trying to rationalize you comment about Claude being at a 3 yr high and most others not as the rationale, why would that be so? I think management is doing a piss poor job marketing this company, Marc Lepage said he was the only one attending Vancouver Resource Summit and that Claude didn't have a booth! We shareholders should have at least a progress PR every month if not bi-monthly, instead of relying on third party reports and articles.
Why would this "someone" pick today and apparently yesterday, when its been .55-.65 forever? Yesterday bid/ask volume was 85k/101k, how does that erase the days gains? We had nothing but buys into the close today, how did the bid all the sudden drop to .6956 at the close? We should be easily @.75 by now, is it the MM's, it has to be, is this legal, and why just now when the POG is sky rocketing? Is there a reasonable explanation, I know there is not (other than fraud) but, I ask again anyways, please clarify Geo, T, JSC anybody?
Look at the Dow joke this morning, straight up +200 off the lows on NOTHING. I've heard it costs 3 billion dollars to ramp just the Dow up 100 points, the country sure could use that money elsewhere. F**G criminals, ALL OF THEM!
Did everyone witness that fraud of a market close, Dow +282 on NOTHING. China was down -188, Japan was down -400, yeah sure. It wouldn't bother me if they were propping it up with their money but, its not, its yours and mine and our children's and grand children's money they are squandering for numbers on a board!
No position missed it as well. Do you think we can overtake LSG's pps, being that they have more than twice the au produced? I tend to compair the two, or is RIC a better comparison of where we are potentially heading?
Here we go again +350 points off the lows on NOTHING, all the insiders getting filthy rich on these huge swings, with the tax payer funded watch dog SEC in the corner wanking off to tranny porn. Now they'll hold it right at the 16,000 line all afternoon, all the volatility magically disappearing with a ramp into the close. What a F**G JOKE!
There's the gold slam, started just before 1pm, and right at the same exact moment began the pumping of the Dow, S&P and Nasdaq, all straight up on NO news, I mean come on, 200 points on the Nasdaq in 2.5 hours? Right on que, all at the same time, tick for tick...perfectly normal trading action, absolutely NO tax payer funded fraud here. What a F**G JOKE!
TML, IMO I don't see how one could take any meaningful profits off the table right now if your holding 100's of thousands of shares. Currently it has such low volume, selling 10 thousand or less shares can drop share price 5%. That might net a couple thousand dollars in profits before the share price drops too much to make it worth while, as jumping back in to maintain a position, the bid/ask spread eats up a lot of that profit just taken so, I tend to stay long. I'm hoping when we get above $1 we can get relisted with NYSE, volume will increase and then profit taking can occur without substantially effecting PPS. I'll think about what you said though.
No CRJ.TO is the parent Co on the main Toronto exchange, when CGR was de-listed from NYSE it became CLGRF on OTC exchange in US only nothing changed with CRJ.TO
Edited Transcript of CRJ.TO earnings conference call or presentation 5-Nov-15 7:00pm GMT 16 hours ago Thomson Reuters StreetEvents ???? Q3 2015 Claude Resources Inc Earnings Call
SASKATOON Jan 8, 2016 (Thomson StreetEvents) -- Edited Transcript of Claude Resources Inc earnings conference call or presentation Thursday, November 5, 2015 at 7:00:00pm GMT
Good afternoon. My name is Rob and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Claude Resources 2015 third-quarter results conference call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speakers' remarks, there will be a question-and-answer session. (Operator Instructions). Thank you.
Mr. Marc Lepage, Manager of Investor Relations, you may begin your conference.
Thank you, Rob. We'd like to thank you all for joining us on our third-quarter 2015 earnings call. On the conference call today we have Brian Skanderbeg, President and CEO, and Rick Johnson, our CFO.
Please note that today's presentation is located on the homepages on our website under the Corporate Presentation icon on the left-hand side. Also you can download and view our third-quarter 2015 Management Discussion and Analysis and Financial Statements located on the Investors page under Financial Reporting.
During today's call, we may use forward-looking statements, which are based upon current expectations and involve risks and uncertainties. For further information regarding forward-looking statements, please refer to our cautionary note located on page 2 in today's presentation.
I will now turn the call over to Brian Skanderbeg, President and CEO.
Thank you, Marc. Hello, everyone, and thank you for joining us as we review our third-quarter operating and financial results. First, I want to acknowledge the outstanding performance of our people in achieving safe production. 2015, we're going to set a new production record, and more importantly, we are doing it more safely than ever before.
Our environment and safety performances are outstanding, and I'm very proud of all our employees and their accomplishments. Keep up the great work, everybody.
I'll now start the presentation on slide 3 with third-quarter highlights. Before I begin, I would like to highlight that our third-quarter cash cost in today's press release did not include royalty costs. Third-quarter cash cost per ounce including the royalty were CAD721 or $551 as opposed to the previously reported CAD677 or $517.
Our third-quarter performance is a reflection of our operational flexibility and strength in generating free cash flow during a very challenging quarter. For the sixth consecutive quarter, we continued to see solid operating results of gold production of 15,722 ounces at an average grade of 7.29 grams per tonne. During the quarter, we generated net earnings of CAD5.7 million or CAD0.03 per share, and increased cash in bullion by CAD6.1 million to CAD27 million, which now exceeds our long-term debt to CAD20.3 million.
We've also had success with our underground drill program at Santoy Gap, that indicated expansion updip and downdip to the current mineral resources. One of the most recent highlights of the program was a intercepted grade of 31.01 uncut or 11.08 cut grams per tonne over 7.06 meters true width. Also we secured a new debt facility with Scotiabank to replace our previous lender. The new debt facility lowered the cost of our debt to approximately 5% from 10%. This reflects the strength of our business plan going forward and that our production and cost performances are sustainable.
Moving on to slide 4. Year-to-date gold production of 57,408 ounces was a new nine-month record for Claude, driven by higher grades at both the Seabee Goldmine and the Santoy mine complex. Our peer-leading cost performance continues to improve. Year-to-date, our total cash cost per ounce is CAD669 or $531, and our all-in sustaining cost per ounce were well below the current gold prices at CAD1,129 or $896. Higher revenues and lower unit costs have led to very strong year-to-date earnings of CAD21 million, or CAD0.11 a share.
Based on our record performance, we have increased our annual gold production guidance and lowered our cost guidance for 2015. And our annual gold production guidance has increased to 70,000 to 75,000 ounces; cash cost per ounce to range from CAD685 to CAD750, or $535 to $600, and our all-in sustaining cost per ounce to range from CAD1,065 to CAD1,175 or $830 to $920.
Now on to slide 5. Our ability to set new production records in 2014 and again in 2015 has been driven by the new -- by mining new and better ore bodies and by changing the way we mine them. The increase in Santoy Gap ore and the positive results we've seen from the Alimak mining method continue to exceed our expectations.
Third-quarter gold production of 15,722 ounces was strong considering the 10 days of lost underground production from the precautionary shutdown due to local forest fires. Strong grades of 7.29 grams per tonne and recoveries of nearly 97% made up the lower tonnes milled. Year-to-date, record gold production of 57,408 ounces was a 13% increase over the same period of 2014. This was driven by a 16% increase in grades, positive reconciliation on grade and ounces, and the mine plan at both the L62 and Santoy Gap deposits, and the replacement of the lower grade Santoy Gap 8 ore with higher grade Santoy Gap ore.
During the remainder of 2015, mill throughput is expected to average 750 to 800 tonnes per day while grades are expected to be modestly above Q3 actuals. As I touched on earlier, we have done an excellent job in meeting and exceeding our production and cost targets, while ensuring safety and environmental performance remain our number one priority.
Moving on to slide 6. The addition of the Santoy Gap deposit to our production profile has been instrumental in our improved operating performance. Santoy Gap is a high-quality asset due to its high grade nature and wide mining width. To better illustrate, the Santoy Gap contains approximately 2,000 ounce per vertical meter, whereas the Seabee mine historically contained approximately 1,000 ounce per vertical meter.
As such, we are able to mine more ounces with less capital development and at a lower cost to drive better margins and significant free cash flows. Production and development at Santoy Gap has been well ahead of schedule and prefeasibility signed. Demonstrated by the colored boxes on the Santoy Gap long section, we have now exposed the eastern and western portions of Santoy Gap ore body. We are developing on levels 24 through 36, and anticipate that by year-end, the main decline will be at 38 level.
Development on 38 levels is important, as it is an internal ground pillar that will allow us to ramp up long-hole mining in the first half of 2016. Mining width Santoy Gap averaged 6 meters wide for individual veins, and in some places can be up to 30 meters wide. This drives low-cost, high-margin production.
Slide 7 outlines Santoy Gap production performance in further detail. Santoy Gap deposit averaged 584 tonnes per day or 77% total mill throughput during the third quarter, which is well ahead of schedule. Year-to-date, Santoy Gap deposits increased overall head grades at the Santoy mine complex by 46%, and combined with the 53% increase in mill throughput, has improved gold production by 125%.
Since we started mining at Santoy Gap in May of 2014, it's produced approximately 164,000 tonnes at 8.12 grams per tonne, for a total of 42,845 ounces. Throughout this time, development and production rates have been well ahead of prefeasibility designs, and schedule in grades have been reconciling above reserves on grade and ounces and below on tonnage.
For the remainder of 2016 -- remainder of the year and into 2016, plans are to move from one mining front to three, driving increased production and scope availability while reducing production risk. Santoy Gap production is expected to account for approximately 60% of overall throughput in 2015 and will play an even larger role in 2016 and beyond. The infrastructure upgrades and development needed to increase production rates to 600 and 750 tonnes per day in 2016 and 2017 are ongoing, and capital expenditures are minimal.
I will now pass it over to Rick Johnson to discuss the financial results.
Thanks, Brian. Before I begin on slide 8 with the financial highlights, please note that all figures presented in the table are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise stated.
Gold revenue generated during the third quarter of CAD24.5 million was slightly higher than the CAD24.3 million reported in the comparable period of 2014. Year-to-date, gold revenue of CAD80.5 million increased 24% from the first nine months of 2014, a reflection of an 18% increase in gold sales volume and a 6% increase in Canadian dollar gold prices realized.
Net earnings for the quarter were CAD5.7 million or CAD0.03 per share. Year-to-date, net earnings of CAD21 million or CAD0.11 per share were a CAD15.9 million improvement over the CAD5.1 million or CAD0.03 per share reported during the first nine months of 2014. The significant improvement in financial performance has been driven by an increase in ounces produced and sold for mining entire ore grades and continued improvement in operating efficiencies.
During the quarter, earnings were negatively impacted by a CAD0.8 million non-cash expense, a result of the yearly retirement of the term loan with the Company's previous lender. Cash flow from operations before net changes in non-cash operating working capital of CAD11.4 million or CAD0.06 per share was up from the CAD10.4 million reported in the third quarter of 2014. Year-to-date, cash from operations of CAD36.3 million or CAD0.19 per share increased 65% from the CAD22 million or CAD0.12 per share reported for the same period last year.
Now on to slide 9. Our margins in Canadian dollar terms were very strong at CAD396 per ounce for the quarter and CAD351 per ounce for the first nine months of 2015. Canadian gold mining continued to benefit from the currency tailwinds. The weakening of the Canadian/US dollar exchange rate year-to-date has had a positive CAD10.6 million impact on earnings and cash flow.
It is our strong operating performance, improved grades, and a successful utilization of the Alimak mining methods that has decreased both year-to-date total cash costs and all-in sustaining cost per ounce. Total cash cost per ounce decreased to CAD721 or $551 for the quarter and by 16% to CAD669 or $531 per ounce for the first nine months of 2015. All-in sustaining cost per ounce of gold were up slightly to CAD1,089 or $832 per ounce during the quarter, and year-to-date costs per ounce have decreased by 11% to [CAD1,149] or $896 per ounce.
On to slide 10. During 2015, we have focused on improving the strength of our balance sheet by reducing debt and its cost, as Brian stated earlier, and increasing cash on-hand. We have made significant progress over the past two years and have improved our financial position by CAD48.5 million. Year-to-date, the Company's ability to generate free cash flow has resulted in a CAD15.8 million increase in cash and bullion to CAD27 million at the end of the Q.
The strong financial performance has also allowed the Company to reduce its long-term debt by CAD2.3 million year-to-date to CAD20.3 million. At quarter-end, our working capital position was CAD37.9 million, a significant improvement over the CAD23.9 million working capital we had at December 31, 2014. For the remainder of the year, we expect our financial strength and flexibility to improve with our ability to generate free cash flow at current gold prices.
I will now pass the presentation back to Brian to discuss our 2015 exploration programs.
Thank you, Rick. Now on to slide 11. There is significant exploration potential to find more gold in the underexplored 19,500 hectare Seabee land package. We feel the best opportunity to find more gold is within or in close proximity to current mining infrastructure, and at the Santoy mine complex, we have the excellent opportunity to grow resources as most of the mineral reserves and mineral resources are above the 500 meter level.
In 2015, the primary focus of underground drill program has been infill and expansion of the Santoy Gap resource and reserve. The program has had positive results to date as an expanded economic mineralization updip to the southeast and at depth. Full [sub 15048] grade and 43.28 grams per tonne uncut, 30.5 (technical difficulty) cut grams of gold per tonne over [1.15] meters true width. And at 675 meters, is the deepest hole ever drilled in the Santoy mine complex.
This intercept is important as it confirms continuity and demonstrates that grades remain robust at depth; follow-up drilling in the immediate area is ongoing. We've also had very good success with holes [sub 15 -- 315] that targeted the updip continuity at 140 meter elevation, as it returned 31.1 uncut and 11.08 cut grams gold per tonne over 7.06 meters true width.
This high-grade wide intercept is approximately 75 meters up-plunged from current development and links to near-surface inferred resources. Results from the drilling in the updip extends from the Santoy Gap are consistent with underground development sampling and will be included in the year-end reserve and resource update.
In addition to the ongoing 2015 program at Santoy Gap, the Company has initiated an additional 6,000 meter deep exploration program to target the plunge continuity of the Santoy Gap deposit proximal to hole [right 13692] is graded 30.08 grams uncut or 22.89 cut grams over 5.9 meters true width. Drilling [were cut] from 450 to 800 meters below the surface with drill spacing between 50 and 100 meters.
This program is particularly significant as its drill testing in the continuity between the Santoy Gap and Santoy E orebody deposit limited and the inferred resources remain open along strike downdip and down-plunge. We are confident that the system continues at depth and optimistic that drilling results will translate to a larger resource and larger -- a longer -- long mine life at Santoy mine complex.
On to slide 12. The underground 2015 exploration program at Seabee is the targets are outlined in red. Drilling at the Seabee mine consists of -- will consist of 10,000 meters targeting seven high priority underground near-mine targets. These near-mine targets are analogous structures and down-plunge extensions to the Seabee and [L62] deposits. There is limited drilling in these areas and we believe the target to be highly prospective for [L62 all-ins].
This program ramped up earlier in the second quarter and will continue during the remainder of the year. The first target success includes the [three] veins and updip [Celtix two] targets followed by the 15 and 18 veins in the eastern section of the mines. The first of these targets will be completed with some follow-up work planned for the first half of 2016. Underground drill programs exploring the 15 and 18 veins are slated to begin in the first quarter of 2016.
In addition to the two exploration programs, we will also complete approximately 55,000 meters of underground infill and definition drilling at Seabee and Santoy mine complex to expand reserves and resources. Our total budget for 2015 is approximately CAD1.3 million or CAD20 per meter. Our ability to drill at a very low cost is a competitive advantage and translates to a very low discovery cost per ounce.
Now on to slide 13. Our outlook as the [gains] improved as Santoy Gap continues to exceed our expectations. Our strategy and focus will remain on grade and cost control, productivity improvements and ramping up production at Santoy Gap. With better-than-expected results from Santoy Gap and continued positive reconciliation on grade analysis, we have increased our annual gold guidance to 70,000 to 75,000 ounces from our previously revised guidance of 68,000 to 72,000 ounces.
With the increase in production guidance and our ability to remain on budget, unit cash cost with all-in sustaining costs were estimated to be 6% and 3% lower than original guidance, respectively. Our cash cost per ounce are now expected to be CAD685 to CAD750, or $535 to $600, and all-in sustaining cost per ounce would be CAD1,065 to CAD1,175 or $830 to $920 -- clearly well below current gold prices.
By achieving an endpoint of production guidance, remaining on budget with our costs, and realizing similar gold prices for the remainder of the year, we expect to yield an annualized free cash flow margin of greater than 15% of revenues. Our cost structure and free cash flow yield positions the Company as leaders in our sector, and we will provide the Company -- and will provide the Company with the financial strength and flexibility needed to manage the volatile gold price and pursue growth opportunities.
That concludes our presentation today. And we will be happy to entertain any questions that you may have. Thank you.
Rick, would you clarify or maybe add a little bit of color to the currency issue? If I heard you correctly, you said something on the order of a CAD10.6 million differential to the bottom line, because of the currency translation. Did I hear that right?
Yes, that's right. Chris, what it is is what I've done is I basically taken our September year-to-date numbers with the currency that was -- that we earned from the 2014 year-to-date, and I've taken the US dollar [gold] price at that currency, and I basically calculate that as a CAD10.6 million difference. If we'd [add that] currency for this 2015 year-to-date.
Okay. And at the present time, do you guys have any hedges or anything that you've got in place to -- in anticipation of any additional weakness in the Canadian dollar?
Okay. And just looking at your MD&A, I think Brian was saying that the full-year exploration expenditure, which was 4,000 meters of surface and 16,000 meters of underground, was about [CAD1.3 million]? Is that right?
Just to correct that, Joe, the surface meterage would've been included in the 1.3 that I quoted you. So for us, we drill about [CAD20] a meter underground and we drill for about [CAD80 or CAD90] a meter at surface.
Yes, we will have more results to be published in 2015 here. More so at Santoy Gap, and certainly we will have some that will carry over into the new year as well.
Yes, we will cut off in December. Usually sometime beginning of December, sometimes end of December, we will use cutoff dates. Then we crunch those numbers and they're published into the reserve and resource statement that comes out with our financials in Q1.
Okay. I guess lastly was just on the G&A, there was that increase in compensation. Is that something we should be planning going forward? Or is that a one-off that happens every now and then?
I think the increase was related to the deferred share units. I think we had four directors that earned several -- or we have CAD1.7 million outstanding right now, Joe. I mean, I think it really was a one-off. But as our share price continues to go up, we will have to have mark-to-market on those share units. So (technical difficulty) and it's a cost that's hitting our G&A, I think it was CAD1.3 million in our G&A expense were these deferred share units. So it's something we are aware of. We expect, as our share price goes up, that G&A costs can go up as well.
Just a couple questions. Can you give any color -- I know you don't have any guidance for 2016, but could you give us some color as to what to expect for production and CapEx next year?
Thanks for that, Richard. When we look at the production and the CapEx guidance, I'll start with CapEx. This year's budget between CAD20 million and CAD22 million of property plant and equipment and development capital, we believe that that is sustainable. So I don't see a big capital increase moving into next year.
When we look at production guidance, that's not something we will formalize until early in Q1. But what we do believe is that
is a sustainable 70,000 ounce a year producer, and that's really what we talk about when we talk publicly.
The grade profile and tonnage profile will continue to shift out to Santoy. And we are comfortable with 600 to 650 tonnes per day out of Santoy and plus or minus 200 tonnes per day coming out of Seabee. So, that's about as much as we'll put out there for production guidance next year.
That's extremely helpful. And just -- I guess while I've got you, just can you just give any kind of update on plans or evaluation being done on expansion at the mine and/or mill -- plans -- expansion plans for the mine or mill?
Yes. When we look at the scenarios we have ahead of us, gold has never been mill-constrained. We have always been mine-constrained. Moving into next year, we will approach mill constraint. And for a modest capital expenditure profile of CAD2 million to CAD3 million, we could look at a 20% throughput increase.
Now that -- the payback on that mill expansion was really contingent on Santoy Gap ramping up to greater than 750 tonnes per day, or Seabee yielding greater than 200 tonnes per day, both of which are likely scenarios. And so as we move into 2016, we will look at our reserve and resource base, and we will look at the ramp and ramp-up profile of Santoy Gap and the comfort we are getting from the long-hole sequencing.
And we will evaluate the payback on that expansion. It's a relatively low-cost expansion that could yield good payback for us, and I would expect us to be working internally on these -- on that evaluation in 2016.
Thanks for taking my call. And yes, Scotiabank; I haven't moved to Deutsche Bank. But anyway, just a quick question on grade for Q4. You might have mentioned earlier in the call, and I might have just missed it, but any guidance you could give on what you're thinking for grade from Santoy and Seabee for Q4?
The language we used in the call here was modestly above Q3 actuals. So Q3 realized grade was 7.29, so I would expect somewhere modestly greater than 7.29 grams per tonne.
Okay. No, that's good. I think you mentioned that earlier and I just missed it. And then just on the resource reconciliation at Santoy, I know you're saying a little bit lower tonnage but more ounces. Any kind of percentages you could throw out for us? Or just too early days there?
You know, I mean, year-to-date and actually production-to-date from Santoy Gap has yielded 8.12 grams. Our reserves at Santoy Gap are, as a whole, 7.64. And I don't necessarily believe we are mining in any particular high or low grade area. That's a relatively well-distributed bulk sample of 165,000 tonnes. That corresponds to about an 8% grade increase.
In terms of the tonnage decrease, that's a little more difficult to quantify. And at present, they don't have the best number on [ore] short tonnes. So plus or minus 5 -- plus 5% is a reasonable number on ounces. But as I say, it's still pretty early-stage, and we would want a larger subset of long-hole scoping profiles where we get a better idea of reconciliation data out of the CMS data.
So, look, we will build in top-cut evaluations and -- into our year-end reserves and resources. And I would expect us, based on what we've seen to-date, to raise our top cut from 60 to 70 grams per tonne at Santoy Gap. That's about all I can say right now, Craig.
Yes I agree, I also tend to stay invested, makes me nervous to get out for a few thousand in dry powder.
I emailed Mark in IR today to inform him that yesterdays PR didn't make a lot of news outlets, ie; Yahoo, Google, Stockhouse, etc, he said they're using a different firm now and he would look into it. He got right on it and retransmitted the PR, they started to show up just after 3:00, subsequently the buying picked up into the close.
IMO I don't see how you could take any meaningful profits off the table right now if your holding 100's of thousands of shares. Currently it has such low volume, 10 thousand shares drops share price 5%. Would you agree with this line of reasoning Geo?
Geo, found this on TD but, nowhere else, do you think that 2016 production guidance is going to cause a sell down?
Highlights:
-- Record annual gold production of 75,748 ounces during 2015, a 20% increase from 2014; -- Record safety and environment performances; -- Strong cash and bullion (1) position of $39.8 million at year-end; and -- 2016 gold production guidance of 65,000 to 72,000 ounces.
Claude Resources Inc. (TSX: CRJ)(OTCQB: CLGRF) ("Claude" and or the "Company") today reported that during 2015 its 100 percent owned Seabee Gold Operation exceeded revised guidance and achieved record annual gold production of 75,748 ounces. The record performance in 2015 was a result of a 20% improvement in grade (8.82 grams of gold per tonne) along with strong mill recoveries of 96.3% on 277,368 tonnes milled. In addition, 2015 gold sales improved 16% to 72,699 ounces (2014 - 62,772 ounces).
During the fourth quarter, the Company milled 65,950 tonnes at a grade of 8.99 grams of gold per tonne for total gold production of 18,340 ounces. The strong fourth quarter performance was a 49% increase from the comparable period in 2014. The significant improvement was a result of 37% higher grade ore and a 9% increase in tonnes milled. During the fourth quarter, gold sales were 18,311 ounces, up 10% over the same period in 2014.
At year-end, the Company had increased its cash and bullion (1) position by approximately $28.6 million to $39.8 million. The increase in cash and bullion year over year was a result of strong operating performance and improved Canadian dollar gold prices realized. In addition, cash and bullion was positively impacted during the quarter when the Company recovered its $2.8 million reclamation deposit by purchasing a surety bond to satisfy its decommissioning obligations.
"During 2015, our focus remained on production growth, cost containment and free cash flow margin with our operations team exceeding production and cost guidance for the second consecutive year," stated Brian Skanderbeg, President and CEO. "More importantly, we achieved this record production while delivering the best safety and environmental performance in our history."
"With record gold production, improved unit costs and successful advancement of the high grade Santoy Gap deposit ahead of schedule, we generated strong free cash flow and ended the year with a very strong cash and bullion position of $39.8 million, a $28.6 million increase from year-end 2014. With our strengthened financial position, we will invest more in exploration at the Seabee Gold Operation and continue to evaluate and advance internal and external growth opportunities. The 2016 drilling program consists of more than 65,000 metres from underground and 18,000 metres from surface and is expected to create long-term shareholder value by upgrading and expanding the Company's Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserves."
I'm showing .63 on TD right now, up .0725. Just closed @.6263 up .0689 for a 12.36% gain. CJR up 15.6% to .89. Gentlemen, I think we've just been discovered!!!!
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