Austral Gold Files Q2 2022 Quarterly Activity Report
Austral Gold Files Q2 2022 Quarterly Activity
Report
Sydney, Australia--(Newsfile Corp. - July 28, 2022) - Austral Gold Limited (ASX: AGD) (TSXV: AGLD)
(the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has filed its Q2 2022 Quarterly Activity Report. The
complete Report is available under the Company's profile at
www.asx.com
,
www.sedar.com
and on the
Company's website at
www.australgold.com/
.
KEY QUARTERLY HIGHLIGHTS
At the Casposo-Manantiales mine complex in Argentina,
the second drilling campaign which
started in Q1 2022 continued as part of our strategy to restart mining operations. Results were
announced on 27 July 2022 and obtained from 5 new drillholes at the Manantiales vein.
Best
intercepts were at:
MDH-02-63: 4.40 meters @ 18.65 g/t gold and 58 g/t silver
including: 3.12 meters @ 26.04 g/t gold and 37 g/t silver
sub-including: 0.75 meters @ 76.26 g/t gold and 75 g/t silver
MDH-02-64: 2.35 meters @ 15.61 g/t gold and 81 g/t silver
including: 1.58 meters @ 22.30 g/t gold and 116 g/t silver
MDH-02-60: 2.50 meters @ 9.73 g/t gold and 49 g/t silver
including: 0.90 meters @ 25.48 g/t gold and 125 g/t silver
At the Guanaco-Amancaya mine complex (Chile),
production was 6,375 gold equivalent
ounces ("GEOs") in Q2 2022 (13,868 GEOs during the first half of the year (1H 2022)).
The
Group expects production to increase during the second half of the year and meet its
revised annual production guidance
of 30,000-35,000 GEO's.
Cost of production
("C1") per GEO was US$1,435 in Q2 2022 (US$1,404 in 1H 2022) while
All-
in-sustaining cost
("AISC") per GEO was US$1,850 in Q2 2022 (US$1,766 in 1H 2022).
Average GEO selling price
was US$1,879 per GEO in Q2 2022 (1H 2022 in US$1,869 per
GEO).
Cash flow generated from operating activities was US$3.7 million in Q2 2022 (1H
2022: US$4.5 million).
Cash on hand was US$1.6 million and combined with the fair value of
unsold and unrefined GEOs in inventory totaled US$3.9 million at 30 June 2022.
During the June 2022 quarter,
the Company invested US$1.1 million in exploration (US$2.4
million in 1H 2022) which also included the required expenditures to complete the first year work
commitments at the Cerro Blanco and Morros Blancos projects in Chile and to advance with the
second tranche of the Sierra Blanca project option in Argentina to acquire an additional 29%
interest.
All resolutions were passed at the Company's 27 May 2022 Annual General Meeting.
PRODUCTION
Guanaco/Amancaya gold and silver production during the June 2022 quarter totaled
6,375 GEOs
(or 6,165 gold ounces and 18,104 silver ounces),
a 15% decrease from the March
2022 quarter
and a
24% decrease from the June 2021 quarter. Total production for the
first half of the year ended June 2022 (1H 2022) was 13,868 GEOs, a 6% increase
from the
6-month period ended June 2021 (1H 2021).
Quarterly production at Amancaya was lower than forecasted during the period mainly due to lower
throughput, lower gold and silver grades, and lower plant inventory. The full impact of the Q1 2021
initiatives to increase production (hiring a new contractor as mining operator and another
contractor to maintain the mining fleet and leasing additional mainly vertical drilling equipment) is
expected to result in increased production during the second half of 2022 along with the
Company's plan to mine higher grade ore. Q2 2022 production from Guanaco included 122 GEOs
(Q1 2022: 211 GEOs, Q2 2021: nil GEOs) from historical heap material processed through the
agitation leaching plant.
Quarterly and YTD Production figures
Operations
Guanaco/ Amancaya Mines
Q2 2022
(June)
Q1 2022
(March)
Q2 2021
(June)
1H 2022
(6-month)
1H 2021
(6-month)
Processed (t)
64,511
70,900
42,969
135,411
69,149
Gold (Oz)
6,165
7,224
7,966
13,389
12,416
Silver (Oz)
18,104
21,187
26,332
39,291
42,363
GEOs **
6,375
7,493
8,351
13,868
13,035
*
Quarterly Weighted average of 24.84% (March 2022-24.84% and June 2021-26.46%).
**
Au:Ag ratio is calculated at 86:1 Ag:Au for the June 2022 Quarter; 79:1 Au:Ag for the March 2022 Quarter and 68:1 Au:Ag for
the June 2021
Quarter; 82:1 Ag:Au for 1H 2022 and 68:1 Ag:Au for 1H 2021 .
Forecasted Calendar 2022 Production and Costs:
Production guidance for 2022 for the Guanaco and Amancaya Mine complex has been revised to
30,000-35,000 gold-equivalent ounces from 35,000 to 40,000 with forecasted C1 and AISC of
US$1,250-US$1,350 and US$1,500-US$1,650 per GEO.
EXPLORATION
During Q2 2022, the main exploration activities were as follows:
Brownfield:
Guanaco-Amancaya mine complex (Chile):
Designed a new exploration program
named "Near Mine" with the goal of reviewing opportunities to increase the mineral
reserves, which are close to the existing infrastructure of the Amancaya Mine.
Casposo-Manantiales mine complex (Argentina):
Completion of 1,234 meters of
drilling at Manantiales and La Puerta Oeste veins, continuing with channel sampling at
the La Puerta and Awada areas, and reviewing remnant mineral resources at the
Casposo property. The most significant results were the extension of the south ore
shoot (MDH-22-060) and the extension at depth of the north ore shoot (MDH-22-063)
in Manantiales as follows:
The best result obtained to date is drillhole MDH-22-63, which intercepted a high-
grade gold structure with a width of more than 4 meters. This intercept indicates
that the best mineralisation control in Manantiales vein is related to the lower
contact of the dacitic intrusive opening the potential along this discontinuity and at
depth.
Results from the holes MDH-022-60 and MDH-022-64, confirmed the continuity
of the blind ore-shoot previously intercepted by drillings MDH-022-57/58. In the
case of hole MDH-022-60, opening the mineralisation at depth, while drillhole
MDH-22-64 indicates mineralisation closer to the surface.
Greenfield:
Morros Blancos and Cerro Blanco (Chile):
Designed the next drilling campaign for
1H 2023 as work commitments for 2022 under the option agreement were completed.
At Morros Blancos, all drillholes were relogged and surface rock geochemistry was
revised. Field mapping commenced on the area named Morro Colorado with focus on
the structural setting and the identification of phreatomagmatic centers. At Cerro
Blanco, expansion of the high-resolution ground magnetometry was completed.
Sierra Inesperada (Chile):
A new drilling program of 800 to 1,000 meters was
designed and is expected to commence in Q4 2022. The plan is to drill intercepts
obtained in previous drilling campaigns and test new conceptual target.
Sierra Blanca-Pinguino (Argentina):
The relogging and the first schematic section
of the Chala Vein confirmed historic economic intercepts. We expect to perform follow-
up exploration activities this year including a systematic grid sampling that we started
designing.
About Austral Gold
Austral Gold Limited is a growing gold and silver mining, development and exploration company whose
strategy is to expand the life of its cash generating assets in Chile, restart its Casposo mine in Argentina
and build a portfolio of quality assets in Chile, the USA and Argentina organically through a Tier 1 or 2
exploration strategy and via acquisitions and strategic partnerships. Austral owns a 100% interest in the
Guanaco/Amancaya mine in Chile and the Casposo Mine (currently on care and maintenance) in
Argentina, a non-controlling interest in the Rawhide Mine in Nevada, USA and a non-controlling interest
in Ensign Gold which holds the Mercur project in Utah, USA.
In addition, Austral owns an attractive portfolio of exploration projects in the Paleocene Belt in Chile
(including those acquired in the 2021 acquisition of Revelo Resources Corp), a noncontrolling interest in
Pampa Metals and a 100% interest in the Pingüino project and a 51% interest in the Sierra Blanca
project, both in Santa Cruz, Argentina. Austral Gold Limited is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange
(TSXV: AGLD) and the Australian Securities Exchange. (ASX: AGD). For more information, please
consult Austral's website at
www.australgold.com
.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the
policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this
release.
Release approved by the Chief Executive Officer of Austral Gold, Stabro Kasaneva.
For additional information please contact:
Jose Bordogna
Chief Financial Officer
Austral Gold Limited
+61 4666 892 307
Ben Jarvis
Director
Austral Gold Limited
+61 413 150 448
Forward Looking Statements
Statements in this news release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements.
Forward-
looking statements are statements that are not historical, and consist primarily of projections -
statements regarding future plans, expectations and developments.
Words such as "expects", "intends",
"plans", "may", "could", "potential", "should", "anticipates", "likely", "believes" and words of similar
import tend to identify forward-looking statements.
Forward-looking statements in this news release the
Company's the Company's 2022 forecasted production guidance and costs, the Company's expectation
for production to increase during the second half of the year and meet its revised annual production
guidance of 30,000-35,000, due to the Company's plans to mine higher grade ore, and planned future
exploration activities.
All of these forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ from those expressed or
implied, including, without limitation, business integration risks; uncertainty of production, development
plans and cost estimates, commodity price fluctuations; political or economic instability and regulatory
changes; currency fluctuations, the state of the capital markets especially in light of the effects of the
novel coronavirus,, uncertainty in the measurement of mineral reserves and resource estimates, Austral's
ability to attract and retain qualified personnel and management, potential labour unrest, reclamation and
closure requirements for mineral properties; unpredictable risks and hazards related to the development
and operation of a mine or mineral property that are beyond the Company's control, the availability of
capital to fund all of the Company's projects and other risks and uncertainties identified under the
heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's continuous disclosure documents filed on the ASX and on
SEDAR.
You are cautioned that the foregoing list is not exhaustive of all factors and assumptions which
may have been used. Austral cannot assure you that actual events, performance or results will be
consistent with these forward-looking statements, and management's assumptions may prove to be
incorrect. Austral's forward-looking statements reflect current expectations regarding future events and
operating performance and speak only as of the date hereof and Austral does not assume any obligation
to update forward-looking statements if circumstances or management's beliefs, expectations or
opinions should change other than as required by applicable law. For the reasons set forth above, you
should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.
To view the source version of this press release, please visit
https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/132272