Eagle Production Continues To Grow
Victoria Gold Corp. (TSX:VGCX) has reported solid increases in production at the Eagle Gold Mine in the Yukon as it ramped up activities during the second quarter and first-half 2021.
“Operations at Eagle through the first half of this year have performed well and there have been material increases in ore and waste mined, ore stacked and gold produced over the comparable period in the previous year,” President and CEO, John McConnell, said.
“On the financial side, we do not have comparable metrics from 2020 as we achieved Commercial Production on July 1, 2020. We expect the substantial production growth to translate into considerable year over year increases in gold sales, revenue and operating cash flows during the second half of 2021.”
Operational Highlights – Second Quarter 2021
- Mine production was 2.3 million tonnes of ore.
- Ore stacked on the heap leach pad was 2.4 million tonnes at an average grade of 0.81 grams per tonne (g/t).
- Gold production was 32,140 ounces.
Financial Highlights – Second Quarter 2021
- Gold sold was 28,731 ounces, at an average realized price of C$2,208 (US$1,798) per oz.
- Recognized revenue of C$63.5 million based on sales of 28,731 ounces of gold.
- Operating earnings were C$20.8 million.
- Net Income of C$1.3 million, or $0.02 per share on a basic and diluted basis.
- Cash costs of C$952 (US$775) per oz and all-in sustaining costs (AISC) of C$1,824 (US$1,485) per oz of gold sold.
- EBITDA of C$28.4 million.
- Free cash flow deficiency of C$15.5 million,
- Cash and cash equivalents of C$14.8 million at June 30, 2021 after repaying C$7.6 million of principal payments against the company’s debt facilities.
Gold production and sales
During the three months ended June 30, 2021, the Eagle Gold Mine produced 32,140 ounces of gold, compared to 28,352 ounces of gold production in Q2 2020. The Company was primarily focused on operational ramp up throughout 2020 and declared commercial production on July 1, 2020.
During the three months ended June 30, 2021, the company sold 28,731 ounces of gold, compared with 20,320 gold ounces sold in the same quarter in the prior year.
Mining
During the three months ended June 30, 2021, a total of 2.3 million tonnes of ore were mined, at a strip ratio of 1.5:1 with a total of 5.6 million tonnes of material mined. In comparison, a total of 2.3 million tonnes of ore were mined, at a strip ratio of 1.5:1 with a total of 5.5 million tonnes of material mined for the prior comparable period in 2020.
Processing
During the three months ended June 30, 2021, a total of 2.4 million tonnes of ore was stacked on the heap leach pad at a throughput rate of 26,338 k tonnes per day. A total of 2.2 million tonnes of ore was stacked on the heap leach pad at a throughput rate of 23,711 k tonnes per day for the prior comparable period in 2020.
- Average head grade for the quarter was 0.81 g/t Au, compared to 0.88 g/t Au in the prior comparable period in 2020. Grade is somewhat lower than expected and is primarily due to short range planning adjustments on the sequencing of ore release from the open pit.
- As at June 30, 2021, the company estimates there are 85,009 recoverable ounces within mineral inventory.
As of the date of this press release, a number of improvements related to material handling within the process circuit have been completed. These corrective measures have led to improving reliability and plant uptime and, in turn, have improved ore stacking and gold production. The full extent of these improvements are expected to materialize in H2 2021.
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