TORONTO, July 18, 2016 /CNW/ - Galane Gold Ltd. ("Galane
Gold" or the "Company") (TSX-V: GG) is pleased to announce that the
board of directors of the Company has approved a US$2.0 million capital expenditure program
required for the first phase of the recommencement of production at
the Company's Galaxy Gold mine in South
Africa, up to a target of 60,000 ounces per
annum.(1) The Company anticipates that the first phase
will take six months to complete and it will be funded from
internal cash flows primarily from the Company's core operation in
Botswana.(1)
The first phase of the capital project will commence in
July 2016 and is designed to
refurbish existing infrastructure and upgrade the processing
facility to take production to 18,000 ounces per annum.
(1) The first phase covers the following
steps:-
- The refurbishment of the existing 15,000 tonnes per month
processing plant which will include the installation of a new
crusher, remedial work to the float section, a new gravity
separation section and re-establishment of the elution plant.
- The construction of a new 25,000 tonnes per month carbon in
leach tailings retreatment plant within the current footprint of
the existing processing plant.
- The recommencement of underground mining at Woodbine, Agnes and
Ivy on seventeen level using conventional shrink stope mining.
- The commencement of tailings recovery by sluicing at the
Woodbine and Hostel dumps.
The Company will be using positive cash flows from its other
operations and as a result expects current cash reserves to remain
as currently reported during this six month period. The Company is
currently forecasting that it will produce gold at Galaxy at the
end of the fourth quarter of 2016.(1)
Galane Gold CEO, Nick Brodie
commented: "The second major goal for Galane this year is to
recommence production at Galaxy. Having achieved our first goal to
commence mining in the main ore body at Tau management of the
Company can now concentrate on the implementation of the first
phase of this project at Galaxy. This first phase forms a core part
of our long-term strategy to target production of over 60,000
ounces per year at Galaxy.
It is an exciting time for Galane as we start to see the
fruition of all the hard work we have put in over the last five
years to reshape the Company into a long-life and low-cost
operation that can produce positive returns for investors across
commodity cycles."
Galaxy Description
The Galaxy Gold mine is located approximately 8 km west of the
town of Barberton and 45 km west of the provincial capital of
Nelspruit (Mbombela), in the Mpumalanga Province of South Africa and covers an area of 5,863 ha.
The Galaxy Gold mine comprises 21 east-west trending gold bodies
and four prospects at 600 – 2,000 meters depth.
The technical disclosure regarding the Galaxy Gold mine is
reported in the technical report entitled "A Technical Report on
the Galaxy Gold Mine, Mpumalanga Province, South Africa" which was issued January 4, 2016 with an effective date of
September 1, 2015 (the "Galaxy
Technical Report"), and was prepared by Minxcon (Pty) Ltd and
approved by Daniel van Heerden, B
Eng (Min.), MCom (Bus. Admin.), Pr. Eng., FSAIMM, AMMSA, a
Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 ("NI
43-101"). The Galaxy Technical Report satisfies the requirements to
be a pre-feasibility study and was reviewed by the Directors of
Minxcon (Pty) Ltd, specifically, Daniel van
Heerden; Uwe Engelmann, BSc
(Zoo. & Bot.), BSc Hons (Geol.), Pr.Sci.Nat., MGSSA;
Dario Clemente, NHD (Ext. Met.),
GCC, BLDP (WBS), MMMA, FSAIMM; and Johan
Odendaal, BSc (Geol.), BSc (Min. Econ.), MSc (Min. Eng.),
Pr.Sci.Nat., FSAIMM, MGSSA, all of whom are Qualified Persons as
defined by NI 43-101 and independent of Galane Gold for the purposes of NI 43-101. The
Galaxy Technical Report can be found under the Company's profile on
SEDAR (www.sedar.com) and on the Company's website
(www.galanegold.com).
The Galaxy Technical Report covers the following ore
bodies:-
- Woodbine, Giles, Galaxy, Golden
Hill, Agnes Top, Pioneer
& Tiger Trap and Princeton ore
bodies;
- Ivy and Ceska Shaft Pillars; and
- Woodbine (East, North and South), Alpine Pioneer, Hostel (East
and West) and Biox North historical dumps.
Currently, over 75 historical adits exist within the mining
area, as well as tailings storage facilities comprised of
previously mined and processed material. Galaxy's existing
processing plants are in need of refurbishment and consist of a
south plant where crushing, milling, flotation, elution and
smelting take place, and a north plant where biological oxidation
and leaching of flotation concentrate takes place. The south plant
is designed to have a total run of mine capacity of approximately
15,000 tonnes per month and can be expanded through refurbishment
and the introduction of larger mills and flotation equipment.
About Galane Gold
Galane Gold is an un-hedged gold
producer and explorer with mining operations and exploration
tenements in Botswana and
South Africa. Galane Gold is a public company and its shares
are quoted on the TSX Venture Exchange and the Botswana Stock
Exchange under the symbol "GG". Galane Gold's management team is comprised of
senior mining professionals with extensive experience in managing
mining and processing operations and large-scale exploration
programmes. Galane Gold is
committed to operating at world-class standards and is focused on
the safety of its employees, respecting the environment, and
contributing to the communities in which it operates.
Note:
(1)
|
This is forward-looking
information and is based on a number of assumptions. See
"Cautionary Notes".
|
Cautionary Notes
Certain statements contained in this press release constitute
"forward-looking statements". All statements other than statements
of historical fact contained in this press release, including,
without limitation, those regarding the Company's future financial
position and results of operations, strategy, proposed
acquisitions, plans, objectives, goals and targets, and any
statements preceded by, followed by or that include the words
"believe", "expect", "aim", "intend", "plan", "continue", "will",
"may", "would", "anticipate", "estimate", "forecast", "predict",
"project", "seek", "should" or similar expressions or the negative
thereof, are forward-looking statements. These statements are not
historical facts but instead represent only the Company's
expectations, estimates and projections regarding future events.
These statements are not guarantees of future performance and
involve assumptions, risks and uncertainties that are difficult to
predict. Therefore, actual results may differ materially from what
is expressed, implied or forecasted in such forward-looking
statements.
Additional factors that could cause actual results, performance
or achievements to differ materially include, but are not limited
to: the Company's dependence on two mineral projects; gold price
volatility; risks associated with the conduct of the Company's
mining activities in Botswana and
South Africa; regulatory, consent
or permitting delays; risks relating to the Company's exploration,
development and mining activities being situated in Botswana and South
Africa; risks relating to reliance on the Company's
management team and outside contractors; risks regarding mineral
resources and reserves; the Company's inability to obtain insurance
to cover all risks, on a commercially reasonable basis or at all;
currency fluctuations; risks regarding the failure to generate
sufficient cash flow from operations; risks relating to project
financing and equity issuances; risks arising from the Company's
fair value estimates with respect to the carrying amount of mineral
interests; mining tax regimes; risks arising from holding
derivative instruments; the Company's need to replace reserves
depleted by production; risks and unknowns inherent in all mining
projects, including the inaccuracy of reserves and resources,
metallurgical recoveries and capital and operating costs of such
projects; contests over title to properties, particularly title to
undeveloped properties; laws and regulations governing the
environment, health and safety; operating or technical difficulties
in connection with mining or development activities; lack of
infrastructure; employee relations, labour unrest or
unavailability; health risks in Africa; the Company's interactions with
surrounding communities and artisanal miners; the Company's ability
to successfully integrate acquired assets; risks related to
restarting production; the speculative nature of exploration and
development, including the risks of diminishing quantities or
grades of reserves; development of the Company's exploration
properties into commercially viable mines; stock market volatility;
conflicts of interest among certain directors and officers; lack of
liquidity for shareholders of the Company; risks related to the
market perception of junior gold companies; and litigation risk.
Management provides forward-looking statements because it believes
they provide useful information to investors when considering their
investment objectives and cautions investors not to place undue
reliance on forward-looking information. Consequently, all of the
forward-looking statements made in this press release are qualified
by these cautionary statements and other cautionary statements or
factors contained herein, and there can be no assurance that the
actual results or developments will be realized or, even if
substantially realized, that they will have the expected
consequences to, or effects on, the Company. These forward-looking
statements are made as of the date of this press release and the
Company assumes no obligation to update or revise them to reflect
subsequent information, events or circumstances or otherwise,
except as required by law.
Information of a technical and scientific nature that forms
the basis of the disclosure in the press release has been approved
by Charles Byron Pr. Sci. Nat., MAusIMM., MGSSA and Chief Geologist
for Galane Gold, and a "qualified
person" as defined by National Instrument 43-101.
Neither the 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.
SOURCE Galane Gold Ltd.