Ormonde Mining PLC – Final Results

Ormonde announces its final results for the year ended 31 December 2018. 

• Construction of the Barruecopardo Tungsten Project (“the Project”), where Ormonde has a 30% joint venture interest, has been completed and is now transitioning to the Year-1 ramp-up phase of production. Updates include:
  –  construction of the mine has been completed in line with the Project’s capital expenditure budget and broadly in line with its construction schedule;
  –  Project now wholly operated by the mine subsidiary, Saloro SLU, led by a local management team with extensive tungsten experience;
  –  process plant has already operated at throughput rates up to 195 tonnes per hour, demonstrating its ability to meet the steady-state rate of 1.1 million tonnes per annum;
  –  tungsten concentrates produced from low-grade ore feed are starting to achieve targeted specification on a regular basis while ongoing refinements to the processing circuits continue to be implemented; and
  –  following low initial ore grades from the northern starter pit, mining schedules are being revised to target higher grade ore sources including commencement of mining of the southern starter pit and acceleration of the east wall cutback.
• The Company reports a loss after tax for the year of €1.65 million (2017: loss of €0.1 million), which includes a share of the loss on its associate investment (the group in which the Project is held) amounting to €0.78 million, as activities at the Project increased including preparations for initial production, and an impairment of €0.6 million related to the La Zarza project. 

Michael Donoghue, Ormonde’s Chairman and Interim Managing Director, commented:

“During 2018, the joint venture advanced the Barruecopardo Tungsten Project from an abandoned mine site to a newly constructed, state-of-the-art, tungsten processing facility. Although the operation is still in its infancy, it is nevertheless satisfying to see the Project transformed into an operating mine using modern mining and processing techniques and supporting a local community. 

“Looking forward, the lower grade ore encountered in the initial, peripheral starter pit will make the remainder of this year somewhat challenging as Saloro’s profitability and cashflows will continue to be constrained during the mine’s ramp-up phase, however the progress made to date on processing of this lower grade material should stand the Project in good stead as it transitions into the main, higher grade orebody towards the end of 2019.“