Petaquilla Announces Results for the Twelve Months Period Ended May 31, 2009
Vancouver, BC - September 4, 2009: Petaquilla Minerals Ltd. ("Petaquilla" or the "Company") has released its financial and operational results for the period ended May 31, 2009. All figures are in U.S. dollars.
Significant Accomplishments during the period ended May 31, 2009
Molejon Gold Deposit Project
- Mining has commenced with the first gold pour on April 7, 2009.
- All equipment relating to the electrical and mechanical components of the processing facility has been received and installed.
- Emergency tailings pond has been completed.
- All civil work has been completed.
- Ball mills #2 and #3 were put into operation. Ball mill #1 is 90% complete and expec ted to be put into production in the first quarter of fiscal 2010.
- Road access for the starter pit is complete.
- Construction of the bridge connecting the mine to the plant is now complete.
- All work related to the CIP tanks has been completed. The support structure for the agitation mechanism for the leaching tanks has been completed.
- Construction of mill feed bins is complete.
- The general warehouse, ADR and refinery have been completed.
- Metallurgy lab is complete.
- Tailings pond #2(a) is complete. Tailings pond #2(b) is 80% complete and work on raising the wall of pond #2(a) and #2(b) is currently underway and expected to be completed in the second quarter of fiscal 2010.
- Secondary and tertiary crushing equipment and conveyor systems are 80% complete. The primary crusher is 50% complete. The expected completion date for the secondary and tertiary crushers is the first quarter of fiscal 2010 and the primary crusher will be ready in the second quarter of fiscal 2010.
Environmental Impact Study ApprovalOn November 26, 2008, the Autoridad Nacional del Ambiente ("ANAM"), the environmental agency of the Government of the Republic of panama, issued a Resolution approving the Company's Environmental Impact Study Category III (the "EIS"). The Resolution sets out a number of conditions to be satisfied before the Company can attain full commercial production of the Molejon Gold Mine in Panama. On detailed review of the Resolution, it became apparent that some of the conditions were not applicable to the Molejon operation, and others had already been satisfied by the Company. The Company therefore established a working group to cooperate with ANAM to ensure that all conditions are satisfied or waived, so that full commercial production in fiscal 2010 will take place without delay.
During the current period, the Company has been subject to regular inspections confirming its full compliance with the applicable environmental regulations. Petaquilla Gold, S.A., the Company's Panama subsidiary which operates the Molejon plant, has provided additional technical documentation on specific procedures related to the monitoring of the environmental impact on water, soil and air as well as various studies on health and migration of populations within the area of influence of the mine project, fully complying with the conditions defined by ANAM for readiness for commercial production. Accordingly, the Company expects to initiate full production as soon as the technical pre-production testing is completed which is expected to occur at or about the same time as approval from the Ministry of Industry and Commerce is obtained.
Several meetings have been held with ANAM personnel and ANAM's appointed independent ITS Consulting and EnviroLAB Laboratories to establish a routine of regular environmental inspections.
The Company has retained SGS Panama Control Services Inc., part of the Swiss group SGS - Société Générale de Surveillance, for the process of certification to the international standards on Environmental Management, ISO 14001 and Safety and Occupational Health, OHSAS 18001.
Mill Commissioning and Production The Company announced wet commissioning on November 28th, 2008, after initiating a pre-production test program; progressively bringing online some of the critical process equipment. During the third quarter, 18,000 tons of low grade ore were used to test the "mine to plant" feed circuitry. Such tests met the requirements of a technical covenant related to the senior secured note financing. This test material did not result in a gold pour.
The Company produced its first gold bar on April 7, 2009.
| |
Q4 |
|
| |
|
|
| Gold production - ounces |
2,973 |
|
| Silver production - ounces |
1,109 |
|
| Gold sales - ounces |
703 |
|
| Silver sales - ounces |
114 |
|
| Average realized gold price (per ounce) |
$928.24 |
|
| Unit cash production cost (per ounce, on a co-product and by-product basis) |
$1,793.13 |
|
Subsequent to year-end
We are currently conducting an internal investigation under the oversight of the Audit Committee and with the assistance of advisors, of certain of our international operations, focusing on the material weakness identified during our assessment of internal controls as at May 31, 2009. The process is still in the fact-finding stage, and no conclusions can yet be drawn.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
AND COMPREHENSIVE INCOME
(In U.S. dollars, except per share amounts)
| |
Twelve months ended |
One month
ended |
Twelve months ended |
| |
May 31, |
May 31, |
April 30, |
| |
2009 |
2008 |
2008 |
| Expenses |
|
|
|
| Accounting and legal |
$ 1,944,302 |
$ 15,536 |
$ 1,306,921 |
| Accretion of asset retirement obligation |
331,504 |
52,098 |
305,692 |
| Consulting fees |
370,248 |
21,170 |
943,250 |
| Amortization |
336,602 |
35,511 |
344,968 |
| Filing fees |
115,295 |
280 |
87,005 |
Investor relations and shareholder
information |
1,121,895 |
54,595 |
1,012,822 |
| Office administration |
2,152,886 |
177,657 |
2,366,940 |
| Rent |
240,693 |
1,630 |
122,495 |
| Exploration and development costs |
7,761,862 |
562,237 |
11,690,204 |
| Stock-based compensation |
898,454 |
77,890 |
5,561,247 |
| Travel |
1,014,530 |
121,849 |
857,907 |
| Debt issuance costs |
6,398,825 |
3,894,873 |
- |
| Wages and benefits |
2,916,615 |
177,329 |
1,668,455 |
| Total expenses |
(25,603,711) |
(5,192,655) |
(26,267,906) |
| OTHER INCOME (EXPENSE) |
|
|
|
| Foreign exchange (loss) gain |
(8,157,720) |
295,059 |
1,342,442 |
| Interest income |
169,366 |
78,658 |
51,926 |
| Interest on long-term debt |
(37,382) |
(15,613) |
(68,465) |
| Asset usage fees |
(4,155) |
(695) |
126,775 |
| Gain on sale of equity investment |
40,604,938 |
- |
4,347,077 |
| Power and drilling services |
156,597 |
70,094 |
76,430 |
| Loss from equity investment |
(2,396,011) |
(779,846) |
(8,301,371) |
| Gain on dilution of equity investment |
2,238,492 |
- |
12,582,085 |
Redemption loss on senior secured
notes |
(13,130,982) |
- |
- |
Mark-to-market loss on senior secured
notes and convertible senior secured |
|
|
|
| notes |
(14,939,298) |
- |
- |
| Total other income (expenses) |
4,503,845 |
(352,343) |
10,156,899 |
| Net loss for the period |
(21,099,866) |
(5,544,998) |
(16,111,007) |
| Other comprehensive (loss) gain: |
|
|
|
| Unrealized (loss) gain on translating |
|
|
|
financial statements to U.S. reporting
currency |
(4,648,716) |
487,574 |
716,555 |
| Comprehensive loss for the year |
$(25,748,582) |
$(5,057,424) |
$(15,394,452) |
| Basic and diluted loss per share |
$(0.22) |
$(0.06) |
$(0.17) |
Weighted average number of common
shares outstanding |
|
|
|
| |
96,019,488 |
93,131,030 |
93,131,030 |
We seek Safe Harbor.
On behalf of the Board of Directors of
PETAQUILLA MINERALS LTD.
Bassam Moubarak
Chief Financial Officer
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
Petaquilla Minerals Ltd.
Phone: (604) 694-0021 Fax: (604) 694-0063
Toll free: 1-877-694-0021
www.petaquilla.com
NO STOCK EXCHANGE HAS APPROVED OR DISAPPROVED
THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN.
