Monument Reports Second Quarter Fiscal 2024 (“Q2 FY2024”) Results

Monument Mining
Monument Mining

In This Article:

Revenue of US$11.00 Million and Cash Cost of US$894/Oz

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 01, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Monument Mining Limited (TSX-V: MMY and FSE: D7Q1) “Monument” or the “Company” today announced its second quarter of fiscal 2024 production and financial results for the three and six months ended December 31, 2023. All amounts are expressed in United States dollars (“US$”) unless otherwise indicated (refer to www.sedar.com for full financial results).

President and CEO Cathy Zhai commented, “Q2 FY2024 was a strong quarter at the Selinsing Gold Mine with sulphide gold processing plant performance optimization and improvements resulting in greater feed rates and a more streamlined sales process. We are working hard on corporate development and development of the Murchison Gold Project and be prepared for the move.”

Second Quarter Highlights:

  • Overall Q2 2024 and YTD 2024 gold production exceeded production in the same quarter and the year to date in FY 2023. Significant increase in mining rate resulting in a sustained ore delivery on the stockpile target ahead of the rainy season.

  • Continued improvement of the gold flotation plant with greater feed rates and lower downtime.

  • Positive cash flow from stabilized sulphide gold production of $2.41 million during Q2 2024 compared to $2.75 million in Q2 2023 when the oxide production was in transition to the sulphide production:

    • Main quarterly operating metrics:

    • 6,809 ounces (“oz”) of gold produced (Q2 FY2023: 1,526 oz);

    • 6,967 oz gold sold at average realized price of $1,946/oz and revenue from concentrate sales of $11.00 million (Q2 FY2023: 3,350 oz sold at average realized price of $1,753/oz and revenue of $5.87 million) (refer to section 15 “Non-IFRS Performance Measures” of the MD&A for more details on the calculation of the average realized gold price);

    • Cash cost per ounce for gold sold at $894/oz (Q2 FY2023: $1,507/oz);

    • Gross margin of $4.77 million (Q2 FY2023: $0.82 million);

    • All-in sustaining cost (“AISC”) per ounce sold decreased to $1,175/oz (Q2 FY2023: $1,627/oz) (refer to section 15 “Non-IFRS Performance Measures” of the MD&A).

Second Quarter and YTD Production and Financial Highlights

 

Three months ended December 31,

Six months ended December 31,

 

2023

 

2022

 

2023

 

2022

 

Production

 

 

 

 

Ore mined (tonnes)

332,684

 

108,860

 

589,588

 

216,251

 

Waste removed (tonnes)

2,673,041

 

2,108,615

 

4,788,251

 

3,708,652

 

Gold Sulphide Production

 

 

 

 

Ore processed (tonnes)

192,217

 

9,574

 

369,711

 

9,574

 

Average mill feed grade (g/t)

1.55

 

1.81

 

1.68

 

1.81

 

Processing recovery rate (%)

71.10

 

31.70

 

70.34

 

31.70

 

Gold produced (oz)

6,809

 

28

 

14,052

 

28

 

Gold sold (oz)

6,967

 

-

 

11,574

 

-

 

Gold Oxide Production

 

 

 

 

Ore processed (tonnes)

-

 

62,817

 

-

 

195,264

 

Average mill feed grade (g/t)

-

 

1.03

 

-

 

1.03

 

Processing recovery rate (%)

-

 

42.10

 

-

 

44.90

 

Gold produced (1) (oz)

-

 

1,498

 

-

 

3,563

 

Gold sold (oz)

-

 

3,350

 

-

 

3,750

 

 

             

 

 

 

Financial (expressed in thousands of US$)

$

 

$

 

$

 

$

 

Revenue

10,997

 

5,871

 

17,908

 

6,580

 

Gross margin from mining operations

4,769

 

823

 

7,778

 

883

 

Income (Loss) before other items

1,818

 

(1,460

)

2,891

 

(2,163

)

Net loss

(595

)

(3,196

)

(680

)

(3,485

)

Cash flows provided by operations

2,414

 

2,754

 

2,434

 

2,100

 

Working capital

14,252

 

18,894

 

14,252

 

18,894

 

 

 

 

 

 

Loss per share – basic and diluted (US$/share)

(0.00

)

(0.01

)

(0.00

)

(0.01

)

 

 

 

 

 

Weighted average gold price

US$/oz

 

US$/oz

 

US$/oz

 

US$/oz

 

Realized price - oxide production (2)

-

 

1,753

 

-

 

1,755

 

Realized price - sulphide production (2)

1,946

 

-

 

1,940

 

-

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cash cost per ounce sold

 

 

 

 

Mining

298

 

545

 

285

 

554

 

Processing

341

 

784

 

344

 

782

 

Royalties

172

 

174

 

172

 

176

 

Operations, net of silver recovery

83

 

4

 

74

 

7

 

Total cash cost per ounce sold (3)

894

 

1,507

 

875

 

1,519

 

By-product silver recovery

-

 

1

 

-

 

1

 

Operation expenses

5

 

-

 

6

 

-

 

Corporate expenses

8

 

2

 

6

 

9

 

Accretion of asset retirement obligation

8

 

14

 

9

 

25

 

Exploration and evaluation expenditures

2

 

52

 

2

 

47

 

Sustaining capital expenditures

258

 

51

 

190

 

45

 

Total all-in sustaining costs per ounce sold (4)

1,175

 

1,627

 

1,088

 

1,646

 

 

(1)    Defined as good delivery gold oxide production according to London Bullion Market Association (“LBMA”), net of gold do?e in transit and refinery adjustment.

(2)    Exclude gold prepaid delivery for comparison purposes.

(3)    Total cash cost for both oxide and sulphide plant production includes production costs such as mining, processing, tailing facility maintenance and camp administration, royalties, and operating costs such as storage, temporary mine production closure, community development cost and property fees, net of by-product credits. Cash cost excludes amortization, depletion, accretion expenses, capital costs, exploration costs and corporate administration costs.

(4)     All-in sustaining cost per ounce includes total cash costs, operation expenses, and adds sustaining capital expenditures, corporate administrative expenses for the Selinsing Gold Mine including share-based compensation, exploration and evaluation costs, and accretion of asset retirement obligations. Certain other cash expenditures, including tax payments and acquisition costs, are not included.


GOLD PRODUCTION RESULTS

Second quarter gold production

  • A total of 3,005,725 tonnes of material were mined during Q2 FY2024, a 36% increase from 2,217,475 tonnes during Q2 FY2023. This included 332,684 tonnes of ore mined, up by 206% from 108,860 ore tonnes mined during Q2 FY2023, and 2,673,041 tonnes of waste mined, up by 27% from 2,108,615 during Q2 FY2023. The stripping ratio improved to 8.03 compared to 19.37 during Q2 FY2023.

  • The sulphide flotation production in Q2 FY2024 yielded 6,809 ounces of gold. The mill processed 192,217 tonnes of sulphide ore, achieving a head grade of 1.55g/t and a recovery rate of 71.10%. This performance marks a notable improvement from Q2 FY2023, where 9,574 tonnes of sulphide ore at a head grade of 1.81g/t and a recovery rate of 31.70% were achieved. A key factor in this enhanced recovery has been the shift from processing old stockpile ore to feeding high-grade transition ore and fresh sulphide ore, along with numerous improvements implemented at the processing plant. Feed rates increased to 158 tonnes per hour (“tph”) from 101 tph respectively, in line with expectations. Availability of the flotation plant also improved at 90% during Q2 2024 as a result of ongoing optimization.