Resolute is building shareholder value through its strength as a successful de veloper and operator of quality gold projects. Its projects to date have yielded over 5 million ounces (155 tonnes) of gold. The Company is actively progressing its portfolio of projects to further enhance shareholder value.
We have been through a very turbulent time over the last year with our business buffeted by major global shifts. This saw us developing a major project through the global development and construction boom and then having to deal with its after effects by raising capital at the height of the global financial crisis.
One of the key positives through this period has been the performance of gold and with our rejuvenated production profile, we find ourselves in a strong position to benefit from the changed sentiment towards gold.
Gold production for the year was 303,000 ounces at a cash cost of A$714 per ounce and we are expecting around 400,000 ounces next year and more again in following years as Syama matures.
With the completion of construction at Syama, we have moved into the ramp up phase. One of the important outcomes from commissioning has been the validation of the flow sheet with gold production from the sulphide ore. Ramp up to rated throughput has been a slow process as the challenges to plant performance and reliability are overcome. This should shortly be achieved and the attention will then switch to the optimisation of the process.
While the focus at Syama at the moment is on the operation, we have a number of value add projects to pursue there. The free milling circuit has a significant resource to support its development and this can add another long term production stream that would lift production to more than 300,000 ounces per annum. In addition there is a large underground resource we are still to start scoping studies on to determine the extent to which it can be exploited. The Tabakoroni project to the south of Syama is completing feasibility and this could also be further feed for Syama. Finally, the potential for grid power to be extended to Syama is moving closer and this could deliver a significant benefit to the mine.
We have seen considerable change at Ravenswood during the year with the closure of the Sarsfield open pit in February and the commencement of treatment of low grade stockpiles. Mt Wright is becoming increasingly important as the decline reaches design depth and production and grade increases. Low grade stockpiles will continue to be blended with Mt Wright ore for maybe another year, following which Mt Wright will be the sole ore feed.
At Golden Pride we are well advanced on the new pit design. As well we have been able to advance a number of near pit deposits to development stage. These could help maintain production and extend mine life while we continue our exploration effort. Good exploration results will be the key to extending the life of the mine.
The overall exploration expenditure has been subdued over the last year however we intend to apply some of the recent capital raising to ensure we are moving forward with the most prospective projects. The exploration potential is exciting as we have a lot of prospective and very underexplored tenure to tackle.
We continue to run down our hedge book and the commitments now represents a small percentage of our overall gold reserves. Our delivery schedule will see the hedges eliminated within two years.
We have undertaken a number of capital raisings over the last year and these have been very important to meeting our working capital requirement for the Syama ramp up as well as allowing us to move forward on the range of value add opportunities we have.
Resolute finds itself in a fortunate position as a substantial gold producer in a strong gold market and we will quickly investigate ways to leverage this position into the future.
It has been an extremely testing period for the management team and we should thank them all for their tireless work. We have also received exceptional support from our shareholders and other groups during this time. We look forward to a less dramatic and more rewarding year ahead.
Peter Sullivan
Chief Executive Officer.
