TIDMMIO
RNS Number : 3546X
Minco PLC
27 August 2015
MINCO PLC - HALF-YEAR REPORT JUNE 30, 2015
Dublin, 27 August, 2015- Minco Plc (AIM-"MIO") ("Minco" or the
"Company") announces its half year financial results and report on
operations for the six months ended June 30, 2015 which have been
published today.
Copies of these documents are available on the Company's website
www.mincoplc.com and will also be available on request free of
charge, from the Company's registered office at 27 Lower Hatch
Street, Dublin 2, Ireland.
FINANCIAL RESULTS
For the six month period ended June 30, 2015, the Company
recorded a profit of $82,000, compared to a loss of $487,000 for
the same period ended June 30, 2014. The profit for the six month
period ended June 30, 2015 included a foreign exchange gain of
$550,000, compared to a foreign exchange gain of $66,000 during the
same period in 2014.
During the six months ended June 30, 2015 Minco invested almost
$600,000 on exploration of its mineral properties, of which the
largest amounts were expended on the Buchans zinc lead project in
central Newfoundland and on the Pennines zinc exploration project
in northern England.
Administrative expenses excluding foreign exchange for the six
month period ended June 30, 2015 amounted to $493,000 compared to
$535,000 in 2014.
At June 30, 2015, Minco held $4,903,000 in cash and cash
equivalents and had a working capital surplus of $4,446,000,
compared to a working capital surplus of $5,497,000 as at December
31, 2014.
RETIREMENT OF DIRECTOR
Minco Plc reports that Donald (Dennis) MacLeod has retired as a
director of the Company, effective August 26, 2015. Dennis had been
a member of board since the acquisition of Buchans in 2013 and
prior thereto served as a director of Buchans Minerals since 2011.
In recognition of Dennis MacLeod's service, John Kearney, Chairman,
stated "Minco's Board of Directors acknowledges and appreciates the
leadership and guidance of Dennis MacLeod, both to Minco and
previously to Buchans Minerals, over many years. We extend to
Dennis our best wishes on his retirement as a director."
BUCHANS BASE METAL PROJECTS
During spring of 2015, Minco completed a drilling programme at
Lucky Strike South at Buchans in central Newfoundland. The
programme was undertaken to follow up of favourable results from
drilling in 2014 and tested several mineralized stratigraphic
horizons to explore for new high-grade massive sulphide deposits to
depths of 300 metres.
All holes were drilled immediately south of Minco's undeveloped
Lundberg deposit, approximately 250 m south of the former Lucky
Strike mine where previous operators, Asarco, mined 5.6 million
tonnes averaging 18.4% Zn, 8.6% Pb, 1.6% Cu, 112 g/t Ag & 1.7
g/t Au before closing the Buchans mine in 1984.
Drilling intersected widespread ore clast mineralization
comprised of massive sulphide fragments hosted by volcanic breccias
within a deeper stratigraphic horizon known as the 'Ore Clast'
horizon. All eight holes designed to test the Ore Clast horizon
intersected mineralized felsic volcanic breccia ranging from 1 to
23 metres in thickness, and hosting massive sulphides to
sulphide-rich clasts measuring up to 15 centimetres in diameter.
Intercepts include 0.5 metres averaging 13.32% combined base metals
(i.e., Cu%+Pb%+Zn%) as 1.80%
Cu, 5.20% Pb, 6.32% Zn, 53.3 g/t Ag, and 0.18 g/t Au in hole
H-15-3493, as well as 1.0 metre averaging 6.16% combined base
metals as 0.35% Cu, 1.72% Pb, 4.10% Zn, 63.4 g/t Ag, and 0.27 g/t
Au in hole H-15-3497.
Other notable results from the spring 2015 drill programme
include new intersections of higher grade mineralization extending
the Lucky Strike deposit to the south, where Hole H-15-3496
intersected 5.05 m averaging 5.98% combined base metals as 0.20%
Cu, 2.15% Pb, 3.63% Zn, 8.9 g/t Ag, and 0.05 g/t Au, including 2.70
m averaging 7.41% combined base metals as 0.23% Cu, 2.74% Pb, 4.44%
Zn, 10.1 g/t Ag, 0.06 g/t Au.
Further south, additional holes testing the Lucky Strike horizon
yielded mineralized intercepts, as hole H-15-3495 intersected 0.94
m assaying 12.04% combined base metals as 0.44% Cu, 3.80% Pb, 7.80%
Zn, 88.4 g/t Ag, and 1.62 g/t Au; while hole H-15-3497 intersected
0.5 m averaging 8.23% combined base metals as 0.20% Cu, 3.60% Pb,
4.43% Zn, 32.2 g/t Ag, and 0.29 g/t Au.
Two drill holes, H-15-3495 and 15-3496, were drilled to further
test high-grade massive sulphide mineralization west and northwest
of high-grade massive sulphides previously intersected in hole
H-14-3488 (high grade assays announced in Minco's Press Release
dated October 28, 2014). Both holes intersected weak mineralization
at the Engine House horizon, suggesting the zone may thin and
decrease in grade to the west.
In light of these positive drilling results, Minco has further
expanded its programme of re-logging historic drill holes to
determine potential for new high-grade discoveries below depths of
previous mining near the former Lucky Strike mine. Re-logging of
historical drill core from this area is expected to assist in
refined geological interpretations that will identify new priority
targets for discovery of new high-grade orebodies. Re-logging
resumed in June and is expected to continue into the fall and may
also evaluate other undeveloped base metal prospects in the Buchans
area.
Minco intends to use this information from the ongoing
re-logging program to propose additional drilling at Buchans to be
undertaken during the fourth quarter of 2015.
WOODSTOCK MANGANESE PROJECT
Minco has been seeking a qualified partner for the continued
development of its wholly owned Woodstock electrolytic manganese
metal ("EMM") project, located 5 km west of the town of Woodstock
and the junction of the Trans Canada and I-95 Highways in
west-central New Brunswick, Canada. Minco has been able to attract
the attention of one of China's largest EMM producers which
recognizes the advantages offered by the Woodstock project and has
initiated a technical due diligence on the property.
The global economic crisis has forced EMM producers to confront
a host of difficulties that include a significant decrease in EMM
prices, production over-capacity and rising costs of raw materials,
electricity and labor. The combination of low EMM prices and
production over-capacity has resulted in a highly competitive
environment that has reportedly resulted in the closure of a
significant number of Chinese EMM plants.
Despite the closure of many EMM plants, and EMM demand finally
increasing again in 2014, the EMM industry is still faced with
excess production capacity that is anticipated to continue exerting
downward pressure on the EMM price until more plants are closed and
a balance is reached between production capacity and market
demand.
Among the many positive attributes of Minco's Woodstock EMM
project, the key competitive advantages are that the project is
anticipated to have a project life of 40 years, excellent potential
to increase the resource and extend the project life further,
proximity to and ability to enter the U.S. market without being
subject to the 14% import duty applicable to all other EMM
producers in the world, and, most importantly, a projected
operating cost that is anticipated to be the lowest in the
industry.
MINERAL EXPLORATION AT NORTHERN PENNINES, ENGLAND
Over the period from late 2012 until the first quarter of 2015,
Minco drilled a total of 7555 metres in 31 holes in the northern
Pennines, centered on a 3.5 by 2.5 kilometre area in the vicinity
of the village of Nenthead. Twenty five holes were sited to explore
the Great Limestone horizon and six holes tested the deeper basal
succession.
Minco's 2012-2015 drill programme has established a significant
stratiform component to the mineralisation within the Great
Limestone which had not been previously recognised. The presence of
small "flats" (stratiform stopes) on historic mine plans has proven
indicative of laterally extensive stratiform replacement within the
Great Limestone adjacent to historic workings, with perhaps an
estimated eighty percent remaining in place. Fifteen kilometres of
mineralised structure have been outlined by previous mining with
flats recorded adjacent to 5.5 kilometres, all of which has
potential for stratiform mineralization.
Hole NW002, drilled in early 2015, to explore the
Whitewood-Barneycraig-Williams fault/vein structure in
Northumberland, intersected 8.95 metres of zinc lead mineralisation
averaging 3.82% zinc and 1.57% lead, including 5.6m averaging 5.80%
zinc plus 2.13% lead, within the Great Limestone. The Barneycraig
Fault was intersected at a debt of 230 metres within shales which
were mineralised over 1.65 metres with a grade of 9.43% zinc. Above
the Great Limestone, the Firestone Sill, a massive sandstone unit,
was mineralised over 8.05 metres with a combined zinc/lead grade of
3.41%.
Hole NW001, which was also drilled on the
Whitewood-Barneycraig-Williams fault/vein structure in late 2014,
intersected three separate mineral sections at relatively shallow
depths within and above the Great Limestone horizon, including a
narrow intersection of 0.3 metres averaging20.9 % zinc at a depth
of 187 metres.
The intersection of reasonable widths of lead and zinc
mineralization at three different levels in both of Holes NW001 and
NW002 is considered a very positive result and indicates the
mineral potential of this large Whitewood-Barneycraig-Williams
fault/vein structure which was previously demonstrated by historic
mining to be mineralized over a strike length of 3.5
kilometres.
The extent of the stratiform mineralisation discovered by Minco
in the Great Limestone to date is encouraging. Similar
mineralisation within the thicker basal succession would be
economically very significant. Further exploration of both the
Great limestone and basal succession is planned.
QUALIFIED PERSON
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