Goldplat Plc (LON:GDP), the AIM quoted gold producer with international gold recovery operations located in South Africa and Ghana and a gold mine in Kenya, has today provided a corporate and operational update.
Rand Refinery Dispute
Further to its announcements of 4 April 2017 and 11 September 2017, the Company is pleased to announce that both parties, being Rand Refinery and Goldplat Recovery Limited (‘GPL’) have formally agreed on an arbitration process for the recovery of the amounts owed to GPL, and have appointed a retired Appeal Court Judge to act as arbitrator. The arbitration proceedings have been scheduled for 25-29 June 2018 and the Company will provide more information to shareholders regarding these proceedings when appropriate.
Operational Update
The Company is pleased to report that good progress is being made on all areas of strategic focus. At GPL, a strategic stockpile of in excess of a year of planned production through the carbon in leach (‘CIL’) circuits has been procured and metallurgical testwork is currently being undertaken to optimise metal recoveries from and profitability of this material. This has been an important initiative to de-risk the most profitable production stream at GPL and the Board is encouraged to note that this strategic objective has been reached within the first six months of the financial year.
At Gold Recovery Ghana (‘GRG’), the elution plant construction is progressing according to plan, and commissioning is expected to begin before the end of December 2017. This progress has recently been acknowledged very positively by the Ghanaian Ministry of Mines. A team is on the ground in Ghana to commission the tailings project pilot plant, with surveys of target material for the pilot testing ongoing.
At Kilimapesa Gold (Pty) Ltd, production remains on target for 5,800 ounces of gold in FY2018 and profitability is being achieved on an operational level. This has been achieved despite a number of days of lost production, caused by the election process which affected diesel supplies.
Gerard Kisbey-Green, CEO of Goldplat plc commented: “We are pleased to have finally made tangible progress towards settlement of the dispute with Rand Refinery after a protracted period of negotiations. We remain confident that this arbitration process will result in the full recovery of the amounts owed to GPL and Company will keep shareholders informed of progress. From an operational point of view, I am delighted to say that progress is being made across the board which positions us strongly for the remainder of the 2018 financial year, and I look forward to providing further detail on this in the New Year with the release of our quarterly operational updates and Interim Results.”
