VANCOUVER, Jan. 18, 2018
/PRNewswire/ - Golden Queen Mining Co. Ltd. (TSX:GQM | OTCQX:GQMNF)
("Golden Queen" or "the Company") today announces its operating
results for December 2017, including
total gold production of 2,939 ounces and revenue of
US$4.1 m from its Soledad Mountain
gold-silver mine (the "Mine") located south of Mojave, California. All amounts herein are in
US dollars and reflect 100% of the operating results of Golden
Queen Mining Company, LLC ("GQM LLC"), the Company's 50%-owned
subsidiary that holds the Mine, unless otherwise stated.
Golden Queen advised in its third quarter Form 10-Q that
management was accelerating the East Pit development to seek to
access higher-grade ore tons as soon as possible to compensate for
the shortfall in the ore supplied and the lower than expected gold
ore grades from the North-West and Main (Phase 1) Pits. Since
November 2017, five benches have been
mined out in the East Pit and the Company is pleased to report the
following positive reconciliation between Ore Control (production)
and Reserves:
Ore Control v.
Reserves
|
|
Ore
tons
|
Au
oz/ton
|
Au
oz
|
Ag
oz/ton
|
Ag
oz
|
Bench
3800
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reserves
|
57,517
|
0.016
|
941
|
0.318
|
18,309
|
Ore
Control
|
114,237
|
0.012
|
1,372
|
0.319
|
36,437
|
Variance
OC-Reserves
|
99%
|
-27%
|
46%
|
0%
|
99%
|
|
Reserves
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Bench
3780
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reserves
|
81,333
|
0.015
|
1,225
|
0.287
|
23,253
|
Ore
Control
|
160,373
|
0.016
|
2,638
|
0.329
|
52,748
|
Variance
OC-Reserves
|
97%
|
9%
|
115%
|
15%
|
126%
|
|
Reserves
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Bench
3760
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reserves
|
126,065
|
0.015
|
1,887
|
0.279
|
35,121
|
Ore
Control
|
171,551
|
0.018
|
3,071
|
0.227
|
38,977
|
Variance
OC-Reserves
|
36%
|
20%
|
63%
|
-18%
|
11%
|
|
Reserves
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Bench
3740
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reserves
|
167,306
|
0.014
|
2,413
|
0.249
|
41,614
|
Ore
Control
|
199,890
|
0.018
|
3,664
|
0.295
|
58,963
|
Variance
OC-Reserves
|
19%
|
27%
|
52%
|
19%
|
42%
|
|
Reserves
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Bench
3720
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reserves
|
203,053
|
0.015
|
3,141
|
0.252
|
51,200
|
Ore
Control
|
254,828
|
0.018
|
4,644
|
0.288
|
73,423
|
Variance
OC-Reserves
|
25%
|
18%
|
48%
|
14%
|
43%
|
|
Reserves
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cumulative
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reserves
|
635,274
|
0.015
|
9,607
|
0.267
|
169,598
|
Ore
Control
|
900,879
|
0.017
|
15,388
|
0.289
|
260,548
|
Variance
OC-Reserves
|
42%
|
13%
|
60%
|
8%
|
54%
|
|
Reserves
|
To date, the tonnage produced in the East Pit has consistently
been better than expected due to the presence of ore blocks in the
Patience vein structure area that had been classified as possible
or simply un-modeled. In addition, the gold grade was 13% higher
than estimated for a total of 1.6 times the expected gold ounces.
The silver grade was 8% higher than estimated for a total of 1.5
times the predicted number of silver ounces.
On January 22nd, the
Company's drill program comprising up to 20 holes and approximately
20,000 feet of reverse circulation drilling at a projected cost of
US$1.0 m will commence. This
drilling is designed to increase confidence in the currently
modelled ore grades and tonnage associated with the Golden Queen
vein structure, to improve the Company's understanding of the
Patience vein structure with the objective of adding additional
ounces to the reserves with immediate impact to the mine plan, and
to investigate the Silver Queen vein structure in the South-East
section where historical underground development appears on
historic maps but has not been evidenced in historic extraction
reports.
Upcoming Event
Mr. Thomas M. Clay, Chairman and
CEO will be a speaker at the 2018 Vancouver Resource Investment
Conference. The presentation will take place on Sunday, January 21st at 11:20am in the Vancouver Convention Centre West.
About Golden Queen Mining Co.
Ltd.:
Golden Queen is a gold and silver producer holding a 50%
interest in an open pit, heap leach mining operation on the Soledad
Mountain property, located just outside the town of Mojave in Kern
County in Southern California. The mine also produces
aggregate rock.
Technical Information:
The scientific and technical content of this news release was
reviewed, verified, and approved by Tim
Mazanek, SME; a qualified person as defined by Canadian
Securities Administrators National Instrument 43-101 "Standards of
Disclosure for Mineral Projects and the Mine Manager of Golden
Queen Mining Company, LLC.
Caution With Respect To Forward-looking
Statements: This news release contains forward-looking
information and statements within the meaning of applicable
Canadian and United States
securities laws (herein referred to as "forward-looking
statements") that involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties
and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or
achievements to be materially different from any future results,
performance or achievements expressed or implied by such
forward-looking statements. All information and statements in this
news release that are not statements of historical fact may be
forward-looking statements, including references to the mining
operation and future production results, grade and quantities or
ore, planned drilling programs and the impact of such programs on
mineral resources and reserves and mine plans, planned exploration
and development activities, operating costs, and plant capacity.
Such statements or information are only intentions and expectations
of management and reflect the current beliefs of management and are
based on information currently available to management. In
addition, results of operations can vary significantly and past
results may not necessarily be consistent with future
results. Actual results and events may differ materially from
those contemplated by these forward-looking statements due to these
statements being subject to a number of risks and uncertainties.
Undue reliance should not be placed on these forward-looking
statements, as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions
or expectations upon which they are based will occur. By their
nature forward-looking statements involve assumptions and known and
unknown risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, that
contribute to the possibility that the predictions and other
forward-looking statements will not occur. A number of factors
could cause actual results to differ materially from the those
expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including,
but not limited to, unexpected regulatory issues, and changes in
the general economic and business conditions pertaining to Golden
Queen's operations. Should any risks or uncertainties that face
Golden Queen and its subsidiaries materialize, or should
assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements prove
incorrect, actual results or achievements could vary materially
from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements
contained in this news release. Readers are cautioned that the
foregoing list of risks is not exhaustive. Additional information
on these and other factors that could affect the operations or
financial results of Golden Queen and its subsidiaries are included
in, Golden Queen's short form prospectus, and Golden Queen's annual
report on Form 10-K, annual financial statements and Management's
Discussion and Analysis for the year ended December 31, 2016, and subsequent quarterly
periods, each of which has been filed under the Company's profile
on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) or with the SEC (www.sec.gov). Any
forward-looking statement herein contained is made as of the date
of this news release and Golden Queen does not assume any
obligation to update or revise them to reflect new information,
events or circumstances, except as required by law.
SOURCE Golden Queen Mining Co. Ltd.