Goldplat plc / Ticker: GDP / Index: AIM / Sector: Mining & Exploration

10 November 2023

Goldplat plc

('Goldplat' or the 'Company')

1^st Quarter Operating Results update for period ended 30 September 2023

Goldplat Plc, (AIM:GDP) the AIM listed Mining Services Group, with international gold recovery operations located in South Africa and Ghana, servicing the African and South American Mining Industry, is pleased to announce an operational update for the 1^st quarter ended 30 September 2023 ("Q1"), of the current financial year.

Operations in both South Africa and Ghana were positive in Q1, achieving combined operating profit for the quarter of £1,865,000 (excluding listing and head office costs, interest and foreign exchange movements), compared to the combined operating profit of £1,942,000 for Q1 2022. The operating performance comprises operating profit in South Africa of £759,000 (Q1 2022 - £976,000) and in Ghana of £1,106,000 (Q1 2022 - £966,000). 

The following events have contributed to the Q1 operating results:

Gold Recovery Ghana

·      We had a good supply of material during the first quarter, supported by large lower grade consignment received out of Côte d'Ivoire. This is the first consignment out of Côte d'Ivoire and is a result of our continued engagement in various West African countries. This opens up the potential to extract more value out of Côte d'Ivoire and we will at the same time continue our engagement in Mali and other jurisdictions in West Africa.         

·      During the period we incurred capital expenditure of £205,000 on a lower grade milling, gravity and flotation circuit. This will increase the value we can extract from larger volumes of lower grade fine carbon material received in Ghana. Commissioning of part of the plant will start in Q2 and full commissioning will be completed in Q3.

Goldplat Recovery (Pty) Ltd

·      The South African operation lost a total of 21 operating days, 23% of the total days available in the quarter, due to electricity cuts and infrastructure related issues. We have continued to implement processes to maximize the production during electricity supply hours and as a result our tonnes processed was only 18% lower rather than 23% lower.

·      Due to the continued uncertainty of electricity supply in the medium term and as announced on 31 May 2023, we decided to invest in diesel generators which will be able to sustain operations in South Africa during electricity cuts. We originally expected the diesel generators to be operational by the end of October 2023. However, due to delays in shipping, we now expect the generators to be operational in January 2024.

·      We are seeing a reduction in by-products received from current mining operations due to changes in their production profile, although the visibility on supply of low-grade soils for our milling circuits remains strong, with more than 18 months of material for processing on site and more on contract. The focus therefore remains to increase our by-product market share in South Africa and to gain access to neighbouring countries.   

·      The construction of the new tailing's storage facility ('TSF') was completed during the first week of August 2023 and commissioning started in August 2023. It is expected that the commissioning of the TSF will take nine months. During the commissioning period, tailings will be deposited on both the new and old tailings facilities. Currently most tailings are being deposited on the new facility. A further £320,000 capital was incurred on the TSF during the quarter.

·      With the new TSF being commissioned, we can turn our focus to the work required to begin the processing of our old tailings facility which has a JORC Resource of 81,959 ounces (Table 1), at a DRD Gold process facility.

·      The processing of our old tailings facility remains dependent on:

o  The approval of the water use license over certain areas for the installation of a pipeline to the DRD Gold process facility; The application process is ongoing with engineering designs being finalised with final application to be done before end of December 2023. Approval is estimated to be received during Q4 of the 2024 financial period;

o  DRD Gold and Goldplat plc are currently in the process of evaluating different variables that will impact the processing of the TSF, as well as the commercials of doing so; this process will be completed alongside the water use license.

·      We estimate that we will require a further £1,300,000 (not including the investment of £750,000 to be spent on generators over the next 18 months), to be spent on repairing and maintaining current operations, on completing the TSF and improving the environmental impacts of our current operations.

We continue to assess the economic and environmental feasibility of the fine coal recovery technology company we invested in, which is in line with our strategy to diversify our recovery operations into other commodities.

Our cash balances in the group remained strong at £1,350,000, with significant balances invested in debtors with our main exposure to a new smelter in Europe and South Africa. This was driven by the delay in receiving our gold license in Ghana during Q4 of previous period, resulting in inventory only being sold during Q1.    

Werner Klingenberg, CEO of Goldplat commented: "I am pleased with the operating results achieved by the group during Q1 and results we are seeing from continued efforts, specifically consignment from Côte d'Ivoire, the improved turnaround of material being delivered to a different smelter, securing of low-grade carbon in leach (CIL) material in South Africa and the momentum we are seeing on engagement around the reprocessing of our old TSF.

Our focus will remain on strengthening relationships and continued engagements in West Africa and South America, increasing market share in a declining gold market in South Africa and neighbouring countries, reprocessing of the old tailings facility and leveraging our strength and capabilities through partnership into other precious metals and commodities."

For further information visit www.goldplat.com, follow on Twitter @GoldPlatGDP or contact:

Table 1

Mineral Resource Estimate of the TSF, South Africa

The Tailings Mineral Resource Estimate was announced in accordance with the JORC Code (2012) in a press release on 29 January 2016. Mark Austin of Applied Geology & Mining (Pty) Ltd was the Competent Person responsible for that announcement. The Company confirms that all material assumptions and technical parameters underpinning the Resource Estimate continue to apply and have not materially changed.

The information contained within this announcement is deemed to constitute inside information as stipulated under the retained EU law version of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014 (the "UK MAR") which is part of UK law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. The information is disclosed in accordance with the Company's obligations under Article 17 of the UK MAR. Upon the publication of this announcement, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.