Business
Trading and Operational Update
Trading and Operational Update.
About this update from Goldplat Plc
[{"type":"text","content":"\n Trading and Operational UpdateGoldplat plc / Ticker: GDP / Index: AIM / Sector: Mining & Exploration30 July 2018Goldplat plc ('Goldplat' or 'the Company')Trading and Operational UpdateGoldplat plc, the AIM listed gold producer, with international gold recovery operations located in South Africa and Ghana and a gold mine in Kenya, is pleased to announce a trading update for the year ended 30 June 2018 ('FY 2018'), a production update for FY 2018 and an operational update for the three months ended 30 June 2018 (the 'Quarter').Trading updateGoldplat is pleased to announce that consolidated profit before tax for the Company is expected to be in line with market expectations for FY 2018, notwithstanding the fact that Kilimapesa Gold Limited ('KPG') had a poor final quarter financially which is expected to result in a similar loss to that of FY 2017 at the mine. The Company expects to publish its annual financial results in September 2018.As disclosed in the announcement made on 21 May 2018, Kilimapesa Plant 1 was shut down during Q4 of the financial year. Current operational and financial indicators show that Kilimapesa is now operating at close to breakeven at an operational level. However, substantial losses were incurred during April and May 2018 due to operational and processing issues. The Board of Goldplat has approved a process to seek an investment partner for KPG so as to enable existing shareholders to realise value from the operation without having to invest any more capital. Although discussions in this regard have begun with a number of interested parties, the focus remains on getting Kilimapesa to produce profitably in the short term. Production for the year ended 30 June 201835,431 gold equivalent ounces, representing a 17% decrease over the previous year, were produced during FY 2018 (FY 2017: 42,857 ounces), albeit at higher margins. Production at both Goldplat Recovery (Pty) Ltd ('GPL') and Gold Recovery Ghana ('GRG') were lower whereas production at Kilimapesa increased by roughly 50% when compared to FY 201739,400 gold equivalent ounces were sold and transferred during FY 2018 (FY 2017: 40,285 ounces). The level of gold sold and transferred during FY 2017 was higher than production for the period primarily to due to sales of stock carried over from the previous year. Production for the QuarterO...