AUE FIRST COMMERCIAL PRODUCTION DECLARED: FEBRUARY PRODUCTION EXCEEDS 9,000 OUNCES
2 March 2016
Aureus Mining Inc.
TSX : AUE
AIM : AUE
NEW LIBERTY GOLD MINE:
COMMERCIAL PRODUCTION DECLARED: FEBRUARY PRODUCTION EXCEEDS 9,000 OUNCES
Aureus Mining Inc. (“Aureus” or the “Company”), the TSX and AIM listed West African gold producer, is pleased to announce that Commercial Production has been declared at the New Liberty Gold Mine (“New Liberty” or “Mine”) in Liberia effective 1 March 2016. Gold Production at New Liberty exceeded 9,000 ounces during February 2016 .
Summary
Commercial Production has been declared effective from 1 March 2016; Total gold production in excess of 9,000 ounces during February 2016; Year to date production is over 14,000 ounces of gold; Gold recovery levels increased to 90% by end February 2016; and Process Plant performance is now in line with original design specifications and management expectations.
Commercial Production
Commercial production at New Liberty has been declared effective 1 March 2016, as the process plant is now operating in line with both design specifications and management expectations. Over the past 60 days of operations the process plant has achieved an average of 88% of design throughput capacity. During February 2016, plant throughput totalled 90,099 tonnes of ore milled, resulting in the recovery of over 9,000 ounces of gold, with operating recovery levels of 90% achieved by the end of February. The value of the gold produced prior to commercial production being declared will be deducted from the capitalized construction costs of New Liberty, rather than recorded as revenue.
Following the declaration of Commercial Production, the Company’s operations team will continue to focus on fine tuning the process plant to further improve its overall operational performance.
Production Update
The New Liberty process plant has now processed 503,286 tonnes of ROM fresh ore and lower grade oxide material. Gold production achieved for the calendar year is currently over 14,000 ounces, with gold produced during February 2016 exceeding 9,000 ounces. To date there have been 25 shipments of gold doré from New Liberty for smelting and refining at the MKS PAMP refinery in Switzerland, resulting in sales of approximately 31,500 ounces of gold.
Operational Update
Further to the press release dated 18 February 2016, which provided details of the on-going process plant optimisation activities at New Liberty, overall plant performance levels have continued to increase towards design specifications.
Following the introduction of a fresh carbon supply into the Carbon in Leach (“CIL”) tanks of the process plant, overall gold recovery has continued to improve in February and is now at 90%, which is in line with overall plant operating specifications.
Mining operations at New Liberty continue to progress, with run of mine (“ROM”) stockpiles currently standing at 70,844 tonnes of fresh ore at a grade of 2.59 g/t and oxide and transitional stockpiles standing at 81,881 tonnes at a grade of 1.32 g/t.
The Company continues to work towards finalising an updated mine plan for the Project, and MonuRent, the New Liberty mining fleet provider, has purchased and shipped to Liberia five new 100-tonne capacity Komatsu HD785 rigid haul trucks and one PC1250 excavator. The new fleet equipment is scheduled to be delivered to New Liberty and mobilised ready for operations during April 2016.
Commenting, David Reading, President and Chief Executive Officer of Aureus Mining, said:
“I am pleased by the increased gold production levels we have achieved throughout January and February this year. Following a significant amount of hard work by our operations team, focusing upon ramping up plant performance and gold production levels towards design capacity, we are delighted to be able to announce resolution of the commissioning issues at New Liberty and to declare Commercial Production, effective 1 March 2016.”
Contact Information Aureus Mining Inc.
David Reading / Paul Thomson
Tel: +44(0) 20 7010 7690 Buchanan
Bobby Morse / Anna Michniewicz
Tel: +44(0) 20 7466 5000 Numis Securities Limited
(Nominated Adviser)
John Prior / James Black / Paul Gillam
Tel: +44(0) 20 7260 1000 RBC Capital Markets
(Financial Advisor)
Richard Horrocks-Taylor / Richard Hughes
Tel: +44(0) 20 7653 4000
About Aureus Mining Inc.
The Company’s assets include the New Liberty Gold Mine in Liberia (the “New Liberty Gold Mine,” “New Liberty” or the “mine”) which has an estimated proven and probable mineral reserve of 8.5 Mt with 924,000 ounces of gold grading 3.4 g/t and an estimated measured and indicated mineral resource of 9,796 Kt with 1,143,000 ounces of gold grading 3.63 g/t and an estimated inferred mineral resource of 5,730 Kt with 593,000 ounces of gold grading 3.2 g/t. A Definitive Feasibility Study (“DFS”) has been completed, the first gold pour has taken place and work continues on commissioning the plant for full scale commercial production. The mine is expected to have an 8 year life and annual production of 119,000 ounces for the first 6 years of production. The foregoing mineral reserve and mineral resource estimates and additional information in connection therewith are set out in the Company’s technical report dated March 25, 2015 and entitled “New Liberty Gold Project, Bea Mountain Mining Licence Southern Block, Liberia, West Africa, Definitive Project Plan.”
The New Liberty Gold Mine is located within the Southern Block of the 100% owned Bea Mountain mining licence. This licence covers 478 km² and has a 25 year, renewable, mineral development agreement. The Bea Mountain mining license also hosts additional gold projects of Ndablama, Gondoja, Weaju and Leopard Rock which are the focus of exploration programs during 2016. Ndablama has an indicated mineral resource of 386,000 ounces of gold grading 1.6 g/t and inferred mineral resource of 515,000 ounces of gold grading 1.7 g/t and Weaju has an inferred mineral resource of 178,000 ounces of gold grading 2.1 g/t. The Yambesei (759 km2), Archaen West (112.6 km2), Mabong (36.6 km2) and Mafa West (15.6 km2) licences will also be subject to preliminary reconnaissance geological work. The foregoing mineral resource estimates and additional information in connection therewith are set out in the Company’s technical report dated December 1, 2014 and entitled “Ndablama and Weaju Gold Projects, Bea Mountain Mining Licence, Northern Block, Technical Report on Mineral Resources” (“Ndablama and Weaju Technical Report 2014”).
The Company also has a gold exploration permit in Cameroon.
Qualified Persons
The Company’s Qualified Person is David Reading, who holds a MSc in Economic Geology from University of Waterloo, Canada and is a Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining. David Reading is the President and CEO of Aureus Mining Inc. and has reviewed and approves this press release.
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