Gran Colombia posts record quarterly gold production
CORPORATE PROFILE
Gran Colombia Gold Corp. [GCM-TSX; TPRFF-OTCQX] recently released its unaudited consolidated statements for the three months ended March 31, 2019. The company operates the flagship Segovia underground gold and silver mine 180 km northeast of Medellin, the largest gold mine in Colombia, as well as the Marmato gold mine, located 80 km south of Medellin. Gran Colombia has a 100% interest in each of the Segovia and Marmato operations.
Mining is a significant sector in the Colombian economy and one of the country’s largest export sectors. Hence, the Colombian government is very supportive of foreign investment and it has the best investor protection in Latin America, sixth worldwide, according to the World Bank (2013).
Serafino Iacono, Executive Chairman, said, “New quarterly highs were achieved in revenue and adjusted EBITDA while Segovia’s quarterly cash costs reached a historical low of $570 per ounce sold. Our cash position at the end of March 2019 was up $4.6 million since the end of 2018 to $40.2 million and we continued to pay down our Gold Notes which currently have $78.5 million aggregate principal amount outstanding.
Our 2019 drilling campaign at Segovia is moving along well and will be given the intended boost in the second half of this year with net proceeds of the private placement of convertible debentures completed in April.
Our technical studies at the Marmato Project are gaining momentum and we remain on track to complete a Preliminary Economic Assessment later this year. With another 20,472 ounces of gold produced in April, our second quarter is picking up where we left off in March.”
HIGHLIGHTS
- Q1 2019 production up 15% over Q1 2018
- Segovia Q1 2019 production up 17% over Q1 2018
- Q1 2019 revenue up 20% over Q1 2018
- Total cash costs at historical low
- Net cash from operations in Q1 2019 up 56% over Q1 2018
- Recent bought deal private placement of
- CA$20 million of Convertible Debentures
- Updated NI 43-101 resource estimate for Segovia
- Drilling extended Marmato gold mineralization
- Increased Sandspring Resources investment to 18%
MINERAL RESOURCES/RESERVES
An updated NI 43-101 Technical Report has been filed for Segovia, including an updated Mineral Resource with 3.5 million tonnes grading 11.8 g/t totalling 1.3 million ounces of gold in Measured and Indicated Resources, up 7% from the previous year. Inferred Resources increased to 3.6 million tonnes grading 10.1 g/t totalling 1.2 million ounces of gold, up 4% compared to the previous year.
The Technical Report also includes an updated Mineral Reserve for Segovia with a total of 1.9 million tonnes averaging 11.0 g/t, representing 688,000 proven and probable ounces of gold as of December 31, 2018, up 4% compared to the previous year and replacing what the company mined in 2018.
OUTLOOK 2019
For the first four months of 2019, the company produced 81,073 ounces of gold and its trailing 12-months’ total gold production at the end of April 2019 stands at 230,283 ounces, above the top end of its guidance range for 2019 of 210,000 to 225,000 ounces of gold for the full year.
A 20,000-meter drilling campaign is underway at the Segovia Operations focused on step-out drilling at Providencia and Sandra K as well as deep zone drilling to extend El Silencio another 200 meters below its currently delineated mineral resource, and brownfield drilling on the Cogote vein system. Additional drilling is being planned to add to the 2019 campaign in the second half of the year using the proceeds from the recent private placement.
The Marmato drilling program started in 2018 is now complete, extendeding the Deeps Zone to over 700 meters along strike (average width ~165 meters), open to depth and to the east. The 8,000-meter 2019 drill program began in March to extend mineralization and upgrade resources for the PEA.
Gran Colombia Gold is well positioned to increase gold production, expand gold reserves and increase cash flow and earnings. The company has 48.3 million shares outstanding.