Monument Reports Fourth Quarter and Fiscal 2021 Results Gross Revenue of $23.24 Million and Cash Cost of US$1,178/Oz
September 24, 2021 News Release Release #22 - 2021
Monument Reports Fourth Quarter and Fiscal 2021 Results
Gross Revenue of $23.24 Million and Cash Cost of US$1,178/Oz
Vancouver, B.C., September 24, 2021, Monument Mining Limited (TSX -V: MMY and FSE: D7Q1) “Monument” or the
“Company” today announced its annual financial results for the year ended June 30, 2021. All amounts are in United States
dollars unless otherwise indicated (refer to www.sedar.com for full financial results).
President and CEO Cathy Zhai commented: “During this fiscal year, Monument has focused on consolidating the asset
portfolio by spinning off the Mengapur base metal project and placing the Tuckanarra Gold Project into a joint venture. The
restructured gold focused portfolio provides potential catalysts for re-rating the share price going forward into fiscal 2022 and
beyond for our shareholders.
“For the same reason, as of June 30, 2021, we established a solid financial position with $38. 62 million in cash and cash
equivalents on hand. The strengthened cash reserves allow us to support and implement the corporate value creation strategies,
especially to fund the Selinsing gold treatment p lant expansion and exploration of Murchison. Monument is open to all
corporate development opportunities to optimize our future growth and shareholders value moving forward”.
Ms. Zhai further commented: “With the continued challenges from the global Covid -19 pandemic that caused more than six
weeks mine shut down during the year , Selinsing Gold Mine produced positive cash flow in 2021 from mining super -low
grade ore, leachable sulphide ore and Peranggih materials, which has brought our aggregated Selinsing Gold Mine production
to 325,509 ounces at an average cost of $535 per ounce with gross revenue of $452.1 million, gross margin of $279.3 million
and net cash from production of $ 275 million. Looking forward, our management team will continue to work hard with the
“Can Do” attitude and the philosophy of “being a doer” in delivering our commitment to our shareholders.”
Fiscal 2021 Highlights:
Restructured assets to a gold focused portfolio by spinning out Mengapur copper and iron project;
Two staged Selinsing gold plant conversion with the flotation plant construction commenced and fully funded;
Murchison Project exploration strategized to test potential gold discovery and upside;
Tuckanarra Joint ventured with Odyssey fast tracking exploration and development;
Selinsing Gold Mine continued with leachable sulphide ore production transitioning to new life of mine
Fourth Quarter and Fiscal 2021 Production and Financial Highlights
Three months ended June 30, Year ended June 30,
2021 2020 2021 2020
Production
Ore mined (tonnes) 72,074 42,331 427,528 263,074
Waste removed (tonnes) 687,255 463,228 3,639,490 2,887,441
Ore processed (tonnes) 94,940 68,961 579,569 675,708
Average mill feed grade (g/t) 0.72 1.06 0.84 1.11
Processing recovery rate (%) 64% 67% 61% 71%
Gold production (1) (oz) 1,838 2,311 10,282 17,360
Gold sold (oz) 3,473 3,282 12,850 19,401
Financial (in thousands of US dollars) $ $ $ $
Revenue 6,085 5,404 23,236 29,971
Gross margin from mining operations 1,270 2,652 8,103 12,944
Net income before other items (1,009) 704 1,696 4,509
Net loss (2,702) (1,273) (99,318) (275)
Cash flows generated from operations 2,208 657 1,654 6,273
Working capital 48,539 18,786 48,539 18,786
Loss per share before other items – basic (US$/share) (0.00) 0.00 0.01 0.01
Loss per share – basic (US$/share) (0.01) (0.00) (0.31) (0.00)
Three months ended June 30, Year ended June 30,
2021 2020 2021 2020
Other US$/oz US$/oz US$/oz US$/oz
Average realized gold price per ounce sold (2) 1,812 1,684 1,864 1,563
Cash cost per ounce (3)
Mining 496 233 397 223
Processing 711 454 602 507
Royalties 167 143 169 136
Operations, net of silver recovery 12 8 10 12
Total cash cost per ounce 1,386 838 1,178 878
All-in sustaining costs per ounce (4)
By-product silver recovery 1 1 1 1
Operation expenses 119 179 46 40
Corporate expenses 3 6 6 6
Accretion of asset retirement obligation 9 12 10 9
Exploration and evaluation expenditures 25 45 22 32
Sustaining capital expenditures 104 174 162 171
Total all-in sustaining cost per ounce 1,647 1,255 1,425 1,136
(1) Defined as good delivery gold bullion according to London Bullion Market Association (“LBMA”), net of gold doŕe in transit and refinery adjustment.
(2) Exclude gold prepaid delivery for comparison purposes.
(3) Total cash cost includes production costs such as mining, processing, tailing facility maintenance and camp administration, royalties, and operating costs such as storage, temporary mine production
closure, community development cost and property fees, net of by -product credits. Cash cost excludes amortization, depletion, accretion expenses, capital costs, exploration costs and corpora te
administration costs.
(4) All-in sustaining cost per ounce includes total cash costs, operation expenses, and adds sustaining capital expenditures, corporate administrative expenses for the Selinsing Gold Mine including share-
based compensation, exploration and evaluation costs, and accretion of asset retirement obligations. Certain other cash expenditures, including tax payments and acquisition costs, are not included.
2021 Gold Production
Production Analysis
Gold production of 10,282oz, a 41% decrease as compared to 17,360oz of the previous year. Gold production for the
year ended June 30, 2021 was mainly from transitional leachable sulphide ore from Selinsing Pit 4 & Pit 5, oxide
ore from Peranggih and old tailings materials. This resulted in lower mill feed grades and lower recovery rates.
2021 m ining activities delivered 427,528 tonnes of ore from Selinsing (259,459 tonnes), B uffalo Reef (27,642
tonnes), Felda (13,022 tonnes) and Peranggih (127,405 tonnes). Mining costs for Peranggih were recorded against
inventories for 127,405 tonnes during the year, of which 118,688 tonnes were fed into the mill.
Ore processed decreased to 579,569 tonnes from 675,708 tonnes last year. The decreased was due to the lack of
availability of stockpiled ore. Ore stockpile has significantly reduced mainly due to the adverse impact of the shortage
of explosive supplies in the first quarter resulting in a lower mining r ate. COVID-19 pandemic has not helped in
achieving the target. The Company has devoted its effort to improve the stockpile balance.
Total production costs $15.13 million as compared to $17.03 million of last year. Cash cost per ounce increased by
34% to $1,178/oz as compared to $878/oz of last year. The increase was attributable to a 24% decrease in the mill
feed grade from 1.11g/t to 0.84g/t and a decrease in recovery to 60.8% (2020: 70.9%) as a result of processing
significantly more leachable sulphide ore and other low recovery ores.
Financial Analysis
Gold sales generated revenue of $23.24 million for the year as compared to $29.97 million from last year. Gold sales
revenue was derived from the sale of 10,700oz (2020: 16,750oz) of gold at an average realized gold price of $1,864
per ounce (2020: $1,563 per ounce) and the delivery of 2,150oz (2020: 2,651oz) in fulfilling gold prepaid obligations
at an average London Fix PM gold price of $1,525 per ounce (2020: $1,429 per ounce).
Mining operations befor e non -cash amortization and depreciation generated a gross margin of $8.10 million, a
decrease of 37% from $12.94 million from the previous year . The decrease in gross margin was attributable to the
decrease in gold sold offsite by a higher average realized gold price.
Cash and cash equivalents balance as at June 30, 2021 was $38.62 million, an increase of $28.50 million from the
balance at June 30, 2020 of $10.13 million. As at June 30, 2021, the Company had positive working capital $48.54
million (June 30, 2020: $18.79 million). The increase in working capital was mainly due to the increase in cash and
cash equivalents.
Cashflow from investing activities for the year was $ 26.87 million (2020: outflow of $5.47 million), which was
mainly from the sale of the Mengapur pro ject of $29.16 million and the sale of 80% interest in Tuckanarra project
of $2.66 million.
Development
Selinsing Gold Mine
This year the Company commenced to develop the Selinsing Sulphide Project into production through a two stages de-risking
process in order to reduce the initial upfront investment required. Stage 1 is the construction of a flotation plant aimed to
produce saleable gold concentrates and stage 2 is the construction of a BIOX ® leaching plant to treat third party concentrates
should a niche market be successfully established.
Selinsing Flotation construction will take approximately 15 months to be completed for an estimated $20 million, including
flotation plant optimization and engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning, and securing off -take
agreements. Flotation test work was completed at the Selinsing on-site lab to determine the optimum concentrate gold grade
and recovery for maximizing revenue. The positive results were in dependently tested at Bureau Veritas Laboratory under
Orway Mineral Consultant’s (“OMC”) supervision.
OMC completed the process plant design in June 2021, and submitted the flotation process engineering design including the
process design criteria, major equipment summary, flowsheet, mass balance and consumables estimates, as a modification to
the flotation conceptual engineering design that reported in the Snowden feasibility study in February 2019. The new set of
design criteria would allow Selinsing to produce gold concentrates as a final product for sale.
Further development work was carried out including: an underground mining desktop study, Tailings Storage Facility
development, and mining cutback and test work for oxide mining assessment at Peranggih in order to sustain Selinsing gold
production.
Murchison Gold Project
At Murchison development work took place to re-assess early production opportunity . The mine plan was completed by
management and the independent review conducted by SRK , which covered geotechnics, hydrology and environmental
compliance in addition to resource modelling, mining optimization and scheduling, and metallurgical recoveries. The follow
up work has been recommended and considered by the Company. As a part of the value creation strategies, the Company has
taken direction to focus on regional exploration to test potential for larger gold production at Murchison pending on new gold
discoveries. The geological study has been conducted to further identify and optimize regional exploration targets. Geological
data has been further investigated and integrated to the database. As a result, the phase one exploration program was
commenced subsequent to the end of the year in July 2021.
Major Transactions
Tuckanarra Joint Venture (“JV”)
In October 2020 Monument entered into a JV arrangement with Odyssey Gold Ltd. (“Odyssey”) to advance the Tuckanarra
Gold Project, and in December 2020 sold an 80% interest in Tuckanarra to Odyssey for AUD$5 million subject to certain
conditions, leaving Monument with a 20% free carried interest and a 1% NSR royalty over Odyssey’s 80% interest in the
property. Odyssey will be solely responsible for funding the exploration and evaluation activities at Tuckanarra until a
decision to mine is reached. The future processing of ore from tenements held by Odyssey through the Burnakura plant
remains an option should commercial terms be reached.
Mengapur Copper-Iron Project Divestment
Monument closed a transaction with Fortress Minerals in April 2021 to sell 100% interest in the Mengapur Copper and Iron
Project. The sale is part of the Company’s corporate restructuring to focus on the development of the gold portfolios in both
Malaysia and Weste rn Australia. Monument sold Mengapur Copper and Iron Project for US$30,000,000 in cash, and will
also receive a 1.25% gross revenue royalty on all products produced at the Mengapur Project .
Exploration
Malaysia
A Reverse Circulation (RC) drilling program was completed at Selinsing which consisted of 1,128m o ver 19 holes at Pits 4,
5, and 6. A total of 1,335 including 225 QAQC samples were assayed. The drill program aimed to identify and define
mineralization areas with average grades that can be immediately mined economically in the current CIL plant. The mai n
drilling target was the shallow dipping structure extension close to the east flank of the pits. The drilling program resulte d
with several significant intercepts.
An RC drill program was undertaken at Peranggih to upgrade the grade and ounces of mineralized material based on previous
close spaced drilling results . The first phase was completed in April 2021 with 1,697m drilled over 34 holes. The second
phase drilling includes completing 420m over 9 holes and additional drilling progressed at year end. Drill assays received
from the Selinsing Mine lab showed moderate to high grade interceptions. RC drilling costs were recorded under Exploration
and Evaluation assets.
Western Australia
In fiscal 2021, Monument announced the results of the drilling progra m carried out from February to May 2020, which
confirmed the continuity of gold mineralization within identified structures and favorable lithology from existing mineral
resources. The Company decided to begin regional exploration potential assessment and commenced work on a 2 -year
exploration strategy designed to test beneath cover for potential mineralization that is aimed to lead to the discovery of shallow
stand alone or satellite gold deposits, aiming to add significant additional resources to the current resource base. The strategy
will involve testing down dip of high -grade mineralization underneath existing pits as well as test some of the high priority
regional targets through Greenfield exploration of the land package at Burnakura and Gabanintha. Field work permitting
activities have continued with ground preparation activities during the fourth quarter, and the first stage of drilling started,
subsequent to the end of the year.
About Monument
Monument Mining Limited (TSX-V: MMY, FSE:D7Q1) is an established Canadian gold producer that owns and operates the
Selinsing Gold Mine in Malaysia. Its experienced management team is committed to growth and is also advancing the
Murchison Gold Projects com prising Burnakura, Gabanintha and Tuckanarra JV (20% interest) in the Murchison area of
Western Australia. The Company employs approximately 200 people in both regions and is committed to the highest standards
of environmental management, social responsibility, and health and safety for its employees and neighboring communities.
Cathy Zhai, President and CEO
Monument Mining Limited
Suite 1580 -1100 Melville Street
Vancouver, BC V6E 4A6
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION visit the company web site at www.monumentmi ning.com or contact:
Richard Cushing, MMY Vancouver T: +1-604-638-1661 x102 [email protected]
"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."
Forward-Looking Statement
This news release inc ludes statements containing forward -looking information about Monument, its business and future plans (“forward -looking
statements”). Forward-looking statements are statements that involve expectations, plans, objectives or future events that are not historical facts and include
the Company’s plans with respect to its mineral projects and the timing and results of proposed programs and events referred to in this news release.
Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward -looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is
expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and
phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". The forward-looking
statements in this news release are subject to various risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results or achievements to differ materially
from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. These risks and certain other factors include, without limitation: risks related to general
business, economic, competitive, geopolitical and social uncertainties; uncertainties regarding the results of current exploration activities; uncertainties in
the progress and timing of development activities; foreign operations risks , including risks related to changes in mining license rights, tax rates and
government royalty requirements; other risks inherent in the mining industry and other risks described in the management discussion and analysis of the
Company and the technical reports on the Company’s projects, all of which are available under the profile of the Company on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
Material factors and assumptions used to develop forward-looking statements in this news release include: expectations regarding the estimated cash cost
per ounce of gold production and the estimated cash flows whi ch may be generated from the operations, general economic factors and other factors that
may be beyond the control of Monument; assumptions and expectations regarding the results of exploration on the Company’s pro jects; assumptions
regarding the future price of gold of other minerals; the timing and amount of estimated future production; the expected timing and results of development
and exploration activities; costs of future activities; capital and operating expenditures; success of exploration activitie s; mining or processing issues;
exchange rates; expected mining rights, tax rates, and government royalty requirements in the jurisdictions in which the Company operates ; and all of the
factors and assumptions described in the management discussion and analysis of the Company and the technical reports on the Company’s projects, all of
which are available under the profile of the Company on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that
could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as
anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ
materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward -looking statements. The Company
does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.