Chairman's Address to Annual General Meeting
December 02 2010 - 2:00AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMNGL
RNS Number : 1525X
Norseman Gold PLC
02 December 2010
Norseman Gold plc / Epic: NGL / Index: AIM & ASX / Sector: Mining & Exploration
2 December 2010
Norseman Gold Plc ('Norseman Gold' or 'the Company')
Chairman's Address to Annual General Meeting
Norseman Gold, the AIM-listed and ASX-listed Australian gold production and
exploration company, is pleased to release the following statement which will be
read by the Company's Chairman, Mr Vince Pendal, at the Annual General Meeting
on 2nd December 2010.
"Chairman's Address
Ladies and Gentlemen,
On behalf of the Board of Directors and management, I am pleased to welcome you
to the fourth Annual General Meeting of Norseman Gold.
The 2010 financial year has been one of building and developing. Four years ago
when we set out on our goal of building Norseman into an Australian mid-tier
gold producer we were fully aware of the size of the task that we had set
ourselves. We imposed on ourselves a short time frame and a tight budget as we
started a planned programme of refurbishment and repair of the existing
facilities, and then began a drilling and development programme on the existing
mines at Bullen and Harlequin Declines.
We were driven in our pursuit of the third mine at OK Decline, through its
exploration and development phases, up until its production phase that commenced
in October and continues to ramp up today. We have vigorously pursued the
drilling and development of our fourth mine, North Royal Open Pit, the final
piece of the jigsaw in our medium term strategy to the fill the treatment plant.
The path to achieving these objectives has not been easy; it has at times been
extremely difficult but when the Company is in a development stage success comes
from hard work and from difficulties being overcome. Our production and
financial result this year is reflective of those difficulties but it remained
nevertheless a very pleasing year when considered from a medium to long term
point of view.
The net profit after tax was down to A$3.1 million from the previous year's
A$20.4 million. This result was a direct reflection of the decrease in our
production profile from 80,753 recovered ounces of gold in 2009 to 60,464
recovered ounces of gold in the current year 2010, as we implemented our
development strategy. There was a corresponding increase in our cash costs from
$715 per ounce in 2009 to $933 per ounce in this year 2010.
After the end of the financial year, the company was struck by the tragic loss
of one of our employees at the OK Decline in August. From the Board of
Directors down to our newest employee, we are all committed to provide a safe
working environment for everyone and a serious accident such as this has had and
continues to have a major impact on many of us. The Company is determined to
manage its operations to avoid any such incidents in the future.
Notwithstanding the safety, production and financial performance, the Company
has achieved a number of milestones this year that in themselves were rewarding
and need to be recognised and acknowledged.
Bullen Decline is currently developing towards O'Brien's reef and has already
accessed the initial part of the top of the St Patrick's reef.
Harlequin Decline focussed on the development of the newly discovered Perch Reef
with mechanised stoping production to commence shortly.
OK Decline has continued to drive towards its production objectives, and the
extensive refurbishment and development work undertaken during the financial
year enabled first stoping to commence in October 2010. The ramping up of this
process will continue into the new year. The current drilling in the Star of
Erin reef continues to produce very good results; it leaves us in no doubt that
OK will steadily expand its reserve base.
Finally, North Royal Open Pit mobilisation has commenced, with the first grade
control drill rig currently on site, drilling the initial pattern on the north
end of the current pit. We look forward to the first mining commencing in
December 2010 and when the mill will receive its first ore in February 2011.
The outcomes of all this progress will be realised towards the middle of the
2011 year when the expected production profile "fills the mill", at which time
we will have achieved our medium term objective.
Now, looking forward into the future, we will move to secure our fifth mine as
we push to build up reserves and mine life by continuing to open new mines and
extend the life of the mines that we have. The exploration effort will continue
to prioritise those resources that can turn quickly into production, at the same
time as we test new targets with in our portfolio. The continued success of
exploration in expanding the resource base will ultimately lead to opportunities
to increase the capacity of our treatment plant.
Ultimately, we will achieve our objectives of being a mid-tier gold producer and
will go on to build a significant long-term business. However, as with all
mines in our industry, there will be highs and lows, operational speed bumps and
production fluctuations. We must therefore all remain focussed on the long-term
objectives and overall goals, rather than the short-term production profile, as
we approach the objective of achieving our medium term strategy. We will fill
the mill!
In summary, having travelled the hard road, the hard work is about to have a
significant impact and will achieve the medium term outcomes that we have
sought, and our thanks go to you as our patient shareholders for travelling the
road with us. Thanks to the Board, management and workforce for the sterling
effort this year in the face of the real challenges of operating and developing
mines at a very fast pace. Now watch this space as the revitalisation of
Norseman gathers momentum!
Thank you."
**ENDS**
For further information visit www.norsemangoldplc.com or contact:
+--------------+------------------------+------------------------+
| Barry Cahill | Norseman Gold Plc | Tel: +61 (0) 8 9473 |
| | | 2222 |
| | | E-mail: |
| | | investors@ngold.com.au |
+--------------+------------------------+------------------------+
| Guy Wilkes | Ocean Equities Ltd | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7786 |
| | | 4370 |
+--------------+------------------------+------------------------+
| Nandita | Seymour Pierce Ltd | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7107 |
| Sahgal | | 8000 |
+--------------+------------------------+------------------------+
| Hugo de | St Brides Media & | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7236 |
| Salis / | Finance Ltd | 1177 |
| Isabel | | |
| Crossley | | |
+--------------+------------------------+------------------------+
Note to editors:
Norseman Gold plc is an AIM listed and ASX listed Australian gold production
company, which acquired the Norseman Gold Project in May 2007, Australia's
longest continually running gold operation. The Norseman Gold Project is
located in the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia in the highly prospective
Norseman-Wiluna greenstone belt, 725km east of Perth and 186km from Kalgoorlie.
Gold was first found on the Norseman field in 1894 and over the last 65 years it
has produced over 5.5 million oz of gold. The mine is currently producing from
two high-grade narrow-vein underground mines - the Bullen and the Harlequin.
Currently, it has a total resource inventory of 3.8 million oz of gold at an
average grade of 5.3 g/t.
The tenements cover a 2,180 sq km area centred on the Norseman Township. The
landholding comprises 221 tenements consisting of 16 Exploration Licences, 107
Mining Licences, 64 Prospecting Licences, 15 Miscellaneous Licences, 5
Exploration Licence Applications, 13 Prospecting Licence Applications and 1
Mining Lease Application.
The Company's strategy is focused on extending the mine life through the
conversion of resources into reserves and identifying additional resources and
obtaining additional ore for the operating mill through the development of a
third and subsequent mines. The Company has fifteen advanced resource projects
under review of which three have pre-development work being undertaken on them.
It is anticipated that at least one if not all the pre-development projects will
develop into mining propositions.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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