TIDMAVM

RNS Number : 5749W

Avocet Mining PLC

28 April 2016

2016 first quarter production update

Avocet Mining PLC ("Avocet" or "the Company") today announces production and cash costs for the first quarter of 2016 from the Inata gold mine.

-- Total gold production at Inata for the quarter was 20,528 ounces at a cash cost of US$925 per ounce, compared with 17,379 ounces produced in the fourth quarter of 2015 at a cash cost of US$1,094 per ounce

   --      Full year gold production guidance for 2016 is between 75,000 and 85,000 ounces

Production in the first quarter benefitted from a period of treating cleaner ores, which enabled higher recoveries to be achieved (91% compared with an average of 67% for 2015).

Throughput also improved, with 544k tonnes processed in Q1 2016 compared with 509k tonnes in the previous quarter, and an average of 466k tonnes per quarter in 2015. The head grade of 1.21g/t was similar to the previous quarter of 1.22g/t.

As a result, total production increased by 18% to 20,528 ounces, which also meant that cash costs were lower at US$925 per ounce, down from US$1,094 per ounce in Q4 2015, and US$1,058 per ounce for the full year 2015.

A life of mine plan for Inata is currently being prepared, however production for 2016 is expected to be between 75,000 and 85,000 ounces.

Very regrettably, a lost-time injury (LTI) was incurred during the quarter when a maintenance operative suffered severe lacerations to his lower arm caused by the discharge of high pressure grease whilst working on an excavator. This is the first LTI since September 2013.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT

 
Avocet Mining PLC  Bell Pottinger             J.P. Morgan Cazenove 
                    Financial PR Consultants   Corporate Broker 
David Cather, CEO  Daniel Thöle          Michael Wentworth-Stanley 
 Jim Wynn, FD 
+44 203 709 2570   +44 (0)20 3772 2555        +44 20 7742 4000

NOTES TO EDITORS

Avocet Mining PLC ("Avocet" or the "Company") is an unhedged gold mining and exploration company listed on the London Stock Exchange (ticker: AVM.L) and the Oslo Børs (ticker: AVM.OL). The Company's principal activities are gold mining and exploration in West Africa.

In Burkina Faso the Company owns 90% of the Inata Gold Mine. The Inata Gold Mine poured its first gold in December 2009 and produced 74,755 ounces of gold in 2015. Other assets in Burkina Faso include five exploration permits surrounding the Inata Gold Mine in the broader Bélahouro region. The most advanced of these projects is Souma, some 20 kilometres from the Inata Gold Mine.

In Guinea, Avocet owns 100% of the Tri-K Project in the north east of the country. Drilling to date has outlined a Mineral Resource of 3.0 million ounces, and in October 2013 the Company announced a maiden Ore Reserve on the oxide portion of the orebody, which is suitable for heap leaching, of 0.5 million ounces. As an alternative, the potential exists to exploit the entire 3.0 million ounce Tri-K orebody via the CIL processing method. An exploitation permit was awarded for Tri-K on 27 March 2015.

Appendix 1

Inata Gold Mine quarterly production information 2015-16

 
                                            2015                        2016 
                               Q1      Q2      Q3      Q4    2015      Q1     YTD 
Ore mined (k tonnes)          393     397     233     290   1,313     310     310 
Waste mined (k tonnes)      1,420   3,563   4,349   3,494  12,826   2,993   2,993 
Total mined (k tonnes)      1,813   3,960   4,582   3,784  14,139   3,303   3,303 
Ore processed (k tonnes)      437     471     448     509   1,865     544     544 
Average head grade (g/t)     2.50    2.27    1.50    1.22    1.85    1.21    1.21 
Process recovery rate         52%     67%     72%     89%     67%     91%     91% 
                           ------  ------  ------  ------  ------  ------  ------ 
Gold Produced (oz)         17,011  22,848  17,517  17,379  74,755  20,528  20,528 
 
Cash costs (US$/oz)            Q1      Q2      Q3      Q4    2015      Q1      Q1 
Mining                        262     313     362     335     318     291     291 
Processing                    540     408     486     430     462     375     375 
Administration                236     155     188     251     203     183     183 
Royalties                      75      76      71      78      75      75      75 
                           ------  ------  ------  ------  ------  ------  ------ 
                            1,113     952   1,107   1,094   1,058     925     925

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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