Silver Bear Resources Plc (“Silver Bear” or the “Company”) (TSX:
SBR) announces today, that further to its press release dated 4 May
2020 regarding its anticipated late filing of its Q1 2020 financial
results, the Company is filing its unaudited financial results for
the three-month period ended 31 March 2020 today, including
development highlights from its Mangazeisky silver project in Far
East Russia.
For complete details of the unaudited Interim
Consolidated Financial Statements and associated Management’s
Discussion and Analysis please refer to the Company’s filings on
SEDAR (www.sedar.com) or the Company’s website
(www.silverbearresources.com).
Q1 2020 AND SUBSEQUENT TO THE QUARTER
HIGHLIGHTS
During the three-month period ended 31 March
2020 the Group production statistics included:
- Mined a total of 36,650 tonnes of ore, processed 25,344 tonnes
of ore at an average grade of 707 g/t of silver, producing a total
of 457,458 ounces of silver;
- Sold a total of 472,439 ounces of silver totalling production
revenue of US$7,974,832 and reported a total comprehensive loss of
$36,882,727 and an accumulated deficit of $221,264,880.
Subsequent to Q1 2020, the Group announced the
following:
- On 27 May 2020, the Group announced a further amendment to its
Facilities Agreement with Inflection Management Corporation Limited
(“Inflection”), a major shareholder of the Group, and Unifirm
Limited (“Unifirm”), an affiliate of A.B. Aterra Resources Ltd.
(“Aterra”), also a major shareholder of the Group, whereby the
major shareholders agreed to a further reduction in interest
payable on all funds drawn under the facilities agreement from 9%
to 7% per annum (see full details below);
- In late May 2020, the CEO stated that despite the initial delay
in the final commissioning of the new X-Ray transmission (“XRT”)
processing equipment due to government-mandated COVID-19
restrictions, the consultants, following a prescribed quarantine
period, have completed the commissioning. The XRT equipment is now
fully operational;
- On 22 June 2020, the Group announced following the receipt of
the draft Wardell Armstrong report (the “Draft WA Report”) based on
the material change in the mineral resource estimates of both
Vertikalny and Mangazeisky North deposits and scope of the project
the August 2017 NI 43-101 technical report containing a resource
update and accompanying Vertikalny feasibility study and
Mangazeisky pre-feasibility study should no longer be relied upon
and are withdrawn by the Group. In the statement, the Group stated
that finalization of the Draft WA Report is dependent on Wardell
Armstrong conducting a site visit to the its mining operations,
owing to government mandated COVID-19 restrictions the site visit
has been delayed for an indefinite period of time, (see 22 June
2020 release for full detail); and
- As of the date of this report, the Group confirms that there
have been no major disruptions at either sites or to the Group’s
planned production and operations due to the COVID-19
pandemic.
MANGAZEISKY SILVER PROJECT PRODUCTION
HIGHLIGHTS
The Group achieved first pre-commercial silver
production in 1 April 2018 through its commissioning activities at
the Mangazeisky Silver Project as construction of the processing
plant and associated infrastructure was completed. The Group
achieved commercial production at the beginning of the third
quarter of year 2019. During the Q1 2020, the Group continued to
increase its productivity in mining and processing on a month over
month basis. The table below details the production highlights for
Q1 2020, Q1 2019, and the year ended 31 December 2019.
|
Three-months ended31 March 2020 |
Three-months ended31 March 2019 |
The year ended31 December 2019 |
Operating
Data |
|
|
|
Ore Mined (tonnes) |
35,650 |
39,376 |
118,240 |
|
Ore processed (tonnes) |
25,344 |
19,629 |
100,338 |
|
Head grade (g/t Ag) |
707 |
683 |
668 |
|
Recovery (%) |
80.1 |
63.2 |
73.5 |
% |
Silver ounces produced |
457,458 |
264,735 |
1,569,097 |
|
|
|
|
|
Financial
Data |
|
|
|
Silver ounces sold |
472,439 |
294,569 |
1,550,101 |
|
Average realized price
(US$/oz) |
16.88 |
15.53 |
16.38 |
|
Production and pre-production
revenues |
7,974,832 |
4,574,793 |
25,392,537 |
|
Development & Operational
Activities
During the three-month period ended 31 March
2020, the Group mined 35,650 tonnes of ore (Q1 2019: 39,367 tonnes)
from its Vertikalny open pit and milled 25,344 tonnes of ore (Q1
2019: 19,629 tonnes), producing 457,458 ounces of silver (Q1 2019:
264,735 ounces) contained in dry precipitate (before smelting
losses and refinery adjustment). During the three-month
period ended 31 March 2020, the Group sold approximately 472,439
ounces of silver at a realized price of US$16.88 Ag/oz for
production revenue of US$7,974,832 (Q1 2019: 294,589 ounces at
US$15.53 Ag/oz for production revenues of US$4,574,793).
During the first quarter, the Group’s 2020
winter road procurement and transportation delivered approximately
14,000 tonnes of supplies, including new drill rig, excavator and
the new XRT processing equipment. The winter road was closed on
30th of April this year, and accomplished delivery of all the
Group’s demand for gas condensate and diesel fuel. Delivery
for the summer and fall months will be via cargo flights using the
Group’s newly completed airstrip.
During the first quarter, the mining and
processing was running somewhat below planned due to unscheduled
maintenance and downtime of drill rig and CAT loader. As of the
date of this report, following a prescribed quarantine period, the
XRT consultants are now on site and final commissioning is now
underway, with the flotation line construction in the development
stage.
As of the date of this report there are no
construction contractors and approximately 190 Prognoz employees at
site. There are also 25 contractors, namely catering and process
consultants. As of 31 March 2020, there was no lost time recorded
accident at site. In light of the World Health Organization (“WHO”)
declaring COVID-19 a global pandemic in March of this year, the
Group has developed and implemented a response and mitigation plan
for both its Yakutsk head office and Mangazeisky mine site. At the
date of this report the Group has had no major disruptions at
either sites or to our planned production and operations, however
we continue to monitor the situation ensuring we keep the safety of
our work force our main priority.
OUTLOOK FOR Q2 2020 AND REMAINDER OF
YEAR
In order to fund further development operations
and maintain rights under licenses and agreements, the Group has
secured funding in the form of long-term loans of which the
principal totals $142,756,682 and the Group may be dependent on
securing additional financing until such time that it generates
sufficient operating cash flow to meet its liabilities.
In consideration of the Group’s going concern
and following the initiation of silver production in the second
quarter of 2018 and now achieving full commercial production in the
third quarter of 2019 the Group’s priorities for second quarter
2020 and remainder of the year are as follows:
- Though COVID-19 may impact the Group’s silver production in
2020 causing some delay in commissioning the Group’s XRT processing
equipment, the forecast for - 2020 is approximately 2.5 million
ounces of silver;
- In Q2 2020, the Group plans to finish the development
documentation for flotation;
- Initiate 2020 exploration program that target extension of
existing deposits and new areas of significance with the intent to
grow the Group’s resources and establish future drilling
programs;
- Continue to monitor all operations to further optimize
operating costs and improve operational efficiencies; and
Continue to build up operational capabilities
and staffing and introduce new systems for production monitoring
and management accounting.
About Silver Bear
Silver Bear (TSX: SBR) is focused on the
development of its wholly-owned Mangazeisky Silver Project,
covering a licence area of approximately 570 km2 that includes
the high-grade Vertikalny deposit (amongst the highest- grade
silver deposits in the world), located 400 km north of Yakutsk in
the Republic of Sakha within the Russian Federation. As of April
2018, the Company attained first silver production as a result of
commissioning activities and on 1 July 2019 the Company achieved
full commercial production. Other information relating to
Silver Bear is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com as well as on
the Company’s website at www.silverbearresources.com.
Cautionary Notes
This release and subsequent oral statements made
by and on behalf of the Company may contain forward-looking
statements, which reflect management's expectations. Wherever
possible, words such as "intends", "expects", "scheduled",
"estimates", "anticipates", "believes" and similar expressions or
statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could",
"would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved, have
been used to identify these forward-looking statements. Although
the forward-looking statements contained in this release reflect
management's current beliefs based upon information currently
available to management and based upon what management believes to
be reasonable assumptions, the Company cannot be certain that
actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking
statements. A number of factors could cause events and achievements
to differ materially from the results expressed or implied in the
forward-looking statements. Such risk factors include, but are not
limited, to the risk factors identified by the Company in its
continuous disclosure filings filed from time to time on SEDAR.
These factors should be considered carefully and prospective
investors should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking
statements. Forward-looking statements necessarily involve
significant known and unknown risks, assumptions and uncertainties
that may cause the Company's actual results, events, prospects and
opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied
by such forward-looking statements. Although the Company has
attempted to identify important risks and factors that could cause
actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those
described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors
and risks that cause actions, events or results not to be as
anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that
forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual
results and future events could differ materially from those
anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, prospective investors
should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.
These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this
release, and the Company assumes no obligation to update or revise
them to reflect new events or circumstances, unless otherwise
required by law.
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Vadim IlchukPresident and Chief Executive OfficerT: +7 985 866
8877info@silverbearresources.com |
Judith WebsterInvestor Relations Manager & Corporate
SecretaryT: +416 453 8818jwebster@silverbearresources.com
|
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