Allied Nevada Achieves Net Income of $12.1 Million or $0.13 Per Share in Q1 2012
Solid Operating Performance in Q1 2012; Production and Adjusted Cash Costs In Line with Expectations
(firmenpresse) - RENO, NEVADA -- (Marketwire) -- 05/07/12 -- Allied Nevada Gold Corp. ("Allied Nevada" or the "Company") (TSX: ANV)(NYSE Amex: ANV) is pleased to provide financial and operating results for the quarter ended March 31, 2012. The results presented in this press release should be read in conjunction with the Company's Quarterly Report Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2012 filed on SEDAR and EDGAR and posted on Allied Nevada's website at . The financial results are based on United States GAAP (with the exception of the non-GAAP measure - adjusted cash costs) and are expressed in U.S. dollars.
Q1 2012 Highlights:
Hycroft Operations Update
Hycroft mined 11.5 million tons of material including 4.0 million tons of ore grading 0.016 opt gold and 0.524 opt silver. Gold and silver grades exceeded expectation for the quarter by 11% and 74%, respectively. Better than planned grades offset lower than expected tons placed on the leach pad, resulting in production of 32,473 ounces of gold and 166,156 ounces of silver. This production was consistent with expectations for the first quarter of 2012. The variance of gold and silver produced compared with sales is due to the timing difference in ounces in process, on carbon and in solution, and sales of that inventory.
As previously announced, the Company received notification in the fourth quarter of 2011 that the company that processes the gold and silver laden carbon would no longer accept additional shipments for processing. Allied Nevada is working to develop a strategy to process the gold in carbon in order to improve the timing of sales for those ounces in carbon including entering into an agreement with off-site processing facilities to process the carbon and permitting an on-site carbon stripping plant. If an agreement cannot be reached with an off-site processing facility, it is expected to take 12 months before an on-site plant can be complete, due to the timing of the necessary permits. The gold on carbon is currently 13,000 ounces and is expected to grow at a rate of 2,000 ounces per month until processing recommences.
Key operating statistics for the three months ended March 31, 2012, compared with the same period in 2011, are as follows:
The majority of construction and development efforts in the first quarter were directed towards completion of the 3.0 million square foot Lewis leach pad expansion. Ore is currently being stacked on the new areas of the leach pad. The Company received the permits to begin construction of the crushing plant ahead of schedule. A contract miner is being utilized to complete excavation and ground work preparation for the crushing plant.
Two of the nine Komatsu 930E haul trucks slated for delivery throughout 2012 arrived on site slightly ahead of schedule.
Exploration
Drilling activities at Hycroft in the first quarter of 2012 totaled 39,628 feet in 46 holes and were for engineering in support of the expansion projects at Hycroft. The drill fleet has been reduced to one core rig and one rotary rig in the second quarter, and drilling activities will be primarily directed towards facility and infrastructure condemnation work and in-pit inferred resource conversion drilling.
2012 Outlook
Hycroft Operations
Production is expected to ramp up through the remainder of 2012, and is on track to meet current guidance of between 180,000 and 200,000 ounces of gold. The success of Hycroft in achieving production and cost guidance for 2012 is highly sensitive to a number of events taking place as scheduled, including delivery of major mining equipment. The Hitachi EX5500 shovel, which was expected to depart Japan in late March, shipped about a month late due to logistical issues at the port stemming from damage created by the March 2011 tsunami. The 2012 mine plan assumed the shovel would be in operation in the beginning of June, 2012. The Company will make every effort to construct and place the shovel into operation upon its arrival at site, but expects that it will be at least a month behind schedule.
Adjusted cash costs(1) of $531 per ounce in the first quarter of 2012 were as expected. Hycroft is completing a larger than average stripping campaign for which costs are expensed and expects adjusted cash costs per ounce to be higher in the second quarter and to decline in the second half of the year. For the year the Company continues to believe that the adjusted cash cost per ounce will be within the previously stated guidance of $475-$495.
The assumptions used in determining the 2012 production and cost guidance: gold price of $1,400 per ounce, silver price of $25 per ounce, and costs associated with $100 per barrel fuel.
Major Capital Programs
Capital expenditures in 2012 are expected to total approximately $225 million. Significant capital projects include the following: ongoing condemnation and engineering drilling, permitting, progress payments for long-lead fixed and mobile equipment, engineering for the mill and gyratory crushing projects and infrastructure improvements.
The Company is currently expanding Hycroft operations to include increasing the mining rate, improving the metal recovery with crushing and ultimately milling processes and adding the potential to process sulfide material. The expansion project is the combination of three previously related projects announced:
The initial capital cost estimate for the expansion project is expected to be $1.2 billion. As of March 31, 2012, Allied Nevada had spent or committed $398.8 million, which is in line with the feasibility estimate for this equipment and represents approximately 32% of the total capital estimate. All equipment pricing is firm and includes freight and taxes. In the case of the mining equipment, the pricing also includes on-site assembly and commissioning. The Company anticipates that additional financing, in addition to future operating cash flows, existing cash and cash equivalents and capital lease commitments, will be required to meet the capital needs of the ongoing Hycroft expansion project.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward Looking Information
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (and the equivalent under Canadian securities laws) and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act, that are intended to be covered by the safe harbor created by such sections. Statements that are not historical fact are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements can be identified by, among other things, the use of forward-looking language, such as the words "plan," "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "estimate," "project," "may," "will," "would," "could," "should," "seeks," or "scheduled to," or other similar words, or the negative of these terms or other variations of these terms or comparable language, or by discussion of strategy or intentions. Such forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements regarding the results and indications of exploration drilling currently underway at Hycroft; the potential for confirming, upgrading and expanding gold and silver mineralized material at Hycroft; resource estimates and the timing of the release of updated estimates; estimates of gold and silver grades; anticipated costs, project economics, the realization of expansion and construction activities and the timing thereof and other statements that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements address activities, events or developments that Allied Nevada expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future, and are based on current expectations and assumptions.
Although Allied Nevada management believes that its expectations are based on reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance that these expectations will prove correct. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include, among others, risks that Allied Nevada's exploration and property advancement efforts will not be successful; risks relating to fluctuations in the price of gold and silver; the inherently hazardous nature of mining-related activities; uncertainties concerning reserve and resource estimates; uncertainties relating to obtaining approvals and permits from governmental regulatory authorities; and availability and timing of capital for financing the Company's exploration and development activities, including the uncertainty of being able to raise capital on favorable terms or at all; as well as those factors discussed in Allied Nevada's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") including Allied Nevada's latest Annual Report on Form 10-K and its other SEC filings (and Canadian filings) including, without limitation, its latest Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q (which may be secured from us, either directly or from our website at or at the SEC website ). The Company does not intend to publicly update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws.
The technical contents of this news release have been prepared under the supervision of David C. Flint, a Certified Professional Geologist with American Institute of Professional Geologists (A.I.P.G.), #10360, who is Vice President, Exploration for Allied Nevada Gold Corp. and is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. For further information regarding technical information in relation to the Hycroft property, please see the Technical Report titled "Technical Report, Allied Nevada Gold Corp. Hycroft Mine, Winnemucca, Nevada, USA" dated April 9, 2012, available on or on the Company's website.
Non-GAAP Measures
Adjusted cash costs is a non-GAAP measure, calculated on a per ounce of gold sold basis, and includes all direct and indirect operating cash costs related to the physical activities of producing gold, including mining, processing, third party refining expenses, on-site administrative and support costs, royalties, and mining production taxes, net of by-product revenue earned from silver sales. Adjusted cash costs provides management and investors with a further measure, in addition to conventional measures prepared in accordance with GAAP, to assess the Company's performance of the mining operations and ability to generate cash flows over multiple periods. Non-GAAP measures do not have any standardized meaning prescribed by GAAP and, therefore, may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies. Accordingly, the above measures are intended to provide additional information and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with GAAP.
The table below presents a reconciliation between non-GAAP adjusted cash costs to cost of sales (GAAP) for the three months ended March 31, 2012 and 2011 (in thousands, except ounces sold):
(1) Allied Nevada uses the non-GAAP financial measures "adjusted cash cost" in this document. Please see the section at the end of this press release and in the 2012 first quarter Form 10-Q titled "Non-GAAP Measures" for further information regarding these measures.
(2) For further information with respect to the Hycroft mineral reserve and resource estimates and the feasibility study, including all assumptions, parameters and risks related thereto, please see the Technical Report entitled "Technical Report, Allied Nevada Gold Corp, Hycroft Mine, Winnemucca, Nevada, USA" effective April 9, 2012, available on and on the Company's website.
Contacts:
Allied Nevada Gold Corp.
Scott Caldwell
President & CEO
(775) 358-4455
Allied Nevada Gold Corp.
Tracey Thom
Vice President, Investor Relations
(775) 789-0119
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Datum: 07.05.2012 - 10:00 Uhr
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