Wrap Text
Production results for the quarter ended September 2012
Village Main Reef Limited
(formerly Village Main Reef Gold Mining Company (1934) Limited)
(Incorporated in the Republic of South Africa)
(Registration number 1934/005703/06)
JSE code: VIL ISIN: ZAE000154761
("Village" or "the Company" or "the Group")
PRODUCTION RESULTS FOR THE QUARTER ENDED SEPTEMBER 2012:
Village produces solid production results from all its operations
Reporting on Q1, 2013 (quarter ended September 2012) Village Main Reef (Village) today
announced production improvements at all its operations, with a strong performance from
its Tau Lekoa operation.
In total, the Group's operations produced 61,318oz of gold and 1,473 tonnes of antimony
during Q1. Gold production, on a like-for-like basis, excluding gold produced by Blyvoor,
was 11% higher than the prior quarter. Blyvoor, which was accounted for from 1 June 2012,
contributed 17,393oz of gold. Antimony production was 3% (or 37 tonnes) higher than the
June 2012 quarter.
Village joint CEO, Marius Saaiman, commented: "We are very pleased with the performance
from Tau Lekoa in particular, where we benefited from improved production volumes and
our orebody optimisation process. The focus at all our operations during the December
quarter will be to optimise production and gain full benefit from the favourable Rand gold
price, whilst maintaining strict control over operating costs. It is indeed unfortunate that
Blyvoor employees have embarked on industrial action at a time when we collectively have
the opportunity to turn this mine around."
Taking a look at production for the quarter at each operation:
- Gold production at Tau Lekoa of 31,725oz rose by 15% (or 4 140oz) for its September
quarter, which can largely be ascribed to higher grades mined and consistent volumes
as the impact from the business improvement project and orebody optimisation process
implemented earlier in the year continues to materialise.
- Gold production at Buffelsfontein was 9,425oz, rose by 2% (or 198oz).
The focus in the next quarter will be on improving mining flexibility and ensuring
optimal blending which should translate into better grades.
- Cons Murch mine maintained its strong production performance, delivering 1,473
tonnes of antimony and 2,775oz of gold, an improvement of 37 tonnes of antimony
and 107oz of gold over the June quarter.
- Gold production at Blyvoor was 17,393oz. This was the first full quarter of Blyvoor
production under Village ownership. Gold production at Blyvoor was lower than
planned, mainly due to lower gold grade achieved from both underground and surface
sources.
Production at Blyvoor will be negatively affected during the December quarter as a result of
continued illegal strike action at the operations. Village has issued a second ultimatum to
Blyvoor employees to return to work and continues to engage in a constructive manner with
the relevant structures to resolve this illegal strike action. In addition, Blyvoor suffered
a 3.5 magnitude seismic event during the first week of October. The seismic event resulted
in a fall of ground that has had an impact on some 40% of available areas for underground
production. Blyvoor management is currently analysing the impact of the fall of ground in
relation to the options in relation to the affected areas.
The table below provides more detailed information of the production achieved at each of
the Village mines during the September 2012 quarter versus the June 2012 quarter.
Production achieved at Village mines during September 2012 quarter versus June 2012 quarter
Sep-12 Jun-12 % change
quarter quarter
Tau Lekoa gold oz 31,725 27,585 15%
Buffelsfontein gold oz 9,425 9,227 2%
Blyvoor gold oz* 17,393 6,944 150%
Cons Murch gold oz 2,775 2,668 4%
Cons Murch antimony 1,473 1,436 3%
tonnes
Total Village gold oz 61,318 46,424 32%
Unaudited notional cash Sep-12 Jun-12 % change
cost quarter quarter
Tau Lekoa (per kg) 275,500 275,744 0%
Buffelsfontein (per kg) 616,400 638,241 (3%)
Blyvoor (per kg) 533,800 449,494 19%
Cons Murch (cost per tonne) 1,220 1,470 (18%)
* The variance in production is due to Blyvoor only contributing one month's production in
the June 2012 quarter.
The increase in unit costs at Blyvoor is as a result of the impact of winter energy tariffs and
the lower proportionate production for the quarter vs the production achieved in June
2012.
Financial results for the September 2012 quarter will be provided in the September 2012
Quarterly Report, which is expected to be released towards the end of November 2012.
11 October 2012
Sponsor
Java Capital
Date: 11/10/2012 10:24:00 Produced by the JSE SENS Department. The SENS service is an information dissemination service administered by the JSE Limited ('JSE').
The JSE does not, whether expressly, tacitly or implicitly, represent, warrant or in any way guarantee the truth, accuracy or completeness of
the information published on SENS. The JSE, their officers, employees and agents accept no liability for (or in respect of) any direct,
indirect, incidental or consequential loss or damage of any kind or nature, howsoever arising, from the use of SENS or the use of, or reliance on,
information disseminated through SENS.
Sharenet Sites 
