Final Results

RNS Number : 8097M

Goldstone Resources Ltd

30 August 2013

 



GOLDSTONE RESOURCES LIMITED

("GoldStone" or the "Company")

Final Results for the year ended 28 February 2013

GoldStone (AIM: GRL), the AIM quoted company focused on gold in West and Central Africa, announces its final results for the period ended 28 February 2013.

Operational Highlights:

·     48% increase in Homase/Akrokerri resource

·     Joint venture with Randgold at the Sangola licence in Senegal

o  Under the joint venture Randgold has to fund exploration and delineate 1Moz of gold at pre-feasibility to earn 51% interest

o  Early results from a rapidly completed initial drilling programme confirm the gold mineralisation in a 70m wide zone recognised by GoldStone; best results include 39m @ 0.67 g/t (including 2m @ 5.4 g/t), 27m @ 0.45 g/t and 2m @ 5.1 g/t (including 1m @ 9.9 g/t).

o  5,000m of drilling commitment pending for this year

·     Co-existence agreement with Ferrex plc to provide GoldStone with valuable data at Oyem in Gabon

·     Encouraging drilling results from Gabon 

o  At Oyem best results were intercepted in two drill lines 400m apart and include 2m @ 5.3 g/t (including 1m @ 9.5 g/t) in the first drill line and 2.2m @ 4 5g/t (including 1m at 9.1 g/t) in the second drill line

o  At Ngoutou best results included 16m @ 1.3 g/t (including 2m @ 5.6 g/t), 33.5m @ 0.4 g/t and 32m @ 0.4 g/t

·     At Manso Amenfi encouraging results from soil sampling programme

o  Continuity and high tenor of gold-in-soil anomalies confirmed

o  Thirteen soil samples yielding gold concentrations between 0.5 g/t and 3.7 g/t

Jurie Wessels, GoldStone's Chief Executive, commented: "Despite challenging market conditions, we have made significant progress at all of our projects and yielded encouraging drilling results at Sangola, Oyem and Ngoutou.  In the coming months we will continue with cash conservation measures in order to stretch the funds raised in the recent placing and will be doing only essential exploration work at our permits.  By leaving major exploration to joint venture partners such as Randgold and Ferrex and potentially by selling Homase/Akrokerri, we are seeking to add significant value to GoldStone with minimum expenditure."

Enquiries

GoldStone Resources Limited	[phone]
Jurie Wessels
WH Ireland Limited	[phone]
Tim Feather
Nick Field

Chief Executive Officer's Report

Market conditions were very challenging during the period under review, signified by a significant decrease in the price of gold and a general retreat from investing in gold and consequent increasing difficulty in raising funds.  Despite this, the Company has managed to make significant progress at all of its projects and yielded encouraging drilling results at Sangola, Oyem and Ngoutou.  In addition, the Company conducted virtual exploration by concluding a joint venture agreement with Randgold Resources Ltd ("Randgold") and a co-existence agreement with Ferrex plc ("Ferrex") to advance respectively the Sangola and Oyem projects.  

Ghana projects

The Homase/Akrokerri project is located in the heart of the Ashanti Gold Belt in Ghana within the prolific gold province of the Ghanaian Birimian rocks.  The Homase/Akrokerri project consists of two licences: the Akrokerri Licence, which adjoins the north-eastern border of Anglo Gold Ashanti's Obuasi mine and the Homase Licence within which there is an open pit where Anglo Gold Ashanti mined approximately 40,000oz of gold in 2002/3. 

GoldStone announced its maiden JORC-compliant gold resource estimate for Homase in April 2010 and for Akrokerri in June 2011, which combined to produce a resource of 405,600oz, all from historical drilling results.  GoldStone commenced drilling in June 2011 and the resource has now increased to 602,000oz.  Fifty one holes have been drilled at a total drilling cost of US$3.93 million to return 14,376 metres of core on both licences.  From results received for 23 holes drilled on the Homase Licence, the Company announced a 24% (96,400oz) increase in the resource in August 2012.  A further increase of 100,000oz was announced in November 2012.  The total resource of 602,000oz represents a 48% increase on the maiden resource published in June 2011.

Results of current resource estimate, for which a cut-off grade of 0.5 g/t gold was applied, are summarised below:

Mineral resource by category

	Tonnage	Av. Grade	Contained gold
Category	Tonnes (million)	(Au g/t)	(Ounces)
Measured	1.61	2.24	116,000
Indicated	4.41	1.73	245,000
Measured & Indicated	6.01	1.87	361,000
Inferred	4.56	1.64	241,000
Total *	10.6	1.77	602,000

* Totals may not add up correctly due to rounding.

Mineral resource by material

	Tonnage	Av. Grade	Contained gold
Category	Tonnes (million)	(Au g/t)	(Ounces)
Oxide	2.39	1.29	100,000
Fresh Rock	8.18	1.91	502,000
Total *	10.6	1.77	602,000

* Totals may not add up correctly due to rounding.

The following tables summarise the resource for each of the Homase and Akrokerri Licences at a 0.5 g/t Au cut-off:

Homase Licence

		Tonnage	Grade	Contained gold
Material type	Class	Tonnes (million)	(Au g/t)	(Ounces)
Oxide	Measured Indicated Inferred	0.37 0.89 0.25	1.43 1.11 1.09	17,000 32,000 9,000
Fresh Rock	Measured Indicated Inferred	1.23 2.13 1.95	2.49 2.19 1.62	98,000 149,000 101,000
Total* - Oxide	All	1.52	1.19	58,000
Total* - Fresh Rock	All	5.30	2.05	349,000
Total* - Oxide & Fresh	All	6.83	1.86	407,000

Akrokerri Licence

		Tonnage	Grade	Contained gold
Material type	Class	Tonnes (million)	(Au g/t)	(Ounces)
Oxide	Measured Indicated Inferred	- 0.55 0.32	- 1.51 1.41	- 27,000 14,000
Fresh Rock	Measured Indicated Inferred	- 0.84 2.04	- 1.38 1.77	- 37,000 116,000
Total* - Oxide	All	0.87	1.47	41,000
Total* - Fresh Rock	All	2.88	1.66	153,000
Total* - Oxide & Fresh	All	3.75	1.62	195,000

* Totals may not add up correctly due to rounding

The resource update returned encouraging increases in both tonnage and grade.  The total resource now stands at 10.6 million tonnes and the average grade increased from 1.42 g/t to 1.77 g/t.

GoldStone owns 65% of the Homase Licence and may attain an 85% interest upon successful completion of a feasibility study of any nature over the area.  The Company increased its interest in the Akrokerri Licence to 100% by acquiring the residual interest from Volta Resources Inc. in September 2012.  The Minerals Commission of Ghana has yet to grant the annual renewal in respect of the Homase and Akrokerri Licences.  We are confident that these processes will be completed shortly.  

At the Manso Amenfi project, over which GoldStone has a joint venture with Asasemu Mining Limited ("Asasemu"), previously identified gold anomalies, some of which trend parallel to nearby well known gold-bearing structures, have been evaluated by in-fill soil sampling.  The continuity and a high tenor of gold-in-soil anomalies were confirmed.  130 of the 1,303 samples yielded gold concentrations between 0.1 g/t and 0.5 g/t and 13 samples between 0.5 g/t and 3.7 g/t. 

The high-resolution airborne magnetic and radiometric survey conducted by XCalibur Airborne Geophysics in October 2012 has proven to be successful as it increased our general understanding of the geology of the permit and because it detected numerous structures coincident with the identified gold anomalies.  The survey results will assist the Company's exploration team in re-interpreting the gold-in-soil anomalies and in the optimal siting of pits and trenches in order to identify targets for further exploration drilling.  GoldStone currently owns 10% of the Manso Amenfi Licence and has the right to increase its interest to 85% in increments either by reaching certain benchmarks (achieving a Code compliant resource of any magnitude and a feasibility study) or after spending an additional US$2 million in exploration on the project.

The Manso Amenfi Licence is approximately 88 km² in extent and is situated in the Wasa Amenfi West District of the Western Region in Ghana, approximately 30 km from the town of Tarkwa and approximately 250 km west of the capital, Accra.

Senegal (Sangola Licence)

The 471 km² Sangola Licence, which is wholly owned by GoldStone, lies in the south-eastern corner of Senegal in a prolific gold province where more than 30 million ounces of gold have been discovered in the past 10 years.  The Sangola Licence area is bisected by a known gold bearing shear zone known as the Main Transcurrent Shear Zone ("MTZ").  This shear zone is host to the 3.4 Moz Massawa deposit of Randgold, which lies 30 km towards the north-east of the licence area.

Four major gold-in-soil anomalies, Baraboye, Tiabedji, Tiobo and Ibel, three of which are associated with underlying structures close to the MTZ, were identified and explored by the Company during the course of 2012.  The Thiabedji anomaly was investigated by a 11,350m RAB ("Reverse Air Blast") drilling programme between May and July 2012 and yielded encouraging results with the recognition of a mineralised trend up to 70m wide and 2 km in extent.  Geological interpretation suggests that the mineralisation is controlled by two secondary structures splaying off the regional MTZ and demonstrated a bedrock gold source to the six km long Thiabedji gold anomaly.  Best results included 3m @ 11.8 g/t gold, 3m @ 4.9 g/t gold and 3m @ 2.4 g/t.

In April 2013 the Company announced the conclusion of a joint venture with Randgold Resources (Senegal) Ltd, a subsidiary of Randgold, for the exploration and potential development of a mine at Sangola.  Under the agreement Randgold will fund all costs up to and including the completion of a pre-feasibility study indicating that the mining of at least 1Moz of gold is feasible.  The joint venture is owned 51% by Randgold and 49% by GoldStone with GoldStone having the option to contribute towards a feasibility study or dilute to 35%.  The committed work includes the execution of at least 10,000m of reverse circulation (or equivalent) drilling per annum up to the completion of a PFS which indicates that mining of at least 1Moz of gold is economically feasible.

If the PFS indicates that the mining of at least 1Moz of gold will not be economically and commercially feasible, the joint venture will cease to have effect.  In addition, Randgold may terminate the joint venture at any time by giving GoldStone 90 days' notice.

During August 2013 the benefits of the joint venture with Randgold became evident when the Company received assay results of the first 2,435m from the 4,800m reverse circulation drilling programme completed by Randgold.  The rapidly received results confirmed gold mineralisation at the Thiabedji anomaly in a 70m wide zone.  Best gold intersects included 39m @ 0.67 g/t (including 2m @ 5.4 g/t), 27m @ 0.45 g/t and  2m @ 5.1 g/t (including 1m @ 9.9 g/t).  Drilling over the Tiobo, Baraboye and Ibel target areas is to be commenced after the end of the rainy season which is expect to be during December 2013.

Gabon projects (Oyem & Ngoutou)

The Oyem and Ngoutou Licences were granted to the Company in April 2011.  The licence areas share four common and prospective characteristics.  Firstly, both licences hold large contiguous and geologically compelling gold-in-soil anomalies, which were identified during a country-wide EU sponsored survey by the Gabonese Government.  Secondly, the anomalies on both licences coincide with a contact zone, which is confirmed by geophysical data, that exists between amphibolite and gneissic rocks; thirdly, both licences contain significant artisanal gold workings in the streams that drain the gold-in-soil anomalies and lastly, both licences were drilled and yielded very encouraging results.

Drilling of approximately 1,000m of diamond core drilling in the central and most accessible part of the 15 km long Oyem gold-in-soil anomaly has been completed.  High grade gold mineralisation in a 120m wide deformational zone was encountered along two drill lines 400m apart.  Best results included 2m @ 5.3 g/t (including 1m @ 9.5 g/t) in the first drill line and 2.2m @ 4 5g/t (including 1m at 9.1 g/t) in the second drill line. Both high-grade intersects occur in a sheared amphibolite and amphibole-rich dioritic gneiss with related brittle-ductile deformation.  Both drill lines also confirmed the existence of an approximately 120m wide deformational zone that controls the mineralisation and underlies the best part of the soil anomaly. 

Early in 2013 the Company signed a co-existence agreement with Ferrex under which Ferrex is undertaking a work programme to explore for both iron and gold, providing GoldStone with valuable data on the area.  In addition GoldStone is to receive a 1% royalty on any iron ore produced, as well as the partial reimbursement of certain past costs.

In May 2013 the Company received the assay results for its initial diamond drilling campaign (535m) at Ngoutou.  Three holes were drilled along two drill traverses which targeted a small portion of the central part of the 15km long gold-in-soil anomaly.  Best results included 16m @ 1.3 g/t gold (including 2m @ 5.6 g/t) and 33.5m @ 0.4 g/t in hole 13NGDD001 and 32m @ 0.4 g/t in hole 13NGDD002.

Placing and Funding

In July 2013 the Company, through its broker, W H Ireland Limited, placed 35,947,700 new ordinary shares at 1p per share, raising £359,477.  Unity Mining Limited, which holds 33.47% of the share capital, maintained its position.

Since 1 March 2013 in order to conserve cash resources, my colleague, Hendrik Schloemann and I together with other members of the operational management, have agreed to defer 50% of our remuneration.  It is planned that this will remain the case until there is a significant change in the Company's financial position.

As a result of the financial constraints under which the Company has been operating, which have only been partially alleviated by the placing, the Directors have decided that GoldStone should seek to sell its interests in Homase/Akrokerri.  The intention is that the sale proceeds should provide sufficient funds to significantly advance the remaining projects without further dilution of shareholders' interests.  There have been discussions with a number of parties, some of which are ongoing, but there can be no guarantee at this stage that a satisfactory sale will be achieved.

Changes to the Board

Jonathan Best, who was appointed a Non-Executive Director on 8 October 2012, was appointed Chairman with effect from 7 December 2012.  Gennen McDowall, formerly Chairman of the Company, stepped down from the Board at that time.

Outlook

The focus of the Company in the coming months will be to continue its cash conservation measures implemented in March 2013 and to stretch the funds raised in the recent placing by doing essential exploration work at its permits, by monetising Homase/Akrokerri and by continuing to investigate sensible opportunities for virtual exploration at its projects where it does not have partnerships. 

Jurie Wessels

Chief Executive Officer

Consolidated statement of financial position

as at 28 February 2013

in United States dollars			28 February 2013		29 February 2012
Assets
Property, plant and equipment			47,685		37,071
Non-current assets			47,685		37,071
Trade and other receivables			148,274		0
Cash and cash equivalents			631,855		7,572,698
Current assets			780,129		7,572,698
Total assets			827,814		7,609,769
Equity
Share capital			5,259,165		5,234,834
Share premium			23,844,234		23,844,234
Capital contribution reserve			555,110		555,110
Share options reserve			605,808		605,808
Accumulated deficit			(29,554,655)		(23,169,671)
Total equity			709,662		7,070,315
Liabilities
Trade and other payables			118,152		539,454
Current and total liabilities			118,152		539,454
Total equity and liabilities			827,814		7,609,769

Consolidated statement of comprehensive income

for the year ended 28 February 2013

in United States dollars			Year ended 28 February 2013		Year ended 29 February 2012
Continuing operations
Sundry income			34,249		0
Exploration expenses			(5,151,628)		(4,173,439)
Other expenses			(1,368,987)		(1,541,149)
Results from operating activities			(6,486,366)		(5,714,588)
Finance income			4,916		24,043
Net finance cost			4,916		24,043
Loss before tax			(6,481,450)		(5,690,545)
Loss from continuing operations			(6,481,450)		(5,690,545)
Other comprehensive income			0		0
Total comprehensive loss for the year			(6,481,450)		(5,690,545)
Loss per share
Basic loss per share			(0.020)		(0.018)
Diluted loss per share			(0.020)		(0.018)

Consolidated statement of change in equity

for the year ended 28 February 2013

in United States dollars		Share capital	Share premium	Capital contribution reserve	Share options reserve	Accumulated deficit	Total equity
Balance as at 1 March 2011		3,746,214	18,214,386	555,110	605,808	(17,690,149)	5,431,369
Issue of ordinary shares		1,488,620	5,629,848	0	0	0	7,118,468
Credit to equity for equity-settled share-Based payments		0	0	0	0	211,023	211,023
Net loss for the year		0	0	0	0	(5,690,545)	(5,690,545)
Balance as at 29 February 2012		5,234,834	23,844,234	555,110	605,808	(23,169,671)	7,070,315
Issue of ordinary shares		24,331	0	0	0	0	24,331
Credit to equity for equity-settled share-Based payments		0	0	0	0	96,465	96,465
Loss for the year		0	0	0	0	(6,481,450)	(6,481,450)
Balance as at 28 February 2013		5,259,165	23,844,234	555,110	605,808	(29,554,655)	709,662

Consolidated statement of cash flow

for the year ended 28 February 2013

in United States dollars			Year ended 28 February 2013		Year ended 29 February 2012
Cash flow from operating activities
Loss for the year			(6,481,450)		(5,690,545)
Adjusted for:
-      depreciation			19,603		13,450
-      interest received			(4,916)		(24,043)
-      issue of ordinary shares			24,331		0
-      share options granted to directors and employees during the year			96,465		211,023
Changes in:
-      trade and other receivables			(148,274)		0
-      trade and other payables			(421,302)		371,777
Net cash used in operating activities			(6,915,543)		(5,118,338)
Cash flow from investing activities
Interest received			4,916		24,043
Acquisition of property, plant and equipment			(30,216)		(11,870)
Net cash used in / from investing activities			(25,300)		12,173
Cash flow from financing activities
Proceeds from issue of ordinary share capital			0		7,118,468
Net cash from financing activities			0		7,118,468
Net (decrease) / increase in cash and cash equivalents			(6,940,834)		2,012,303
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of the year			7,572,698		5,560,395
Cash and cash equivalents at end of the year			631,855		7,572,698

1.         FINANCIAL INFORMATION

The financial information set out above does not constitute the Company's statutory accounts for the year ended 28 February 2013, but is derived from those accounts.  The auditors have reported on those accounts; their reports were unqualified, but drew attention to the following matters by way of emphasis without qualifying their reports as follows:

Emphasis of matter - Going concern

In forming our opinion on the financial statements, which is not modified, we have considered the adequacy of the disclosure made in note 2b to the financial statements concerning the company's ability to continue as a going concern. Management are undertaking steps to reduce both exploration and non-exploration expenditure in order to maintain adequate financial resources.  This is required to be able to fund the group's ongoing operations and to preserve available cash and reduce the monthly cash burn rate while future funding is considered.  These conditions, along with the other matters explained in note 2b to the financial statements, indicate the existence of a material uncertainty which may cast significant doubt about the company's ability to continue as a going concern.  The financial statements do not include the adjustments that would result if the company was unable to continue as a going concern.

2.         ANNUAL REPORT

The annual report and accounts for the year ended 28 February 2013 will be posted to shareholders on 30 August 2013 and will be available from the Company's website at www.goldstoneresources.com shortly.

 

END

 

 

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