2020 Guidance and 5-year Rolling Mine Plan

RNS Number : 6611B

Hummingbird Resources PLC

03 February 2020

 

Hummingbird Resources plc / Ticker: HUM / Index: AIM / Sector: Mining

3^rd February 2020

Hummingbird Resources plc

2020 Guidance and 5-year Rolling Mine Plan

Hummingbird Resources plc ("Hummingbird" or the "Company") (AIM: HUM), is pleased to announce its 2020 guidance and a 5-year Rolling Mine Plan at its Yanfolila Gold Mine based on its updated open pit Reserves, announced on 17 December 2019.

2020 Yanfolila Production and Cost Guidance

·    110,000-125,000ozs of gold production

·    US$850-895/oz AISC

5-year Mine Plan Highlights (2020-2024) 

Year	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
Oz (Au)	125,000	120,000	121,000	100,000	108,000

·    574,000ozs forecast to be produced with an average production of over 120,000ozs per annum over the next 3 years; 

·    Significant Indicated Resources both within open pit and underground mine inventories, which are not in current mine plan, will be targeted for conversion to ore Reserves in the future to increase both current forecasted annual production and to extend the mine life;

·    Focus on exploration and underground development to delineate new Resources and Reserves to further augment the mine plan.

Dan Betts, CEO said, "Following the announcement of our increased open pit reserves in December, we are pleased to provide an update to our 5 year rolling mine plan.  It is important to stress this is considered to be a base case moving forward incorporating only current Reserves. In addition to the Reserves used in this plan, the mine still has considerable Resources (both open pit and underground), which we will look to utilise in our exploration and development work in order to extend and improve the plan further. During 2020 exploration and development studies targeting this are a strategic focus of the Company, and work has already recommenced in this regard.

In addition to a clear focus on exploration and development, the 2020 Guidance of 110,000 to 125,000 ounces of gold allows us to continue our strategy of deleveraging rapidly to be in a positive net cash position later this year, with all actual bank debt being paid off by the middle of 2021.  In light of this rapid deleveraging the board will continue to evaluate the best ways to deliver value to shareholders whilst maintaining a balance with the strategic need to grow the mine life and the Company.

I am pleased that Hummingbird was able to meet its production guidance at Yanfolila in 2019 which was a great achievement by the team, and we will spend considerable energy in 2020 continuing to develop our operational capabilities."

2020 Yanfolila Production and Cost Guidance

The Company's guidance for the calendar year to 31 December 2020 is to pour 110,000 to 125,000 ounces of gold and an AISC on gold dore sold of US$850 to US$895 based on spot gold price of US$1,350 and a diesel price of US$0.70 per litre at site.

2020 Exploration and Development Plan

The Company has recommenced exploration activities after its successful campaign in 2018/2019 where 230kozs was converted to Indicated Resources and 62kozs of Inferred Resources were delineated. 

Remaining within the Company's portfolio of Resources  there are existing deposits containing Indicated and Inferred Resources not yet in the mine plan (Komana East underground, Sanioumale East, Kabaya South and Gonka Underground), which demonstrate the continued potential to increase the current mine life in the future.

In 2020, a focused 3-fold exploration strategy has been developed targeting both open pit and underground Resources and Reserves, as well as testing new near mine targets to feed the exploration pipeline. 

1.    Sanioumale East

Currently Sanioumale East has a small oxide only Indicated Resource of 62kozs Au.  Previous but limited exploration drilling into the fresh rock intersected the down dip extension of the mineralisation in hole SNDD0029, reporting 10.5 m @ 5.4 g/t Au.  This intersection lies directly below the largest potential oxide open pit at Sanioumale East.  

The open mineralisation at Sanioumale East is planned to be drilled to test the down dip and along strike extension of the main mineralised zone, following which the Resource models will be updated with the intention to define an open pit Reserve at Sanioumale East.  

Due to its high grades and proximity to the existing open pit Reserves at Sanioumale West, defining an open pit Reserve at Sanioumale East would provide additional optionality to the rolling mine plan as well as extending the overall mine life.

2.    Komana East Underground

The potential for establishing underground mining operations at Komana East is based on previously released desk top studies carried out by CSA Global and DRA.

Additional high grade Indicated Resources are being targeted at Komana East beneath the existing pit, with the intention to define new Reserves that can be mined from underground to enhance the Company's production profile.  In parallel the Company is evaluating potential options to accelerate underground mine development.

3.    Greenfield targets

Since acquiring Yanfolila from Gold Fields Ltd in 2014, no new targets have been drill tested to add new mineral resources to the existing resource base. 

Reconnaissance drilling on high priority targets both within the mining license and the adjacent Diaban exploration license are being targeted. 

Specifically, five high priority co-incident gold-in-soil, structural / lithological targets located within 6 km of the process plant were identified as a result of an in-house target generation study (targets 1-5 in Figure 1. below).  Due to their location to the process plant and being situated within the mining license, if economic Resources are delineated, these can be developed into open pit reserves and added to the rolling mine plan within a short time frame.

Further greenfield targets are due to be tested and these lie across the border with the adjacent Diaban exploration licence.  These high priority co-incident gold-in-soil and structural targets were identified immediately to the south of the Gonka project area, (targets 6 and 7 in Figure 1 below).  These targets are centred around the intersection of the Siekorole Fault (a geological structure between the Birimian and Yanfolila Belt) and the Sankarani Shear Zone.  The Sankarani Shear Zone, is a highly prospective exploration target due to hosting the 3 major high grade deposits of Gonka, Komana East and Sanioumale East. 

Further target generation work is planned to be carried out simultaneously to the above drill programs as the Company looks to aggressively pursue additional Reserves in order to extend the mine life significantly. 

Figure 1.

http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/6611B_1-2020-2-2.pdf

 

**ENDS**

For further information please visit www.hummingbirdresources.co.uk or contact: 

Daniel Betts, CEO Thomas Hill, FD Douglas Ross, IR	Hummingbird Resources plc	Tel: [phone]
James Spinney Ritchie Balmer James Bellman	Strand Hanson Limited Nominated Adviser	Tel: [phone]
James Asensio Edward Montgomery	Canaccord Genuity Limited Broker	Tel: [phone]
Gordon Poole Owen Roberts Ollie Head	Camarco Financial PR/IR	Tel: [phone]

Notes to Editors:

Hummingbird Resources (AIM: HUM) is a leading gold production, development and exploration company.  The Company has two core gold projects, the Yanfolila Gold Mine in Mali and the Dugbe Gold Project in Liberia.  Yanfolila produced its first gold pour on time and budget in December 2017.  At 31 October 2019 Yanfolila has a 7.9Mt of Reserve ore @ 2.66 g/t for 676,000ozs gold.  At 31 March 2019 Yanfolila had a total Resource base (inclusive of Reserves) of 28Mt of Ore @ 2.23 g/t for 2,005,300ozs gold.  The Dugbe Gold Project has Resources currently totaling 4.2Moz of gold and a completed NI 43-101 compliant PEA on the project showing a 43% IRR and US$337m NPV at a US$1,500 gold price.

In addition to Hummingbird's production and development assets, the Company also has an exploration footprint of ~4,000km2 and a significant shareholder in AIM listed Cora Gold, which is advancing a portfolio of prospects in Mali and Senegal.

 

END

 

 

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