to tie us over
$500,000 (1,666,667 full warrants exercised @ $.30 each)
The transaction date was July 5th and the filed date was July 8th. The info can be verified via SEDI.
It`s probably cash that is going directly towards the extra/early development work, such as drifting over to the North Wall zone. We could see the fruits of this investment in the not too distant future.
Friday, July 9, 2010
The very short (15 sec) BNN ad
For those who have not seen it as yet. It has been playing on BNN for a while now.
http://www.ceoclips.com/bnnclips.aspx#BNNCenturyMining30_FLV_Ceo_Clips_MSN_HQ.flv
http://www.ceoclips.com/bnnclips.aspx#BNNCenturyMining30_FLV_Ceo_Clips_MSN_HQ.flv
Thursday, July 8, 2010
DD info, per Chillby`s request
Attached is a link to Century`s September 2007 Denver Gold Forum presentation. The info up to the 9 minute mark is very useful. Don`t waste your time listening to anything after the 9 minute mark. Everything after that point is all about Shahuindo. As you know, Shahuindo no longer has anything to do with Century. Sulliden and Century went in different directions a while ago.
Also, you will notice that the Lamaque underground mining plans all got delayed by a coupld of years. Naturally, the global financial crisis hit us hard due to us needing financing at the time (right in the middle of the worst financial crisis in 80 years). We are now fully back on track now.
There are a few good diagrams within the first 9 minutes, but the one at around the 6:39 mark is perhaps the most useful one to us at this particular second:
1) it shows how close the Bedard Dyke is to the North Wall ore body - remember, this is 2007 (Bedard Dyke has expanded and dipped since then)
2) it shows the location of Lamaque no. 2 (in blue to the southeast corner) - the Lamaque no. 2 resource has also expanded since then
3) it shows the Road Zone ore body (which is an extra zone that is not even built into the mining plan for the first 3 years)
4) it shows the location of the 1.7M ounce ore body of the Cross Over & Boundry Pillar areas (to be accessed perhaps starting in year 3)
5) all of these zones are located only within 1,000 feet of the surface
6) all of the green areas also represent gold ore, but perhaps sitting below 1,000 feet of the surface, yet still below the pit area (we may still be able to access some via the declines, without having to wait for the shafts - not 100% sure but we may be able to push the declines down to, say, 2,000 feet (might be even more beneficial if those particular areas do not need dewatering below 1,200 feet)
7) of note, the North Wall currently has official 43-101 P&P Reserves of around 250,000 ounceS and further Inferred of around 400,000 ounces - BIG BONUS IF WE CAN ACCESS SOME OF THAT NEAR-TERM VIA THE BEDARD DYKE DECLINE
Chillby, with regards to your question about going under the city of Val d`Or. The Bedard Dyke is the only area located near the city. With early BD mining, we likely wouldn`t need to go under the highway or the city. We will eventually need to go under the highway (but at deeper levels) at some point later down the road, but my guess is the crown pillar should be in place by then (crown pillars are comment with most mining companies in this area - I think the Lamaque property aleady has several, including one underneath the Sigma pit). I don`t think we will have to go too far under the city at all. Oh note, we own the mining rights under the city, to about 25% to 40% into the city. I don`t think there are any near-term plans to mine that underground mining area right now though (as we have plenty enough areas to mine already). However, it is common practice in the Val d`Or area to mine underneath structures. For example, I believe Wesdome`s very successful Kiena Mine is entirely under a lake in the area.
Anyway, click on the link then you can click on ``skip resgistration`` to go direction to the webcast list. You can then click on the Century Mining presentation. If you like, you can just move the presentation to the slide I discussed, maybe about 30 seconds before the 6:39 point (I say about 30 seconds in order to give time for the slide presentation to catch up to the voice portion).
I hope it helps a little.
http://events.onlinebroadcasting.com/denvergold/092407/index.php?page=redirect
Also, you will notice that the Lamaque underground mining plans all got delayed by a coupld of years. Naturally, the global financial crisis hit us hard due to us needing financing at the time (right in the middle of the worst financial crisis in 80 years). We are now fully back on track now.
There are a few good diagrams within the first 9 minutes, but the one at around the 6:39 mark is perhaps the most useful one to us at this particular second:
1) it shows how close the Bedard Dyke is to the North Wall ore body - remember, this is 2007 (Bedard Dyke has expanded and dipped since then)
2) it shows the location of Lamaque no. 2 (in blue to the southeast corner) - the Lamaque no. 2 resource has also expanded since then
3) it shows the Road Zone ore body (which is an extra zone that is not even built into the mining plan for the first 3 years)
4) it shows the location of the 1.7M ounce ore body of the Cross Over & Boundry Pillar areas (to be accessed perhaps starting in year 3)
5) all of these zones are located only within 1,000 feet of the surface
6) all of the green areas also represent gold ore, but perhaps sitting below 1,000 feet of the surface, yet still below the pit area (we may still be able to access some via the declines, without having to wait for the shafts - not 100% sure but we may be able to push the declines down to, say, 2,000 feet (might be even more beneficial if those particular areas do not need dewatering below 1,200 feet)
7) of note, the North Wall currently has official 43-101 P&P Reserves of around 250,000 ounceS and further Inferred of around 400,000 ounces - BIG BONUS IF WE CAN ACCESS SOME OF THAT NEAR-TERM VIA THE BEDARD DYKE DECLINE
Chillby, with regards to your question about going under the city of Val d`Or. The Bedard Dyke is the only area located near the city. With early BD mining, we likely wouldn`t need to go under the highway or the city. We will eventually need to go under the highway (but at deeper levels) at some point later down the road, but my guess is the crown pillar should be in place by then (crown pillars are comment with most mining companies in this area - I think the Lamaque property aleady has several, including one underneath the Sigma pit). I don`t think we will have to go too far under the city at all. Oh note, we own the mining rights under the city, to about 25% to 40% into the city. I don`t think there are any near-term plans to mine that underground mining area right now though (as we have plenty enough areas to mine already). However, it is common practice in the Val d`Or area to mine underneath structures. For example, I believe Wesdome`s very successful Kiena Mine is entirely under a lake in the area.
Anyway, click on the link then you can click on ``skip resgistration`` to go direction to the webcast list. You can then click on the Century Mining presentation. If you like, you can just move the presentation to the slide I discussed, maybe about 30 seconds before the 6:39 point (I say about 30 seconds in order to give time for the slide presentation to catch up to the voice portion).
I hope it helps a little.
http://events.onlinebroadcasting.com/denvergold/092407/index.php?page=redirect
Victor`s excellent (detailed) write up
This is the part of Victor`s write up about Century:
Century Mining Corp.
The last company reviewed on my trip to Val d’Or was Century Mining Corp (V.CMM). This was probablythe most interesting (and fun) of the three tours, as I had the opportunity to suit up and get underground to watch this operation first hand and in action.
Century Mining has, so far, delivered on major milestones that they have promised. Let’s take a step back in time, just for a second. On January 1, 2010, it was a snowy day, and, with the wind chill, it registered -34 in Val d’Or. The Lamaque mine, which shut down its open pit operations in July 2008, was frozen solid, not a single car sat in the parking lot, no lights on, and the only thing visible was a lock on the gate. What happened since then is actually quite remarkable in the mining industry, with the mine opening ahead of schedule -yes let me say that again -it poured gold as promised in the second quarter of 2010, and actually in the first month of the second quarter, April 30, 2010. The company received the financing required to put the mine into production on December 31, 2009, and on January 1, 2010 started mobilizing to site. Fifty-nine days later, on March 1, they were underground mining, and 59 days after that, they poured their first gold bar.
In the past six months, they have had operational hiccups, where electricity to the site was delayed by 3-4 weeks, their new low profile equipment arrived a couple of weeks late, and they completed extra work on the stabilization of the Bedard Dyke portal access, but, as I have seen in many startups, these hiccups come with the nature of the mining game.
There are some interesting operational highlights that the company has worked through that are actually quite positive and unique, and they will likely be beneficial going forward as the operation comes on full stream. First of all, the company was completing their pre-development work on the mine, which normally means moving a bunch of waste that is not mineralized to get to the mineralized zone. In the case of Century Mining, they did that, but discovered that portions of this development work ended up being mineralized. It’s not in the resource base grading around 4.5 g/t Au, but its turning out grading around 1.5 g/t Au. They have categorized this material as "mineralized development", and with a highly efficient mill that can put through 0.5 g/t material profitably, this waste, or mineralized development, becomes extra gold at the end of the circuit. At the early stages of opening a mine, having the option of putting additional tonnage through, even though at a lower grade, effectively turns a liability, or waste, into income out of the mill for them. Another interesting point is that a couple of the recently mined stopes have continued to yield significant tonnage above and beyond what the resource calculations identified. For example, in one stope they mined an additional 9,950 tonnes that the area should of hosted because mineralized vein just kept going. I see this likely occurring in many more mining areas throughout the mine, as, historically, these veins have been traced for hundreds of meters and in some places up to two kilometers.
When I first visited the Lamaque operation in early 2010, I was cautiously optimistic, but very curious as to how the head grade from underground would turn out. Historically, the mined grade of the Sigma and Lamaque mines was around the 5.4 g/t range. The mine plan for Lamaque in 2010 is estimating an approximate head grade of 4.75 g/t from underground. This is 12% lower than the 9.4 million ounces that was produced over the last 80 years. Based on what I have seen, this leaves upside in potentiallyhigher grades than estimated in the mine plan. Historical production also used pretty crude mining methods, including a majority of mining done with jacklegs and slushers. Remember, a slusher drags the rock from the face of the stope to where it can be loaded by mechanized equipment, such as a scooptram. The productivity is also very low, and noting the operation of a slusher, sometimes a large amount of the gold bearing material is left in the stope, as the cleaning out of the area is not as efficient as using a scooptram.
The gold at Lamaque is hosted in a variety of mineralized and faulted zones known as flat veins, north and south dippers, shear veins, mineralized dykes and plugs. As indicated earlier, some of these flat veins can continue for hundreds of meters, and range in thickness from a few inches to two feet, but were are very high grade. The north and south dippers, which are actually from an anticline structure from dips south into the Lamqaue mine and dips north into the Sigma workings, can range up to a couple meters wide, and again at grades much higher than the anticipated head grade of 4.75 g/t. The shear zones are like the flats, but are near vertical in their dip or 75-85 degrees, and can range up to two meters in width. The dykes can range up to 15 meters in width, and again like the shear zones, dip near vertical or 80-85 degrees. Finally, the mighty ‘plugs’, can be 170 meters in diameter or bigger, and are seen throughout the structurally-controlled, geological environment within Century’s property. For example, as I noted in an earlier write-up, the main plug at Sigma produced 80% of the ounces at the mine, and one miner made his underground trek into the same stoping complex for 27 years.
Mining in an environment like Lamaque/Sigma is all about controlling dilution and minimizing the waste material to the mill. The operational and technical team currently is seeing the expected grade at the face of the stope ranging from 4.5 g/t up to 7.0 g/t (some places a lot higher), and now is focused on getting as much of this material into the mill as possible, without leaving it in the stope or bringing too much mineralized development out with it.
To do that, they search out new technology, rethink the historical operations, and focus on controlling grade. A month ago, Century Mining brought in low profile scooptrams and jumbo drills from South Africa. This type of equipment has never seen operation in a North American mine at any other company. These vehicles are only five feet high. Even I tower over them. The small size of these machines allows them to operate in smaller spaces, thus moving less dirt/waste, which means higher grade out of the mine. When underground, I watched this new equipment in action. Talk about productivity.
The company is getting their team trained on how to use these new pieces of equipment to increase productivity and also how to minimize dilution. Their team is now focused on adjusting blasting patterns and loading of the holes, to ensure minimal over breakage on the blasted round. Positive results have started to be seen over the last month, and higher grades are being seen out of the mine and into the mill. This type of operation requires time, as more stopes are opened, and production from the room and pillar flats increases. I understand they have a couple more low profile pieces of equipment on order. This seems like a logical purchase decision from what I have seen. This addition of modern technology, combined with rethinking the operation, should increase efficiencies by a very nice factor.
Of the three zones to be mined and operated in 2010, the room and pillar flats are just the beginning and the lowest productive of the three. Next in line is the Bedard Dyke, which was opened up the same day I arrived at the mine site, and finally is the North Wall zone to which they are currently drifting over to. The Bedard Dyke will be a very welcomed addition to the mill, as it will be a long-hole, open stope stoping complex, and is expected to grade higher than the flats. The face of the Bedard Dyke portal, prior to its first blast, graded 37 g/t Au, and recent drilling showed intersections close to 100 g/t Au. The dailytonnage expected from the Bedard Dyke will be significantly higher than the flats, as it is the meat and gravy of the future of the operation. The Goldex Mine (Agnico-Eagle), down the road a few kilometers, is mining below 5,500 feet with a head grade of only 2.8 g/t Au, but is moving a lot of ore via their long-hole stopes, and at a low mining cost. I can see the Bedard Dyke lowering their operating costs at Lamaque going forward.
An interesting point is that the development work required to access the Bedard Dyke will be right through this high grade vein before they access the underground to extract their 20,000 tonne bulk sample. Obviously, this material will be crushed and sent to the mill, as it has plenty of visible gold, as well as, massive chalcopyrite widely disseminated all through the veins. Once the sample is removed and tested, the mine will look to receive the next permit to mine the zone.
In terms of the current mill operation, it is operational and processing about 700 tonnes per day (tpd), with tonnage from underground reaching peaks of 700 to 750 tpd. The mill can be cranked up to adjust for higher tonnage on any given day, as they have put through 1,100 tpd on certain days during the ramp up of the facility. As in any normal startup and commissioning of an operation, this number is progressively increasing and will do so until they hit their daily tonnage requirements. A good thing is their 2010 requirement is only needed to average 1200 tpd, and in 2011 just over 2000 tpd. With a facility that can process 3000-3400 tpd, they have lots of extra capacity to ensure they don’t operate too close and max out.
I believe Century Mining is on its way to putting an excellent mine into operation, and, over time, is well positioned to add significant shareholder value. I focused only on the Lamaque operation for this update, but they have operated their San Juan gold mine in Peru from which they have consistently delivered above expectation results.
In Conclusion
I talked about 3 companies in the area. There are many more. Some are in great shape, such as Agnico- Eagle, Osisko Mining and Cartier Resources, and others, such as Northern Star Mining, are not. One thing is for sure, the companies that I did visit are at different stages of development, but all are well positioned to further develop their assets and eventually add value for their shareholders. Val d’Or has a rich mining history, and it is a mature mining camp in a safe and stable jurisdiction, known as the best place to be for mining. Based on what I have seen on this trip throughout the area, even though there has been over 170 million ounces of gold found in this camp, there are many more ounces to be found, and companies such as NioGold and Alexandria should continue to find more of them. Century Mining is an emerging, mid-tier producer with strong financial backing. They have 6 million ounces of gold, but they are probablysitting on many more than that, so that mine will be around for many years to come.
Going forward, I expect the price of gold to continue its rise to over US$1500 per ounce by the end of the year. This will spur more deals in this camp and more ounces will become economic.
Here is the link to the full write up:
http://www.vantagewire.com/articles/showarticle/910/Victor-Goncalves-on-Three-Val-dOr-Mining-Companies
Century Mining Corp.
The last company reviewed on my trip to Val d’Or was Century Mining Corp (V.CMM). This was probablythe most interesting (and fun) of the three tours, as I had the opportunity to suit up and get underground to watch this operation first hand and in action.
Century Mining has, so far, delivered on major milestones that they have promised. Let’s take a step back in time, just for a second. On January 1, 2010, it was a snowy day, and, with the wind chill, it registered -34 in Val d’Or. The Lamaque mine, which shut down its open pit operations in July 2008, was frozen solid, not a single car sat in the parking lot, no lights on, and the only thing visible was a lock on the gate. What happened since then is actually quite remarkable in the mining industry, with the mine opening ahead of schedule -yes let me say that again -it poured gold as promised in the second quarter of 2010, and actually in the first month of the second quarter, April 30, 2010. The company received the financing required to put the mine into production on December 31, 2009, and on January 1, 2010 started mobilizing to site. Fifty-nine days later, on March 1, they were underground mining, and 59 days after that, they poured their first gold bar.
In the past six months, they have had operational hiccups, where electricity to the site was delayed by 3-4 weeks, their new low profile equipment arrived a couple of weeks late, and they completed extra work on the stabilization of the Bedard Dyke portal access, but, as I have seen in many startups, these hiccups come with the nature of the mining game.
There are some interesting operational highlights that the company has worked through that are actually quite positive and unique, and they will likely be beneficial going forward as the operation comes on full stream. First of all, the company was completing their pre-development work on the mine, which normally means moving a bunch of waste that is not mineralized to get to the mineralized zone. In the case of Century Mining, they did that, but discovered that portions of this development work ended up being mineralized. It’s not in the resource base grading around 4.5 g/t Au, but its turning out grading around 1.5 g/t Au. They have categorized this material as "mineralized development", and with a highly efficient mill that can put through 0.5 g/t material profitably, this waste, or mineralized development, becomes extra gold at the end of the circuit. At the early stages of opening a mine, having the option of putting additional tonnage through, even though at a lower grade, effectively turns a liability, or waste, into income out of the mill for them. Another interesting point is that a couple of the recently mined stopes have continued to yield significant tonnage above and beyond what the resource calculations identified. For example, in one stope they mined an additional 9,950 tonnes that the area should of hosted because mineralized vein just kept going. I see this likely occurring in many more mining areas throughout the mine, as, historically, these veins have been traced for hundreds of meters and in some places up to two kilometers.
When I first visited the Lamaque operation in early 2010, I was cautiously optimistic, but very curious as to how the head grade from underground would turn out. Historically, the mined grade of the Sigma and Lamaque mines was around the 5.4 g/t range. The mine plan for Lamaque in 2010 is estimating an approximate head grade of 4.75 g/t from underground. This is 12% lower than the 9.4 million ounces that was produced over the last 80 years. Based on what I have seen, this leaves upside in potentiallyhigher grades than estimated in the mine plan. Historical production also used pretty crude mining methods, including a majority of mining done with jacklegs and slushers. Remember, a slusher drags the rock from the face of the stope to where it can be loaded by mechanized equipment, such as a scooptram. The productivity is also very low, and noting the operation of a slusher, sometimes a large amount of the gold bearing material is left in the stope, as the cleaning out of the area is not as efficient as using a scooptram.
The gold at Lamaque is hosted in a variety of mineralized and faulted zones known as flat veins, north and south dippers, shear veins, mineralized dykes and plugs. As indicated earlier, some of these flat veins can continue for hundreds of meters, and range in thickness from a few inches to two feet, but were are very high grade. The north and south dippers, which are actually from an anticline structure from dips south into the Lamqaue mine and dips north into the Sigma workings, can range up to a couple meters wide, and again at grades much higher than the anticipated head grade of 4.75 g/t. The shear zones are like the flats, but are near vertical in their dip or 75-85 degrees, and can range up to two meters in width. The dykes can range up to 15 meters in width, and again like the shear zones, dip near vertical or 80-85 degrees. Finally, the mighty ‘plugs’, can be 170 meters in diameter or bigger, and are seen throughout the structurally-controlled, geological environment within Century’s property. For example, as I noted in an earlier write-up, the main plug at Sigma produced 80% of the ounces at the mine, and one miner made his underground trek into the same stoping complex for 27 years.
Mining in an environment like Lamaque/Sigma is all about controlling dilution and minimizing the waste material to the mill. The operational and technical team currently is seeing the expected grade at the face of the stope ranging from 4.5 g/t up to 7.0 g/t (some places a lot higher), and now is focused on getting as much of this material into the mill as possible, without leaving it in the stope or bringing too much mineralized development out with it.
To do that, they search out new technology, rethink the historical operations, and focus on controlling grade. A month ago, Century Mining brought in low profile scooptrams and jumbo drills from South Africa. This type of equipment has never seen operation in a North American mine at any other company. These vehicles are only five feet high. Even I tower over them. The small size of these machines allows them to operate in smaller spaces, thus moving less dirt/waste, which means higher grade out of the mine. When underground, I watched this new equipment in action. Talk about productivity.
The company is getting their team trained on how to use these new pieces of equipment to increase productivity and also how to minimize dilution. Their team is now focused on adjusting blasting patterns and loading of the holes, to ensure minimal over breakage on the blasted round. Positive results have started to be seen over the last month, and higher grades are being seen out of the mine and into the mill. This type of operation requires time, as more stopes are opened, and production from the room and pillar flats increases. I understand they have a couple more low profile pieces of equipment on order. This seems like a logical purchase decision from what I have seen. This addition of modern technology, combined with rethinking the operation, should increase efficiencies by a very nice factor.
Of the three zones to be mined and operated in 2010, the room and pillar flats are just the beginning and the lowest productive of the three. Next in line is the Bedard Dyke, which was opened up the same day I arrived at the mine site, and finally is the North Wall zone to which they are currently drifting over to. The Bedard Dyke will be a very welcomed addition to the mill, as it will be a long-hole, open stope stoping complex, and is expected to grade higher than the flats. The face of the Bedard Dyke portal, prior to its first blast, graded 37 g/t Au, and recent drilling showed intersections close to 100 g/t Au. The dailytonnage expected from the Bedard Dyke will be significantly higher than the flats, as it is the meat and gravy of the future of the operation. The Goldex Mine (Agnico-Eagle), down the road a few kilometers, is mining below 5,500 feet with a head grade of only 2.8 g/t Au, but is moving a lot of ore via their long-hole stopes, and at a low mining cost. I can see the Bedard Dyke lowering their operating costs at Lamaque going forward.
An interesting point is that the development work required to access the Bedard Dyke will be right through this high grade vein before they access the underground to extract their 20,000 tonne bulk sample. Obviously, this material will be crushed and sent to the mill, as it has plenty of visible gold, as well as, massive chalcopyrite widely disseminated all through the veins. Once the sample is removed and tested, the mine will look to receive the next permit to mine the zone.
In terms of the current mill operation, it is operational and processing about 700 tonnes per day (tpd), with tonnage from underground reaching peaks of 700 to 750 tpd. The mill can be cranked up to adjust for higher tonnage on any given day, as they have put through 1,100 tpd on certain days during the ramp up of the facility. As in any normal startup and commissioning of an operation, this number is progressively increasing and will do so until they hit their daily tonnage requirements. A good thing is their 2010 requirement is only needed to average 1200 tpd, and in 2011 just over 2000 tpd. With a facility that can process 3000-3400 tpd, they have lots of extra capacity to ensure they don’t operate too close and max out.
I believe Century Mining is on its way to putting an excellent mine into operation, and, over time, is well positioned to add significant shareholder value. I focused only on the Lamaque operation for this update, but they have operated their San Juan gold mine in Peru from which they have consistently delivered above expectation results.
In Conclusion
I talked about 3 companies in the area. There are many more. Some are in great shape, such as Agnico- Eagle, Osisko Mining and Cartier Resources, and others, such as Northern Star Mining, are not. One thing is for sure, the companies that I did visit are at different stages of development, but all are well positioned to further develop their assets and eventually add value for their shareholders. Val d’Or has a rich mining history, and it is a mature mining camp in a safe and stable jurisdiction, known as the best place to be for mining. Based on what I have seen on this trip throughout the area, even though there has been over 170 million ounces of gold found in this camp, there are many more ounces to be found, and companies such as NioGold and Alexandria should continue to find more of them. Century Mining is an emerging, mid-tier producer with strong financial backing. They have 6 million ounces of gold, but they are probablysitting on many more than that, so that mine will be around for many years to come.
Going forward, I expect the price of gold to continue its rise to over US$1500 per ounce by the end of the year. This will spur more deals in this camp and more ounces will become economic.
Here is the link to the full write up:
http://www.vantagewire.com/articles/showarticle/910/Victor-Goncalves-on-Three-Val-dOr-Mining-Companies
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
This week's trading and other comments
All in all today's update was extremely positive, but discouraging when there is no positive reaction in the market. I think that there is no institutional buying yet and there are still the shares for debt being bled into the market which is consumed by the retail shareholders that still have the funds to add to their positions. The Anonymous selling could be MRI of Switzerland who were issed 3.5 million shares at a deemed price of 28 cents to cover a $1 million loan and there were several million other shares issued to local creditors at a deemed price of 25 cents per share. Anonymous is often the largest seller and are again this week. Surprisingly Canaccord was the biggest buyer today; they bought 171,000 and sold 0.
Hopefully we'll see some institutional buying after the analysts' tour. With almost 2,000 oz produced in June, Lamaque's production has now exceeded San Juan's. Some day some institution is going to recognize how mispriced the shares are and buy millions of shares.
Here are the 2-day trading totals:
Hopefully we'll see some institutional buying after the analysts' tour. With almost 2,000 oz produced in June, Lamaque's production has now exceeded San Juan's. Some day some institution is going to recognize how mispriced the shares are and buy millions of shares.
Here are the 2-day trading totals:
Quick thoughts
A lot of really good process. A long ways to go, but Lamaque is starting to shape up nicely. Who knows, most of the analysts may still continue to take a wait and see approach on Century, but I think they will like the early stage process.
1) 4.37 g/t mill head grade including the development muck - likely to go higher once the higher grade Bedard Dyke takes on a more prominent production role
2) They are getting good ore body continuation within the Lamaque no. 2 mining area: ``The Company believes that additional `new` tonnage will continue to be mined within stope complexes that has never been placed, recorded or defined in the current resource base.`` This statement is likely very meaningful, as they now have mining data from actually mining the area and vital look ahead data from the new drill program.
3) The 770 tpd mining rate at the end of June is a good start. They are currently operating in 7 different stopes and they have 2 more stopes in development. Some early stage tonnage the Bedard Dyke may have been included in the 770 tpd, but BD should become a greater contributor once they get further into the dyke. I can see the July tpd averaging around 900 tpd for the month and maybe coming in at around 950 tpd at month end (higher if everything goes extremely well).
4) This note about the North Wall zone is very intriguing:
``The mine production crew continues to operate in seven separate stoping complexes in addition to the development crew opening two new stopes underground in the Lamaque #2 mining zone, and also developing over to the North Wall zone.``
The North Wall zone is a completely separate area from the Lamaque no. 2 mine. It looks like they have started up (at least) small scale/prelim development work on the North Wall zone. Development in that area was not suppose to begin until Q4. Perhaps (hopefully) it`s an indication that they feel positive about receiving the long-hole stoping permit early. The permit will allow for long-hole stope mining in both the Bedard Dyke and the North Wall zone.
5) Tonnes milled in June may be lower than tonnes mined. Historically, the milled circuit carried 2,000 - 2,500 ounces at any given time. Per the June 2nd conference call, about 1,000 ounces had been build back up in the circuit. Century figured another 1,000 ounces would need to be embedded in the circuit, to get back to 2,000 ounces (then capped). It`s not clear if we are now capped or if this will impact us in July.
6) We are looking at good gross revenue potential for Lamaque in July. Let`s make these assumptions for July:
*4.40 g/t grade
*900 average tpd mined and milled (milled tpd could be slightly lower if the 2,000 mill circuit cap was not reached at the end of June)
*96% recovery
*667 Lamaque ounces paid to DB (prepaid gold sales agreement)
*US$1,200 gold price
*currency conversion rate of 1.06
We these assumptions, we are looking at 3,667 in gross Lamaque gold production in July.
3,667 - 667 = 3,000 Lamaque ounces left over for Century
3,000 * US$1,200 * 1.06 = C$3,800,000 in potential Lamaque gross revenue in July
This is pretty good cash potential. It should be sufficient to cover operating expenses, with perhaps some dollars left over to support some development and exploration, and some Corporate G&A, especially if the new low profile equipment is as cost effective as it appears to be.
This is without any contributions from the very positive San Juan operation.
There is also still the potential of cash injection from the Finskiy warrants if extra cash is needed at any point in time (to tie us over until higher ramp up levels or until the US$8.5M next escrow amount comes available).
Century did a nice job pulling everything together over the past month - drastic improvement relative to end of May.
1) 4.37 g/t mill head grade including the development muck - likely to go higher once the higher grade Bedard Dyke takes on a more prominent production role
2) They are getting good ore body continuation within the Lamaque no. 2 mining area: ``The Company believes that additional `new` tonnage will continue to be mined within stope complexes that has never been placed, recorded or defined in the current resource base.`` This statement is likely very meaningful, as they now have mining data from actually mining the area and vital look ahead data from the new drill program.
3) The 770 tpd mining rate at the end of June is a good start. They are currently operating in 7 different stopes and they have 2 more stopes in development. Some early stage tonnage the Bedard Dyke may have been included in the 770 tpd, but BD should become a greater contributor once they get further into the dyke. I can see the July tpd averaging around 900 tpd for the month and maybe coming in at around 950 tpd at month end (higher if everything goes extremely well).
4) This note about the North Wall zone is very intriguing:
``The mine production crew continues to operate in seven separate stoping complexes in addition to the development crew opening two new stopes underground in the Lamaque #2 mining zone, and also developing over to the North Wall zone.``
The North Wall zone is a completely separate area from the Lamaque no. 2 mine. It looks like they have started up (at least) small scale/prelim development work on the North Wall zone. Development in that area was not suppose to begin until Q4. Perhaps (hopefully) it`s an indication that they feel positive about receiving the long-hole stoping permit early. The permit will allow for long-hole stope mining in both the Bedard Dyke and the North Wall zone.
5) Tonnes milled in June may be lower than tonnes mined. Historically, the milled circuit carried 2,000 - 2,500 ounces at any given time. Per the June 2nd conference call, about 1,000 ounces had been build back up in the circuit. Century figured another 1,000 ounces would need to be embedded in the circuit, to get back to 2,000 ounces (then capped). It`s not clear if we are now capped or if this will impact us in July.
6) We are looking at good gross revenue potential for Lamaque in July. Let`s make these assumptions for July:
*4.40 g/t grade
*900 average tpd mined and milled (milled tpd could be slightly lower if the 2,000 mill circuit cap was not reached at the end of June)
*96% recovery
*667 Lamaque ounces paid to DB (prepaid gold sales agreement)
*US$1,200 gold price
*currency conversion rate of 1.06
We these assumptions, we are looking at 3,667 in gross Lamaque gold production in July.
3,667 - 667 = 3,000 Lamaque ounces left over for Century
3,000 * US$1,200 * 1.06 = C$3,800,000 in potential Lamaque gross revenue in July
This is pretty good cash potential. It should be sufficient to cover operating expenses, with perhaps some dollars left over to support some development and exploration, and some Corporate G&A, especially if the new low profile equipment is as cost effective as it appears to be.
This is without any contributions from the very positive San Juan operation.
There is also still the potential of cash injection from the Finskiy warrants if extra cash is needed at any point in time (to tie us over until higher ramp up levels or until the US$8.5M next escrow amount comes available).
Century did a nice job pulling everything together over the past month - drastic improvement relative to end of May.
Operational Progress Update
BLAINE, WASHINGTON--(Marketwire - July 6, 2010) - Century Mining Corporation ("Century" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:CMM) is pleased to discuss the operational activity at its 100% owned Lamaque gold project located in Val-d'Or, Quebec, Canada.
"Century is making good progress at its Lamaque Gold Mine during its commissioning and ramp-up phases of operation. The use of low-profile equipment at Lamaque continues to show significant operational improvement over the historical use of jacklegs and slushers. Our operational, technical and exploration teams continue to focus on increasing production and defining additional reserves in advance of our mining plan. We have entered the Bedard Dyke and look forward to fully defining the potential of this new mining zone and reaching further milestones as we progress through 2010," commented Margaret M. Kent, President & CEO of Century Mining Corporation.
The Company is pleased to provide the following update and operational results:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
April 20 to May 31, June 1 to June 30,
Period 2010 2010
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tonnes Milled 19,577 13,655
Days Mill Operated 29 21
Mill Head Grade (including ore &
mineralized development) 3.32 g/t Au 4.37 g/t Au
Mill Recovery 95.97% approx. 96.50%
Gold Produced 1,961 1,870
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Operational Highlights:
-- Underground mine stope head grade ranged from 4.2 to 6.7 g/t Au.
-- Mill head grade averaged slightly lower than expected due to excess
mineralized development (MD) material fed into the mill circuit. Initial
mining in the Lamaque #2 flats identified the development waste graded
in excess of 1.0 g/t Au and thus was used as additional mill feed during
startup, which subsequently decreased the mill head grade. With the
current excess capacity in the mill, the use of "MD" as mill feed will
continue to be processed, to maximize throughput.
-- Of significance, during startup, approximately 30-35% of the milled
tonnage was mined from outside the Company's underground resource base
due to the continuation of vein systems or discovery of new mineralized
areas as mining was in progress. The Company believes that additional
"new" tonnage will continue to be mined within stope complexes that has
never been placed, recorded or defined in the current resource base.
-- Excluding mineralized development, mill head grade averaged 4.31 g/t Au
for May and 4.76 g/t Au for June, which aligns with the expected milling
head grade target.
-- Production rate at the end of May was 420 tpd and increased at the end
of June to approximately 770 tpd. Production is slightly below forecast
but the Company expects production to increase month over month going
forward.
-- The mill facility commenced operation April 20, 2010 thus April / May
shown combined above. The mill throughput averaged approximately 800 tpd
during initial startup in April (utilizing stockpiled ore from
underground mining since March), averaged 615 tpd during May, and
averaged 650 tpd during June.
-- Of special note, mill head grade averaged 5.56 g/t Au during last nine
days of operation in June.
The mine production crew continues to operate in seven separate stoping complexes in addition to the development crew opening two new stopes underground in the Lamaque #2 mining zone, and also developing over to the North Wall zone. The low-profile underground equipment, in operation since the end of May 2010, continues to make significant progress in increasing the mine productivity and subsequently lowering of underground mine production costs. For example, in certain stoping complexes the low- profile production crews are able to double the size of the mining development round (blast) and remove the ore four to five times faster than using the jackleg and slusher combination. As indicated in the above table, the grade and production rate continues to show improvement month over month with the continued efficiencies gained from the introduction and adjustment to the low-profile mining equipment. The Company has an additional low-profile jumbo drill arriving in the third quarter of 2010 to continue in increasing the production profile.
At the Bedard Dyke, the Company has completed the required engineering, portal stabilization and construction which included significant cabling, wire mesh, rock-bolting and shotcrete. Development into the Bedard Dyke has commenced, and the initial mineralized development graded approximately 37 g/t Au across the face of the first blast zone. The Company expects to be developed down into the Bedard Dyke in July, at which point the 20,000 tonne bulk sample will be extracted and tested. Concurrently, the exploration team will also be initiating the underground drill program to fully explore this newly discovered mineralized zone. The Bedard Dyke is the second zone which the Company anticipates to develop in 2010, and production is expected to significantly increase upon commencement of mining. All underground access portals are collared via the historical Sigma pit, which is located only a few hundred meters from the 3,000+ tonne per day milling facility. Century's exploration team continues with its 150,000 foot (45,000+ meter) exploration and definition drill program that commenced in May 2010 at Lamaque and is expected to continue over a three-year period.
About Century Mining Corporation
Century Mining Corporation is a Canadian junior gold producer and holds strategic land positions in Canada, United States and Peru. The Company's strategy is to grow to an intermediate gold producer through existing mine expansions and acquisitions of other strategic and synergistic gold opportunities.
On behalf of Century Mining Corporation,
Margaret M. Kent, President & CEO
Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Information
This press release contains forward looking statements within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. We use words such as "may", "will", "should", "anticipate", "plan", "expect", "believe", "estimate" and similar terminology to identify forward-looking statements and forward-looking information. Such statements and information are based on assumptions, estimates, opinions and analysis made by management in light of its experience, current conditions and its expectations of future developments as well as other factors which it believes to be reasonable and relevant. Forward-looking statements and information involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements and information and accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on such statements and information. Risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to vary include but are not limited to the speculative nature of mineral exploration and development, including the uncertainty of reserve and resource estimates; operational and technical difficulties; the availability to the Company of suitable financing alternatives; fluctuations in gold and other commodity prices; changes to and compliance with applicable laws and regulations, including environmental laws and obtaining requisite permits; political, economic and other risks arising from our South American activities; fluctuations in foreign exchange rates; as well as other risks and uncertainties which are more fully described in our annual and quarterly Management's Discussion and Analysis included in this Annual Report, in our Annual Information Form and in other filings made by us with the Securities and Exchange Commission and with Canadian securities regulatory authorities and available at www.sedar.com.
While the Company believes that the expectations expressed by such forward-looking statements and forward- looking information and the assumptions, estimates, opinions and analysis underlying such expectations are reasonable, there can be no assurance that they will prove to be correct. In evaluating forward-looking statements and information, readers should carefully consider the various factors which could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements and forward-looking information.
"Century is making good progress at its Lamaque Gold Mine during its commissioning and ramp-up phases of operation. The use of low-profile equipment at Lamaque continues to show significant operational improvement over the historical use of jacklegs and slushers. Our operational, technical and exploration teams continue to focus on increasing production and defining additional reserves in advance of our mining plan. We have entered the Bedard Dyke and look forward to fully defining the potential of this new mining zone and reaching further milestones as we progress through 2010," commented Margaret M. Kent, President & CEO of Century Mining Corporation.
The Company is pleased to provide the following update and operational results:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
April 20 to May 31, June 1 to June 30,
Period 2010 2010
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tonnes Milled 19,577 13,655
Days Mill Operated 29 21
Mill Head Grade (including ore &
mineralized development) 3.32 g/t Au 4.37 g/t Au
Mill Recovery 95.97% approx. 96.50%
Gold Produced 1,961 1,870
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Operational Highlights:
-- Underground mine stope head grade ranged from 4.2 to 6.7 g/t Au.
-- Mill head grade averaged slightly lower than expected due to excess
mineralized development (MD) material fed into the mill circuit. Initial
mining in the Lamaque #2 flats identified the development waste graded
in excess of 1.0 g/t Au and thus was used as additional mill feed during
startup, which subsequently decreased the mill head grade. With the
current excess capacity in the mill, the use of "MD" as mill feed will
continue to be processed, to maximize throughput.
-- Of significance, during startup, approximately 30-35% of the milled
tonnage was mined from outside the Company's underground resource base
due to the continuation of vein systems or discovery of new mineralized
areas as mining was in progress. The Company believes that additional
"new" tonnage will continue to be mined within stope complexes that has
never been placed, recorded or defined in the current resource base.
-- Excluding mineralized development, mill head grade averaged 4.31 g/t Au
for May and 4.76 g/t Au for June, which aligns with the expected milling
head grade target.
-- Production rate at the end of May was 420 tpd and increased at the end
of June to approximately 770 tpd. Production is slightly below forecast
but the Company expects production to increase month over month going
forward.
-- The mill facility commenced operation April 20, 2010 thus April / May
shown combined above. The mill throughput averaged approximately 800 tpd
during initial startup in April (utilizing stockpiled ore from
underground mining since March), averaged 615 tpd during May, and
averaged 650 tpd during June.
-- Of special note, mill head grade averaged 5.56 g/t Au during last nine
days of operation in June.
The mine production crew continues to operate in seven separate stoping complexes in addition to the development crew opening two new stopes underground in the Lamaque #2 mining zone, and also developing over to the North Wall zone. The low-profile underground equipment, in operation since the end of May 2010, continues to make significant progress in increasing the mine productivity and subsequently lowering of underground mine production costs. For example, in certain stoping complexes the low- profile production crews are able to double the size of the mining development round (blast) and remove the ore four to five times faster than using the jackleg and slusher combination. As indicated in the above table, the grade and production rate continues to show improvement month over month with the continued efficiencies gained from the introduction and adjustment to the low-profile mining equipment. The Company has an additional low-profile jumbo drill arriving in the third quarter of 2010 to continue in increasing the production profile.
At the Bedard Dyke, the Company has completed the required engineering, portal stabilization and construction which included significant cabling, wire mesh, rock-bolting and shotcrete. Development into the Bedard Dyke has commenced, and the initial mineralized development graded approximately 37 g/t Au across the face of the first blast zone. The Company expects to be developed down into the Bedard Dyke in July, at which point the 20,000 tonne bulk sample will be extracted and tested. Concurrently, the exploration team will also be initiating the underground drill program to fully explore this newly discovered mineralized zone. The Bedard Dyke is the second zone which the Company anticipates to develop in 2010, and production is expected to significantly increase upon commencement of mining. All underground access portals are collared via the historical Sigma pit, which is located only a few hundred meters from the 3,000+ tonne per day milling facility. Century's exploration team continues with its 150,000 foot (45,000+ meter) exploration and definition drill program that commenced in May 2010 at Lamaque and is expected to continue over a three-year period.
About Century Mining Corporation
Century Mining Corporation is a Canadian junior gold producer and holds strategic land positions in Canada, United States and Peru. The Company's strategy is to grow to an intermediate gold producer through existing mine expansions and acquisitions of other strategic and synergistic gold opportunities.
On behalf of Century Mining Corporation,
Margaret M. Kent, President & CEO
Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Information
This press release contains forward looking statements within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. We use words such as "may", "will", "should", "anticipate", "plan", "expect", "believe", "estimate" and similar terminology to identify forward-looking statements and forward-looking information. Such statements and information are based on assumptions, estimates, opinions and analysis made by management in light of its experience, current conditions and its expectations of future developments as well as other factors which it believes to be reasonable and relevant. Forward-looking statements and information involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements and information and accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on such statements and information. Risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to vary include but are not limited to the speculative nature of mineral exploration and development, including the uncertainty of reserve and resource estimates; operational and technical difficulties; the availability to the Company of suitable financing alternatives; fluctuations in gold and other commodity prices; changes to and compliance with applicable laws and regulations, including environmental laws and obtaining requisite permits; political, economic and other risks arising from our South American activities; fluctuations in foreign exchange rates; as well as other risks and uncertainties which are more fully described in our annual and quarterly Management's Discussion and Analysis included in this Annual Report, in our Annual Information Form and in other filings made by us with the Securities and Exchange Commission and with Canadian securities regulatory authorities and available at www.sedar.com.
While the Company believes that the expectations expressed by such forward-looking statements and forward- looking information and the assumptions, estimates, opinions and analysis underlying such expectations are reasonable, there can be no assurance that they will prove to be correct. In evaluating forward-looking statements and information, readers should carefully consider the various factors which could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements and forward-looking information.
Friday, July 2, 2010
V. Goncalves to be on BNN this morning - listed on today`s BNN schedule
Firstly, thanks again to Mike for the heads up.
Friday, July 02, 2010
11:40AM
It's Mailbag Friday! BNN gets answers to your commodities-related email questions with, Victor Goncalves, president, Equities and Economics Report.
Guest: Victor Goncalves, president, Equities and Economics Report
http://www.bnn.ca/tvschedule.aspx#TVScheduleRow_0900
I will try to post a link to the video later today, once it gets posted on BNN`s website. It will probably take BNN an hour or two to post it on their website. Meanwhile, you can just watch the program live from 11:40 am to noon (Toronto time, EDT) if you get BNN on your tv.
Friday, July 02, 2010
11:40AM
It's Mailbag Friday! BNN gets answers to your commodities-related email questions with, Victor Goncalves, president, Equities and Economics Report.
Guest: Victor Goncalves, president, Equities and Economics Report
http://www.bnn.ca/tvschedule.aspx#TVScheduleRow_0900
I will try to post a link to the video later today, once it gets posted on BNN`s website. It will probably take BNN an hour or two to post it on their website. Meanwhile, you can just watch the program live from 11:40 am to noon (Toronto time, EDT) if you get BNN on your tv.
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