(AIM: SRB TSX: SBI), the Brazilian-focused gold mining and development company, today releases its audited results for the year ended , and the unaudited results for the three month period to .
HIGHLIGHTS
Revenue of (2021: ) reflecting lower production year on year.
Gold production for the full year of 2022 of 31,819 ounces, with fourth quarter production of 7,798 ounces .
EBITDA for the year of (2021: ).
Post tax loss for the year of , after provision of against the recovery of historic tax debts owed to the Company in .
Cash held at of (: ).
Loss per share of compared with a profit per share of for the 2021 calendar year.
Net cash outflow from operations for the year (after mine development expenditure of ) of
(2021: inflow).
Average gold price of per ounce received on gold sales during the year (2021: ).
Cash Cost for the three-month period to of per ounce (Q3 2022: per ounce) representing a 1.2% improvement quarter on quarter.
All-In Sustaining Cost for the three-month period to of per ounce (Q3 2022: per ounce) represents a 5.8% improvement compared to Q3 2022.
Cash Costs for the full year of per ounce (2021: ) and AISC for the full year of per ounce (2021: ).
Robust first quarter of 2023 with 8,005 ounces of gold production. Production guidance of between 33,500 and 35,000 ounces of gold for the 2023 calendar year.
, CFO of Serabi commented, ‘The past twelve month period was always planned to be a year of investment as the Group continued its work on the development of the Coringa project that had started midway through 2021. The ability to process and sell gold from the development ore being mined from Coringa was not originally planned for but with approximately 1,000 ounces of gold produced in the second six months of 2022 the additional cash flow that this has generated has helped offset the operating costs of the initial mine development. ‘The year was also one when we needed to push ahead with rebuilding the mineral resource inventory particularly for the Palito deposit. During the pandemic period of 2020 and 2021 with, at times, a significantly reduced work force at site, resource drilling was reduced or halted impacting the ability to maintain required resource replenishment rates. It was essential that this situation be reversed, and the Board agreed to a significant programme during 2022 to meet this objective. has been spent on this programme in 2022 and before the end of the second quarter of 2023, the results from this will be confirmed in a new NI 43-101 mineral resource estimate for the Palito and Sao Chico deposits. We anticipate that there should be a significant increase in the reported mineral resources at Palito which will more than offset the expected reduction in the level of mineral resources at Sao Chico a result of the mining issues encountered there in the first quarter of 2022. ‘We have also seen steady quarter on quarter improvements in cash costs and AISC as the year progressed. This is despite the heavy investment on underground drilling the cost of which has been taken as an operating expense during 2022, the general headwind of costs inflation affecting key consumables such as cyanide, mill liners and grinding materials as well as rising costs of diesel and electricity. Whilst these remain subject to price controls in , as with other countries they have nonetheless risen year on year which has impacted on the plant operating costs particularly the costs of power generation but also vehicle running costs for the annual dam recycling programmes. ‘We were successful in generating of short-term loan funding through a Brazilian bank to provide some additional working capital which was necessary to compensate for the lower than forecast production levels that became apparent towards the end of the first quarter of 2022, resulting from the mining problems encountered at the Sao Chico deposit. The nature of this arrangement is such that it must be physically repaid through the . In the Group was offered a further similar unsecured loan arrangement for with in . The Santander loan is repayable as a bullet payment on and carries an interest coupon of 7.96 per cent. The proceeds raised from the loan will be used for working capital and secure adequate liquidity to…
Read More: SERABI GOLD plc – Audited Results for the year ended 31 December 2022