London listed NQ Minerals Plc (AQSE: NQMI, OTCQB: NQMLF, OTCQB:NQMIY; Frankfurt: 44D) has announced that it has raised £35,000.00 (gross) at 7p per share from a private investor for general working capital purposes and the Company will issue 500,000 new ordinary shares under this equity issue.
Admission and Settlement
Application will be made for the Placing Shares to be admitted to trading on the Aquis Stock Exchange and admission is expected to occur on or around 22 July 2021 (“Admission“). Upon Admission, the Company will have 547,161,038 ordinary shares of 0.1p each in issue, each carrying the right to one vote. There are no shares held in treasury.
The total voting rights in the Company will therefore be 547,161,038 and shareholders may use this figure as the denominator by which they are required to notify their interest in, or change to their interest in, the Company under the Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules. The placing is conditional upon the terms of a placing agreement and the shares being admitted to trading on the Aquis Stock Exchange.
About NQ Minerals
NQ Minerals is a green mining company focused on the environmental rehabilitation and sustainable exploration and extraction of minerals required for a net zero emissions world at former precious metal mining locations in Australia.
NQ commenced environmental rehabilitation and base metal and precious metal production in 2018 at its 100% owned flagship Hellyer Gold Mine in Tasmania. In 2021, rehabilitation and exploration work began at its second flagship project, the historic high-grade Beaconsfield Gold Mine in Tasmania which it is planning to bring back into production later this year.
NQ Minerals Plc (AQSE: NQMI, OTCQB: NQMLF, OTCQB:NQMIY; Frankfurt: 44D) has advised that it has engaged in a plan to restructure its balance sheet and is well advanced in refinancing negotiations with major financial institutions.
In December 2020, the Company was successful in restructuring the Hellyer debt with a US$55 million package and the Company is now persuing means to follow on from this to restructure its debts with the intent to position NQ as a leading company in its sector with a balance sheet and financing capabilties equivalent to that of its peer group.
If the Company is successful over the coming months with its plans to restructure its balance sheet and refinance, this will secure the Company’s future and support its ambitious growth plans.
NQ Minerals also confirms that it is on track to provide a quarterly update for its Hellyer operations and cashflows, as it usually does in the first weeks following the end of the quarter. In advance of the quarterly update, the Company advises that Hellyer continued to operate well.
Debt Restructure of NQ at Plc level:
The Company also advises that it is working with NQ’s creditors to support the Company through this proposed balance sheet restructuring and refinancing exercise. The implementation of this strategy will require adherence of a number of investors and, whilst the Company is engaging with all of them, there can be no assurance that there will be enough support to approve the proposed changes. If successful though, the Company’s debt burden and quantum of annual principal and interest payments will be addressed providing the Plc the bandwidth it needs to operate for the future.
Board Changes:
Finally, pursuant to recent announcements, there have been significant changes to the Company’s board composition and management structure over the past 6 months with the resignation of three executive directors, and an update will be provided with respect to the Company’s management plans going forward.
NQ Minerals Plc (AQSE:NQMI, OTCQB:NQMLF, OTCQB:NQMIY; Frankfurt: 44D) has announced that mining and trucking operations at the Company’s 100% owned Beaconsfield Gold Mine in Tasmania, Australia, are progressing well. To date, a total of 22,290 tonnes of Wetlands material has been trucked to stockpiles in the processing plant area.
Trucking operations continue to move a significant quantity of material to the processing plant.
David Lenigas, NQ Minerals Chairman, commented; “Work to move the Wetlands material continues at pace at our Beaconsfield Gold Mine, with a fleet of 6 trucks moving the material to the Beaconsfield Processing Plant area. We are having a good window with the weather and plan to create a significant stockpile at the plant area. Further updates on tonnes and gold grades will be made available as material information comes to hand.”
Left: Beaconsfield Wetlands area deposited near the Processing Plant. Right: Excavation in the Wetlands environmental cleanup area.
NQ Minerals is a green mining company focused on the environmental rehabilitation and sustainable exploration and extraction of minerals required for a net zero emissions world at former precious metal mining locations in Australia.
NQ commenced environmental rehabilitation and base metal and precious metal production in 2018 at its 100% owned flagship Hellyer Gold Mine in Tasmania. In 2021, rehabilitation and exploration work began at its second flagship project, the historic high-grade Beaconsfield Gold Mine in Tasmania which it is planning to bring back into production later this year.
The Group’s combined published reserves and resources cover precious metals gold and silver, and battery metals lead and zinc. Its Hellyer property has a published JORC compliant Mineral Resource estimated as of the end of August 2020 at 7.57 Mt which is host to Gold at 2.60 g/t Au for 633,600 oz Au, Silver at 94 g/t Ag for 22,873,600 oz Ag, Lead at 3.01% Pb for 228,000 tonnes and Zinc at 2.33% Zn for 176,700 tonnes. Meanwhile, Beaconsfield has a JORC (2012) compliant Mineral Resource Estimate of 1.454 Mt at 10.3 g/t Au for 483,000 ounces of gold. NQ’s portfolio also includes an EV battery nickel cobalt project in Tasmania.
NQ Minerals Plc (AQSE:NQMI), the green mining company with significant mining operations in Tasmania Australia, is pleased to announce the Company’s ordinary shares are now dual listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (“FSE”).
Trading commenced today Wednesday, May 5 at 8:00 a.m. (CET) under the code 44D.
NQ is among the first companies with a primary listing on London’s Aquis Exchange (“AQSE”) to achieve a dual listing on the FSE and have worked closely with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Wertpapieranalyse GmbH (“DGWA”), a mining and resource focused European investment banking boutique, to achieve this milestone.
The Company’s primary reporting exchange remains London AQSE and, as previously announced, the Company is working to seek admission of its ordinary shares to the Standard List on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange.
On a successful listing on the LSE, the Company is expected to qualify for London Stock Exchange’s Green Economy Mark at Admission, which recognises companies that derive 50% or more of their total annual revenues from products and services that contribute to the global green economy. The underlying methodology incorporates the Green Revenues data model developed by FTSE Russell, which helps investors understand the global industrial transition to a green and low carbon economy with consistent, transparent data and indexes.
No additional NQ securities have been issued as part of the dual-listing process.
Mr. Stefan Müller, CEO of DGWA, said, “DGWA are excited to be working closely with NQ Minerals to help them achieve the dual listing on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. German investor interest in producing mining companies is significant; we anticipate this German listing will provide EU investors an opportunity to participate in that growth. We are confident that NQ Minerals will be warmly welcomed among the European investment community and look forward to supporting their activity in the region over the time ahead.”
NQ Minerals Chairman, David Lenigas, commented, “As part of our stated strategy to secure exposure on Tier1 exchanges, we are delighted to now be dual-listed on the Frankfurt Exchange, the biggest continental European stock exchange and world’s 12th largest stock exchange by market capitalization . The German investor audience is acutely tuned into the mining sector and green investment and has a deep understanding of the end markets that our sustainably extracted minerals impact as those sectors seek to reduce their carbon footprint. We will likewise continue with the ongoing process for admission onto the London Stock Exchange’s main market and are encouraged by our Green Economy Mark pre-qualification.”
NQ Minerals plc (AQSE:NQMI) Executive Chairman David Lenigas joins DirectorsTalk to discuss the completed surface trenching programme at the Beaconsfield Gold Mine. David talks us through the results highlights, the impact the surface potential has for NQ, the plan going forward, key takeaways from the Hellyer Mine’s Q1 2021 provisional unaudited financial results and shares his thoughts on the fact that larger trading houses are now involved with the Aquis exchange.
NQ Minerals is an expanding base and precious metals production and exploration company with its operations centred around its Hellyer Operations in Tasmania, Australia.
NQ Minerals Plc (AQSE:NQMI), the base and precious metals producer from its 100% owned flagship Hellyer Mine and the 100% owner of the Beaconsfield Gold Mine, both in Tasmania, Australia, has reported its First Quarter 2021 provisional and unaudited operating financial results and production results from NQ’s wholly owned subsidiary Hellyer Gold Mines Pty Ltd. These results do not factor in associated costs at the Plc level.
Provisional First Quarter 2021 Unaudited Financial Summary:
(Note: Results reported in Australian dollars (“A$”))
Mining and processing operations at Hellyer realised provisional First Quarter 2021 gross revenues of A$17.9m, operating profits from operations of A$9.7m and net income of A$4.8m for the period from 1 January 2021 to 31 March 2021.
A major capital works programme at Hellyer to construct the new circa A$15m Hellyer tailings storage facility (TSF2) was essentially completed by the end of the quarter. Worthy of note is that tailings from the Hellyer plant started flowing into TSF2 in the second week of this month and came in 17% under its original budget, which was an exceptional achievement from the site management teams.
Note: These unaudited results may vary post audit completion.
NQ Minerals’ Chairman, Mr David Lenigas, said:
“Hellyer achieved another strong financial performance for the first quarter this year. The completion of the new A$15 million Stage 1 TSF tailings dam was a major technical achievement on site and stands the project in good stead for the future.”
London listed NQ Minerals Plc (AQSE: NQMI, OTCQB: NQMLF, OTCQB:NQMIY), the base and precious metals producer from its 100% owned flagship Hellyer Mine and the 100% owner of the Beaconsfield Gold Mine, both in northern Tasmania, Australia, announces that the Company is expected to qualify for London Stock Exchange’s Green Economy Mark at Admission, which recognises companies that derive 50% or more of their total annual revenues from products and services that contribute to the global green economy. The underlying methodology incorporates the Green Revenues data model developed by FTSE Russell, which helps investors understand the global industrial transition to a green and low carbon economy with consistent, transparent data and indexes.
NQ announced on the 18 January 2021 that it had submitted a draft prospectus to the UK Financial Conduct Authority for approval. The Company is considering applying for admission of its ordinary shares to the Official List of the FCA by way of a Standard Listing and to trading on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange. The process is ongoing.
NQ Minerals operations are in Australia. NQ commenced base metal and precious metal production in 2018 at its 100% owned flagship Hellyer Gold Mine in Tasmania. Hellyer has a published JORC compliant Mineral Resource estimated as of the end of August 2020 at 7.57 Mt which is host to Gold at 2.60 g/t Au for 633,600 oz Au, Silver at 94 g/t Ag for 22,873,600 oz Ag, Lead at 3.01% Pb for 228,000 tonnes and Zinc at 2.33% Zn for 176,700 tonnes. In addition to these resources, the Hellyer assets include a large mill facility and full supporting infrastructure. The Company is also planning to re-open the historic high-grade Beaconsfield Gold Mine in Tasmania, which has a JORC (2012) compliant Mineral Resource Estimate of 1.454 Mt at 10.3 g/t Au for 483,000 ounces of gold.
NQ Minerals plc (AQSE:NQMI) Executive Chairman David Lenigas caught up with DirectorsTalk for an exclusive interview to discuss the start of surface trenching at Beaconsfield, what this means for the company, completing the final stages of the metallurgical optimisation and the filing of a prospectus to list on the London Standard List stock exchange.
Q1: Great news, I see permission has been granted for the ability to start surface trenching at NQ Minerals’ Beaconsfield mine. David, could you just talk us through the highlights of that?
A1: The Beaconsfield gold mine is one of richest historic gold mines in Australia, from an underground perspective. Two phases of mining, nearly 2 million ounces produced at better than half an ounce to the tonne and at the moment, we’ve got JORC resource of around 500,000 ounces still sitting at the bottom of the mine which we’re working to covert to a reserve statement.
Historically, there were no open cuts at Beaconsfield and very little exploration work at surface and some of the exploration work that has been done, the historic drilling has found vast potential for potential open pit and surface ore at Beaconsfield.
So, we put our applications into the government to start exploring at surface, they’ve been granted, we have a Chief Geologist joining us on site on 1st February and the plan is to start trenching, followed up by drilling to start adding to the JORC resources that exist at Beaconsfield.
Also, the important thing for surface tonnage at Beaconsfield, because most of our resources that exist are at the bottom of the existing Beaconsfield mine, is it’ll be free-milling type gold and it’ll be very good plant feed for the Beaconsfield plant for when we get that up and operational.
So, yes, it’s very exciting and I think retail shareholders, particularly looking at the gold side, would like to see exploration success because people want to buy the dream and Beaconsfield has a big dream ahead of it. Nearly 2 million ounces historically produced, another 500,000 ounces still in ground that’s being drilled up and we expect to increase that resource base quite significantly this year.
Q2: Just talking about the future, what does the resumption of gold exploration mean for the company?
A2: It’s about increasing the resource base and finding additional tonnage that we can put through the Beaconsfield plant whilst we’re putting down the proposed new plant to reconnect the plant with the 500,000 of resource sitting down at the bottom of the Beaconsfield mine.
So, it will add a lot of news releases for shareholders because it’s a big priority for us to increase the resource base at Beaconsfield, it’s very exciting and lots of news throughout the year.
Q3: Now, you’ve announced that the company is completing final stages of the metallurgical optimisation, can you expand on that for us?
A3: The sediments that we’ve already got lined up, which is about 120,000 tonnes from our geologists information at about 3.5g, we just need to work out the best metallurgical process to modify the Beaconsfield plant so we can get good recoveries.
A lot of those bulk samples are sitting with the met labs at the moment and that will give us the definitive systems designs that we need to modify the Beaconsfield plant to put the Beaconsfield into production so we can maximise our gold recovery. There’s quite a lot of profit there and we just want to make sure that we get that profit for when we start the plant up.
Q4: Finally, and quite excitingly really, you recently announced the filing of a prospectus to list on the London Standard List stock exchange. What does that mean for NQ Minerals?
A4: AQUIS has been a great market for the company in getting the job done, as some shareholders will know and some of the market will know that I was appointed to the Board a bit over a year ago. We had a number of objectives set at the time:
Firstly, to get our Hellyer operations into a very profitable position, that box is ticked,
The second objective was to restructure the debt that surrounded the security over the Hellyer operations, which is our flagship operation and we achieve d that with ING with a $55 million debt refinancing facility in December so that box is ticked.
The third box was to seek a listing on a tier one stock exchange and the Board decided in its wisdom that London was the appropriate market for us. People own shares in NQ have got it in CREST, it’s immediately fungible from a broking perspective between AQUIS and an LSE listing and we’ve been working with our lawyers to prepare the prospectus for many many months now and that was filed last week.
So, that’s a very good move for us if we can achieve the listing on the LSE. Importantly, the LSE is going to give us a lot more liquidity in our share price, AQUIS is very short in liquidity, a lot of brokers and investors just don’t trade AQUIS but everybody in the world can trade the LSE.
So, it’s process, hopefully the process won’t take that long but it’s a big objective of ours to get our shares trading on a very liquid exchange and I think if we can achieve an LSE main board listing on the Standard List then we’ll see a lot of increase in liquidity and therefore a lot of interest in what the company is about. We’ve got two very great projects, we’ve also got the nickel and the cobalt that we’re aggressively pursuing and I see a big rerate for the company coming if we can achieve this so it’s pedal to the metal to get that achieved.
NQ Minerals plc (AQSE:NQMI) Chairman David Lenigas joins DirectorsTalk to discuss the granting to start over 2 kilometres of surface trenching at the Company’s Beaconsfield Gold Mine in northern Tasmania, Australia. David talks us through the highlights, explains what it means for the company, expands on the final stages of metallurgical optimisation and what it means to list on the Standard List of the London Stock Exchange.
NQ Minerals operations are in Australia. NQ commenced base metal and precious metal production in 2018 at its 100% owned flagship Hellyer Gold Mine in Tasmania. Hellyer has a published JORC compliant Mineral Resource estimated as of the end of August 2020 at 7.57 Mt which is host to Gold at 2.60 g/t Au for 633,600 oz Au, Silver at 94 g/t Ag for 22,873,600 oz Ag, Lead at 3.01% Pb for 228,000 tonnes and Zinc at 2.33% Zn for 176,700 tonnes. In addition to these resources, the Hellyer assets include a large mill facility and full supporting infrastructure. The Company is also planning to re-open the historic high-grade Beaconsfield Gold Mine in Tasmania, which has a JORC (2012) compliant Mineral Resource Estimate of 1.454 Mt at 10.3 g/t Au for 483,000 ounces of gold. Regular updates on the progress of the Hellyer Gold Mine and Beaconsfield can be viewed on NQ’s website.
NQ Minerals plc (AQSE:NQMI) Executive Chairman David Lenigas caught up with DirectorsTalk for an exclusive interview to discuss their year-end operations update, achieving better than expected production rates, a new Hellyer tailings construction project and what investors can expect going forward.
Q1: First off, congratulations on progressing so well through 2020 in the year end operations update. David, can you just talk us through those highlights?
A1: It was a big transformational year for NQ Minerals, our Hellyer operations finally ran to production and exceeded our original expectations when the project was first muted to be started. A lot of the improvement came in the second half when we got production up to circa 1.4/1.5 million tonnes a year through the processing plant. We have very significant production of lead, zinc gold and silver now and 2021 is really where we’re focusing now in improving production even further.
We’ve got better metal prices, lead, zinc, gold, and silver are up from where they were at the beginning of last year so 2021 will be a year of even more improvement and more profitability for Hellyer.
Now we’re looking at other ways to extend mine life, looking at concepts of bringing the underground back into production to extend our mine life out from 7-8 years, well beyond that. Also, bringing our Beaconsfield gold mine into production is a really big focus this year and that’ll be our second flagship operation so things are looking very good.
Q2: Now, you said that the Hellyer operations have finally achieved production rates better than your original forecast. Could you just expand on that for us a little?
A2: Well, the original plan for Hellyer was 1.2 million tonnes a year through the processing plant and we managed to achieve that in about June last year and by the end of the year, we’re up at about 1.4 million tonnes a year. So, all of that goes straight to the top and bottom line.
We’re fairly confident we can increase production further, the engineers on site and the management are working on that all the tonnes that we can produce extra adds significant revenue and profits to the company so that’s a big focus this quarter.
Q3: You mentioned a new Hellyer tailings construction project, what more can you tell us about that?
A3: It’s a massive, massive construction project, it’s a multi tens of millions of dollar project we’re well and truly into it. It’s part of the original mine plan, it was delayed for some time because Hellyer took some time to get up to full operational speed, but it’s now well and truly under construction.
We hope to be depositing tailings from the Hellyer plant into the new TSF2 maybe February but probably by March, and that gives us the longevity of the Hellyer operations and also provides us a big empty tailing dam, which is the existing one, for future operations, for underground and potentially other projects in the area. Tailings dams are very difficult to build and permit and it’s a big construction project and Hellyer is doing well to pay for it and that’s why profitability is key.
Q4: Just looking forward, what are the news can investors expect from NQ Minerals?
A4: Well, we’re expecting a lot of news on Hellyer expansion, moving Beaconsfield forward, we’re actively working on the tier one stock exchange listing, which I don’t think it’ll be too long before there’s some news on that. We like AQUIS, it been very good for us and we’re also looking at having our securities traded on a premium global stock exchange so the team’s been working very actively on that.
I think it’s going to be a very active year for news and for growth, the resources market is looking positive, there’s a lot of fiscal stimulus globally from governments with the COVID-19 pandemic and a lot of the recoveries needs resources to be put to work.
We are a company that spans a lot of resources that the world needs, lead, zinc, gold, silver, and with our Barnes Hill initiative, nickel, and cobalt. So, we’ve got good products that can be seen to be moved into the commercial market so we’re in pretty good shape.
NQ Minerals Plc (AQSE:NQMI), the base and precious metals producer from its 100% owned flagship Hellyer Mine and the 100% owner of the Beaconsfield Gold Mine, both in northern Tasmania, Australia, has reported its 2020 Full Year provisional and unaudited operating financial results and production results from NQ’s wholly owned subsidiary Hellyer Gold Mines Pty Ltd. These results do not factor in associated costs at the Plc level.
Provisional 2020 Full Year Unaudited Financial Summary:
(Note: Results reported in Australian dollars (“A$”))
Improved tonnage throughput from the mining and processing operations at Hellyer realised provisional 2020 FY gross revenues of A$63.3m, operating profits from operations of A$24.0m and net income of A$22.7m to 31 December 2020.
Worthy of note is the progress on the TSF2 construction with a 2020 yearly capex spend of A$8.8m representing 60.8% completion to 31 December 2020. Note: These unaudited results may vary post audit completion.
NQ Minerals’ Chairman, Mr David Lenigas, said:
“Hellyer’s strong financial performance last year was driven by increased tonnage and steadily improving commodity prices, and when we consider that the operations were only turned up from around 110 tonnes per hour (“tph”) to 150 tph through the plant in the middle of the year and around 180 tph in December, these results were excellent.
“The last quarter (Q4) of 2020 was especially pleasing, with gross revenues of A$19.2m, operating profits of A$9.4m and net income of A$7.4m. This performance was largely due to the Hellyer plant throughtput rates increasing to 180 tph when permissible, noticeably reducing unit operating costs into an overall stronger commodity price environment.”
NQ Minerals plc (AQSE:NQMI) Executive Chairman David Lenigas joins DirectorsTalk to discuss the 2020 year-end operations update. David talks us through the highlights, expands on production rates that are better than originally forecast, tells us more about a major new Hellyer tailings construction project and lets us know what investors should be looking out for over the coming months.
NQ Minerals is an expanding base and precious metals production and exploration company with its operations centred around its Hellyer Operations in Tasmania, Australia.
NQ Minerals Plc (AQSE:NQMI) the base and precious metals producer from its 100% owned flagship Hellyer Mine and the 100% owner of the Beaconsfield Gold Mine, both in northern Tasmania, Australia, has announced its 2020 year-end operations update from the Company’s 100% owned Hellyer Mine in Tasmania, Australia, to the 31 December and an update on its Beaconsfield Gold Mine.
Hellyer Operations Update:
Hellyer Production Results by Quarter for 2020 and Full Year
Reconciled Production
Q42020
Q32020
Q22020
Q12020
Full Year2020
Lead Concentrate (tonnes)
9,565
11,865
8,762
8,127
38,319
Zinc Concentrate (tonnes)
5,583
4,585
4,241
4,609
19,019
2020 saw consistently improving production output at Hellyer, driven by a systematic plan that increased capacity at the plant to around 1.4 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) by year end. This throughput compares to the initial project steady state forecast of 1.2 mtpa and a revised throughput target of 1.5 mtpa planned for the end of Q1 2021. In addition, the Company completed its US$55 million debt refinancing package for the asset in December and secured Hellyer’s concentrate off-take until end of mine-life for the tailings reprocessing operations.
Overall production for the 2020 comprised:
· Lead concentrates of 38,319 tonnes – up 53% from the previous year (2019 FY: 24,980 tonnes).
· Zinc concentrates of 19,019 tonnes – up 22% from the previous year (2019 FY: 15,646 tonnes).
Payable gross gold production for 2020 was 5,452 ounces and payable gross silver production was 1,106,440 ounces. These saleable precious metals reported to the lead and zinc concentrates.
Major New Hellyer Tailings Construction Project:
The long-term mining and processing plan called for the construction of a new tailings dam at the Hellyer operations. This new tailings dam (TSF2) will service the existing life-of-mine operations from the tailings retreatment project. In addition, this new dam will provide for additional tailings storage capacity in the emptied TSF1 dam for a potential re-opening of the Hellyer underground mining operations, where significant high-grade mineralisation still exists, as previously reported.
Construction of TSF2 commenced at Hellyer in Q4. Tailings deposition into Stage 1 of the new TSF2 is scheduled to start around the end of Q1 2021.The capital cost of Stage 1 TSF2, when completed, will be around Australian $16.7 million. This stage comprises both the earthworks of the first lift as well as the foundations and water management infrastructure for the fully completed dam. The completed TSF2 to final stage is estimated to cost around Australian $30 million in total and this has been budgeted for in Hellyer’s financial model.
Hellyer Reserves and Resources Update:
Independent consultants CSA Global (UK) Limited have completed a revised competent person’s report (CPR) about Hellyer, dated 19/11/2020. The revised CPR includes an updated Mineral Resource and Ore Reserve estimate taking into account the depletion by way of mining and processing of 1,679,676 tonnes since the publication of the previous CPR dated 20 November 2017.
CSA Global, as part of their CPR and Ore Reserve estimate, also calculated that the NPV10 of Hellyer’s tailings reprocessing activity is US$137.8 million before tax (using metal prices based on input assumptions from Consensus Economics (www.consensuseconomics.com) and current as of 21st September 2020). These prices comprised:
Market Assumptions used in Hellyer Reserve NPV (CSA Global Aug 2020)
The revised CPR is available on the Company’s website and can be accessed at: https://www.nqminerals.com/important-documents/
Beaconsfield Gold Mine Update:
NQ has commissioned independent consultants Pitt & Sherry in Tasmania, who are very familiar with the Beaconsfield mine when it was in operation up to the mine’s closure in 2012, to calculate the gold reserves and provide an economic model from the previously reported JORC (2012) compliant Mineral Resource Estimate of 1.454 Mt at 10.3 g/t Au for 483,000 ounces. This work is expected to be completed by the end of this quarter.
On the metallurgical front, detailed carbon loading analysis for the gold stripping circuit are awaited to finalise the full plant refurbishment and start-up costs and schedule.
Now that the Hellyer debt refinancing has been completed; the Company’s focus will switch to getting Beaconsfield into gold production.
NQ Minerals’ Chairman, Mr David Lenigas, said:
“2020 was a highly successful and pivotal year for the Company, having seen our flagship Hellyer operations finally achieve production rates better than originally forecast from the original mine start-up plan. Hellyer’s year end performance, and the revenue boosts associated with production rates of around 1.4 million tonnes per annum, were instrumental in securing a major US$55m debt refinancing package for Hellyer. Efforts to improve Hellyer’s output will continue through 2021 and work there will move towards evaluating the potential of re-opening the underground operations. At our Beaconsfield Gold Mine, we await the receipt of the independent reserve assessment report and the economic model. Getting Beaconsfield operational is seen as an important driver for future revenues and profits.”
NQ Minerals Plc (AQSE:NQMI, OTCQB:NQMLF, OTCQB:NQMIY) has announced that its subsidiary Hellyer Gold Mines Pty Ltd and ING Bank N.V. have signed a US$55 million loan facility. The Company’s intention with respect to this facility was previously announced by the Company on 10 August 2020.
The funds from the ING Facility are being used to immediately retire all project debt maturing in 2020. This project debt was secured over the assets of, and shares in, Hellyer, the Company’s tailings reprocessing project in Tasmania, Australia.
At the same time, Hellyer has signed life-of-mine marketing agreements with Traxys Europe S.A. for the purchase of all the metal concentrates to be produced from its tailings reprocessing activities.
The ING Facility has a 6-year duration with scheduled monthly amortization repayments of principal commencing in August 2021 and continuing until the final maturity date. A cash sweep mechanism, included in the facility, may require early repayment of principal from all or part of the surplus cash available from the Hellyer project activities.
The ING Facility is secured on a senior basis over the assets of Hellyer, which consist of the tailings reserves and the processing plant at the Hellyer site, as well as the shares in Hellyer, which is 100% owned by NQ. The facility agreement includes reporting, cash management, hedging, prepayment and covenant arrangements and obligations that are tailored for a debt facility of this nature. The Company’s existing intercreditor arrangements have been amended to accommodate the consequent changes to NQ’s lender group, as well as to its pre-existing security agreements and streaming arrangements.
The ING Facility bears an initial interest rate of Libor plus 6.5% p.a. which falls to Libor plus 6% p.a. once hedges have been executed and this is expected to generate interest savings for Hellyer of about US$3.4m per annum with immediate effect.
NQ Mineral’s Chairman, David Lenigas, said;
“The signing of this US$55 million facility with ING is a major milestone in NQ’s corporate evolution and bodes well for the future of our mining operations at Hellyer and elsewhere in Australia. The completion of this refinancing transaction allows us to both reduce funding costs and align funding maturities in line with mining operations.
“I would like to thank the many people, within ING, our project funders and NQ, as well as all the respective legal teams, who have worked tirelessly on closing this important facility. In particular, I would like to also thank the Traxys team who, in addition to their initial project funding of Hellyer and marketing the Hellyer concentrates, introduced the Company to ING and have assisted at each step in the refinance process.
“The ability to complete the agreement against a backdrop of the Covid 19 pandemic is a testament to the effort and excellent collaboration between each of the parties throughout the process.”
NQ Minerals Plc (AQSE:NQMI), the base and precious metals producer from its Hellyer Gold Mine in Tasmania Australia, has announced that it has raised £337,000 (gross) at 7p per share from a UK based Institutional investor and a group of private investors for general working capital purposes and the Company will issue 4,814,282 new ordinary shares under this equity issue.
Admission and Settlement
Application has been made for the Placing Shares to be admitted to trading on the Aquis Stock Exchange and admission is expected to occur on or around 4 November 2020. Upon Admission, the Company will have 385,935,199 ordinary shares of 0.1p each in issue, each carrying the right to one vote. There are no shares held in treasury.
The total voting rights in NQ Minerals will therefore be 385,935,199 and shareholders may use this figure as the denominator by which they are required to notify their interest in, or change to their interest in, the Company under the Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules. The placing is conditional upon the terms of a placing agreement and the shares being admitted to trading on the Aquis Stock Exchange.
NQ Minerals plc (AQSE:NQMI) Executive Chairman David Lenigas caught up with DirectorsTalk for an exclusive interview to discuss production figures at Hellyer, further increasing production and what to look out for in the next quarter in terms of news flow.
Q1: First off, great news on production figures today. David, can you talk us through the highlights?
A1: NQ Minerals had a very good quarter at our Hellyer operations, as we announced at the beginning of the year, we’ve been going through a number of programmes at our flagship Hellyer multi-polymetallic mine which is quite substantial to increase revenue and profit and turnover from the operations there.
Quarter three saw a big jump in our revenues and gross profits, revenues jumped to $19.1 million for the quarter, gross profits jumped to over $10 million and there was some adjustments that lifted it up to about $15 million for the quarter.
That is purely as a result of two things, one is that we upped our production rate to well over 1.2 million tonnes a year at effectively the first of the quarter, 1st of July where saw those results come through and impact the top and bottom line quite substantially. Towards the end of the quarter, we started increasing production even further to the point that I think we’re running pretty close to 1.35 million tonnes a year, and that has a direct influence on our top and bottom line.
So, it’s a very good result.
Q2: Now, you said that the company is currently finalising designs and operational procedures to further increase production. Could you expand on that for us?
A2: We’re currently just finalising some reconfigurations of the circuit and our mining practices to up our production to about 180 tonnes an hour which is about 1.5 million tonnes a year of high grade lead/zinc production. We produce two types of product, we produce a lead concentrate and a zinc concentrate, we also produce significant amounts of silver and gold as payables within those concentrates.
So, I think if we look at the numbers, I think silver is probably our biggest revenue kicker but we would like to see 180 tonnes an hour, 1.5 million tonnes a year by the end of this calendar year. I think that puts us in a very strong position for increased revenues and profits from the main operation.
Q3: Just looking forward, what other news can investors expect from NQ Minerals, perhaps in the next quarter?
A3: This is probably going to be the paramount quarter for NQ since I’ve joined the company last November.
We announced a little while ago that we were working with ING to restructure 55 million worth of NQ’s corporate debt, that work is proceeding very well, I would like to be in a position to announce to the market over the coming weeks that we’ve resolved that issue and we’ve restructured a very significant amount of the company’s corporate debt, which also increases our top and bottom line, our bottom line numbers very substantially.
That also paves the way for the work that we’re doing with the prospectus to move to a tier one global stock exchange main board listing and our lawyers has been working very hard on that with our legal and corporate due diligence teams.
So, fingers crossed within the next coming weeks, we’ll also be presenting a prospectus to a main board stock exchange with the view of having NQ shares traded on a far more liquid market than the current AQUIS Exchange at the moment.
One more thing that we’re looking very forward to is there’ll be quite a lot of news flow on what we’re doing with our new Beaconsfield gold mine. We’ve just been receiving all the engineering quotes to refurbish the plant to 2020 safety and operational standards, we’ll probably make some news on that quite shortly, and what our plans are with respect to opening up the Beaconsfield gold mine.
That alone has huge impact on our top and bottom line as a corporate entity so this quarter coming, there’ll be a lot of news and news that I think will excite our shareholders and potential new shareholders so things are going very well.
NQ Minerals plc (AQSE:NQMI, OTCQB:NQMLF, US ADR OTCQB:NQMIY) Executive Chairman David Lenigas joins DirectorsTalk to discuss production results and unaudited financial results for its wholly owned Hellyer Gold Mines Pty Ltd. David talks us through the highlights, expands on designs and operational procedures to further increase production and lets us know what else investors should be looking forward to in terms of news flow.
NQ Minerals Plc is listed on London’s Aquis Stock Exchange (AQSE) under the ticker NQMI and has it’s 1:100 ADR traded on the US OTC QB under ticker NQMIY and its ordinary shares are dual traded on the US OTC QB under the ticker NQMLF.
Questions we put to David:
1) 00.27 Great news on production figures today, can you talk us through the highlights please?
2) 01.49 The Company is currently finalising designs and operational procedures to further increase production, could you expand on this?
3) 02.51 What other news can investors expect from NQ Minerals in the next quarter?
NQ Minerals Plc (AQSE:NQMI, OTCQB:NQMLF, US ADR OTCQB:NQMIY) has announced its production results and unaudited financial results for its wholly owned Hellyer Gold Mines Pty Ltd for the quarter ending 30 September 2020 (Q3 2020).
Lead concentrate production was up 35% from the previous quarter (ending 30 June 2020) and up 78% compared to the same quarter last year.
Zinc concentrate production was up 8% from the previous quarter and up 38% compared to the same quarter last year.
Significantly, unaudited net revenue from Hellyer for the quarter was A$19.1m and gross profit realised for the quarter was A$10.7m. During the quarter, the Company realised positive commodity finalisation adjustments which increased net income before income taxes for the quarter at Hellyer to A$15.8m.
Note:The financial information for the quarter ended 30 September 2020 has not been audited.
Table 1: Production Results for Q3 & Q2 2020 and Q3 2019 (comparative):
Reconciled Production
Q3 2020
Q2 2020
Q3 2019
Lead Concentrate (tonnes)
11,865
8,762
6,655
Zinc Concentrate (tonnes)
4,585
4,241
3,311
The Hellyer operations continued undergoing processing circuit modifications during Q3 2020, and production rates have been increased further to 165 tonnes per hour (“tph”) at the end of September 2020. The Company is currently finalising designs and operational procedures to further increase production to 180 tph, or the equivalent to 1,500,000 tonnes per annum.
NQ Minerals’ Executive Chairman, Mr David Lenigas, said;
“We are continuing to see much improved production and revenue performances from NQ’s flagship Hellyer polymetallic operations in Tasmania, Australia. The efforts being exerted by our dedicated management and staff are producing very significant leaps forward with respect to the way Hellyer performs. Our Hellyer focus for this coming quarter is targeted towards furthering our plant output initiatives.”
NQ Minerals Plc (AQSE:NQMI) has announced its interim financial results for the six months ended 30 June 2020.
The Company wishes to highlight the H1 2020 financial results represent the state of the Company before the Hellyer Mine’s processing capacity was increased significantly. The Company announced on 2 July 2020 that processing rates increased to 150 tonnes per hour, or the equivalent of over 1.2 million tonnes per annum.
The Hellyer operations continued undergoing processing circuit modifications during Q3 2020, and production rates have been increased further to 165 tonnes per hour at the end of September 2020. To highlight this, the Company was pleased to report that an average annualised production rate of 1.23 Mtpa for the months of July and August 2020 has been achieved. This is a very significant increase from Q1 2020 performance of 0.905 Mtpa and Q2 2020 rates of 1.01 Mtpa and compares to 2019 Hellyer’s full year plant throughput totalling 0.84 million tonnes (an average of 103 tph and 92% plant availability).
Highlights:
– During H1 2020, the Company produced 16,889 tonnes of lead concentrate and 8,850 tonnes of zinc concentrate, this represents a 66% and 19% increase in production respectively compared to H1 2019.
– During H1 2020, the Company generated £15.6 million in Revenue from concentrate sales and £5.3 million in Gross Profit which represents 10% and 58% increases respectively despite lead prices dropping from 2019 prices of approximately US$2,300 per tonne to below US$1,600 per tonne during H1 2020. Lead and Zinc prices have since recovered considerably in H2 2020 to date.
– In April, the Company announced first quarter of lead concentrate production totalling 8,127 tonnes and zinc concentrate production of 4,609 tonnes. Production rates were increased with further increases announced (see 28 September 2020 press release).
– In June, the Company announced the closing of the acquisition of the historic Beaconsfield Gold Mine in Tasmania, Australia.
– In August, the Company announced it has signed a commitment letter issued by ING Bank N.V. (“ING”) for a US$55 million loan in respect to the refinancing of the Company’s existing project debt.
– In September, the Company announced that it had successfully increased production and processing rates up to 165 tph and plans are being finalised to increase production further to 180 tph, the equivalent of 1.5 Mtpa.
Corporate
NQ has been active on several corporate initiatives which include enhancing the profile and visibility of the Company in the global capital markets space, diversifying our portfolio of assets, and moves to restructuring our diverse debt package that was initially put in place to fund the re-opening of the Hellyer operations.
The Company’s shares are now traded in the USA through the OTC Markets. The Company now has an American Depository Receipt (“ADR”) traded in the United States under the ticker NQMIY and the ordinary shares trade under the ticker NQMLF.
NQ believes that having an ADR traded in the United States will provide additional trading liquidity in the world’s largest capital market. To further expand our global market presence, the Company has also engaged specialists DGWA in Germany to seek a listing on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (“Börse Frankfurt”).
In late February 2020, the Company signed a binding staged acquisition agreement totalling £1.05 million to purchase a 100% interest in the historic high-grade Beaconsfield Gold Mine in Tasmania and, after extensive due diligence, NQ took formal ownership of the mine in late June 2020. Beaconsfield is historically one of the richest gold mines in Tasmania, with past production totalling nearly 2 million ounces of gold from 1887 to 2012 at an average grade of nearly 15 grams per tonne gold. The Company plans to bring Beaconsfield back to gold production as soon as practicably possible.
In August 2020, the Company announced that ING Bank N.V. (“ING”), a leading global resources bank, committed to provide the Company with a US$55 million loan, subject to further conditions. This facility will allow the Company to repay Hellyer’s early project debt and reduce the Company’s interest expense by approximately US$2.5 million per annum.
Production
Hellyer Gold Mine – Tasmania, Australia
During the half year, the Company announced several record-breaking month-over-month production performances at Hellyer. These results built on the January 2020 Company announcement about record Hellyer production for the month of December 2019 and for the fourth quarter of 2019.
Production statistics for 2019 -2020 quarter vs quarter and 2019-2020 half vs half were as follows:
Reconciled Production
2020 Q1
2020 Q2
2019 Q1
2019 Q2
H1 2020
H1 2019
Lead Concentrate tonnes
8,127
8,762
4,712
5,452
16,889
10,164
Zinc Concentrate tonnes
4,609
4,241
3,015
4,416
8,850
7,431
These results reflect strong improvements in metal recoveries in both our lead and zinc concentrate circuits during the 2019 and 2020 year-to-date financial years.
In addition, continuous plant improvements and expansion plans saw plant throughput increase steadily throughout the year, and the mine managed to achieve production rates exceeding 1.2 million tonnes per year in the last days of June 2020, with further increases planned to 1.5 million tonnes per annum.
Production to date has focused primarily on getting the best out of the lead and zinc concentrate streams, with optimisation work continuing to show gradual and steady improvements.
With Hellyer’s published JORC compliant Mineral Resource Estimated at 9.25 Mt (which is host to gold at 2.57 g/t for 764,300 oz, silver at 92 g/t Ag for 27,360,300 oz, lead at 2.99% for 276,600 tonnes and zinc at 2.57% for 217,400 tonnes), gold is the main in situ value metal. A number of opportunities to economically recover extra gold and silver from the Hellyer resource are being evaluated. Related studies are assessing process options, estimating capital and operating costs and establishing project execution approaches.
In the early part of 2020, to complement the Hellyer surface operations, NQ fortuitously managed to secure the rights to the exciting underground resources at Hellyer and exploration rights around Hellyer. In so doing NQ has significantly increased the lease area around Hellyer four- fold.
The acquisition of the underground mineral rights included 1.175 million tonnes of underground JORC Resources grading 8.6% zinc, 4.9% lead, 1.66 grams per tonne gold and 96 grams per tonne silver. These resources offer significant potential for increasing Hellyer’s overall resources and add to the 10-year mine life of our current tailing’s operations. The Company have identified several advanced exploration targets and plans to commence an exploration program to expand the known underground resources later in 2020.
New Mine Development
Beaconsfield Gold Mine – Tasmania, Australia
In February 2020, NQ announced an option agreement to acquire of all the Beaconsfield Gold Mine (“Beaconsfield”) in Tasmania for £1.05 million. The acquisition includes the Beaconsfield Mining Lease, infrastructure, permitted tailings dam and a 350,000 tonne per year gold processing plant. Historic gold production at the Beaconsfield Gold Mine was in two main phases before ceasing operations in 2012 due to low commodity prices:
• 1877-1914 – 1.04 million tonnes for 855,000 ounces of gold (avg grade 25.6 g/t gold)
• 1999-2012 – 2.72 million tonnes for 920,000 ounces of gold (avg grade 10.5 g/t gold)
In May 2020, the Company announced (as part of its due diligence on the assets) a new Mineral Resource Estimate for the lower section of the Beaconsfield Mine, resulting in an increase in contained gold resources underground to 1.454 million tonnes grading 10.3 grams per tonne gold for 483,000 ounces of gold.
Beaconsfield Mine
Mineral Resource Statement – 30th April 2020
Ordinary Kriging Grade Estimates
Subdivided by Resource Category Above a Lower Cut-off Grade of 3g/t Au.
Resource Category
Tonneskt
Gold GradeAu g/t
Contained MetalsAu koz
Measured
485
11.4
177
Indicated
492
11.2
177
Inferred
477
8.4
129
Total
1,454
10.3
483
Importantly, this new Beaconsfield resource is only for the lower section of the mine from the 415m level down to the 1,500 vertical metres depth, and the ore body remains open at depth. The deepest hole returning 2.5m at 32.4 g/t gold. No resources have yet been calculated for the rich upper section of the mine, which was mined from 1877-1914.
NQ plans to re-open Beaconsfield by developing a new modern mine commencing with the development of a 3.6km decline access from surface to reconnect into the existing mine workings at the 430m level. The Company believes Beaconsfield offers a genuine opportunity to develop a high-quality gold asset in short order.
Exploration
Ukalunda Gold Project – Queensland, Australia
The 64.4km2 Ukalunda tenements, located 300km South from Townsville have excellent potential to host a gold deposit of size. There are multiple shows of mineralisation of similar characteristics to major deposits in the regions, such as the historic Wirralie Gold Mine, with its previously produced 1.1 million ounces of gold. The area is highly prospective for gold, silver and base metals. The Queensland Environmental Authority has now granted a mining lease for NQ’s wholly owned Sunbeam Silver Mine (“Sunbeam”). The granting of the mining lease allows for a more active exploration effort at the historic Sunbeam Mine and further assessment of the multiple surface stockpiles which have been assessed to contain gold, silver, lead, zinc and antimony. The Company is currently working with its geological consultants to ascertain the true grade and tonnage available in the Sunbeam stockpiles with the view of monetising their value.
Square Post Gold Project – Queensland, Australia
The 168km2 Square Post licenses lie close to the main Flinders Highway only 50km south of the city of Townsville. The area is considered highly prospective for gold and is considered underexplored.
Safety & Environmental
The Company is determined and committed to making a positive impact in our communities. The Company continues to operate at the highest standards as it relates to Environmental, Community, Sustainability and Human Resource policies and procedures. The Company is committed to maintaining high performance standards and constantly strives to promote a culture of excellence that encourages our employees to exceed regulatory requirements for health, safety, community development and the environment. The Company reported no lost time due to accidents in H1 2020, which is a testament to all our teams.
Outlook
The Company has seen improvements on a month over month basis in production and mine site operating profits at the mine site level. The commencement of 2020 has continued on with operational success, with H1 2020 seeing production of lead concentrate totalling 16,889 tonnes and zinc concentrate production of 8,850 tonnes. This represents a dramatic improvement over H1 2019. In addition, Hellyer produced 2,304 ounces of gold and 460,388 ounces of silver during H1 2020 as precious metal credits in the lead and zinc concentrate streams.
The Company is implementing programmes to further enhance plant throughput at Hellyer in 2020. The Company has successfully achieved a new record rate of production at 165 tph through the plant and the Company continues to review ways to increase this further to 180 tph over the coming months.
The Company’s new Beaconsfield Gold Mine acquisition provides the possibility for significant near-term cash flow from gold production. The new JORC resource of 1.454 million tonnes grading 10.3 grams per tonne gold for 483,000 ounces is a significant resource and could provide a stable low-cost operation for many years to come. The Company is working with its engineering consultants to bring the Beaconsfield Gold Mine back into production as soon as possible.
The Company is still in the final stages of finalising the debt facility having announced it has signed a commitment letter issued by ING Bank N.V. (“ING”) for a US$55m loan in respect of the refinancing of the existing project debt. The new debt facility will better align future debt maturities with the cash flows generated from Hellyer, while resulting in a favourable decrease in interest costs to the Company.
NQ Minerals’ Executive Chairman, Mr David Lenigas, said;
“In summary, the first half of 2020 saw dramatic improvements in our flagship Hellyer mining operations, and the second half should see even more improvements with respect to production, revenues and profits as we continue to move plant throughput higher. We have a lot to look forward in this second half of this year. We are all working diligently to close the ING debt refinancing deal we announced a few months back, and a successful close on this transaction will add tremendously to the strength of the Company. The re-opening of the famous high-grade Beaconsfield Gold Mine is also a very exciting opportunity the Company is working towards, as this event will add significant revenues and profits to NQ over the coming years. And finally, I would like to state very clearly that NQ is totally committed to seeking a listing of its shares on a senior ranked global stock exchange and we are all working hard towards this goal. There is a great deal for shareholders to look forward to in the short, medium and long term and I thank all shareholder, staff, government agencies, contractors, consultants, supplier and off-takers for their valued support during these difficult COVID-19 times.”
NQ Minerals Plc (AQSE:NQMI, OTCQB:NQMLF, US ADR OTCQB:NQMIY) has announced that the Company’s flagship Hellyer Mine in Tasmania, Australia, has successfully increased production and processing rates up to 165 tonnes per hour (“tph”) and plans are being finalised to increase production further to 180 tph (about 1.5 million tonnes per annum (“Mtpa”)).
As previously announced, the operations have been undergoing processing circuit modifications since the end of June 2020 and this work has since achieved an average annualised production rate of 1.23 Mtpa for the months of July and August 2020. This is a very significant increase from Q1 2020 performance of 0.905 Mtpa and Q2 2020 rates of 1.01 Mtpa and compares to 2019 Hellyer’s full year plant throughput totalling 0.84 million tonnes (an average of 103 tph and 92% plant availability).
During this transition to higher production rates, it has become evident that production levels in excess of 1.2 Mtpa might be possible, and as a consequence NQ Minerals has agreed with Hellyer management to continue this throughput increase initiative and associated investment with a view to a revised long term maximum production target of 1.5 Mtpa.
NQ Minerals’ Executive Chairman, Mr David Lenigas, said;
“This is an outstanding result for our Hellyer Operations. The Board and I are highly impressed by the systematic and pragmatic approach taken by the Hellyer management and site staff in preparing for and then delivering this program to increase throughput at Hellyer. We have seen very significant improvements in a relatively short period of time and this significant increase in performance is well ahead of our original mining and processing schedule and has been completed with minimal capital outlay. The opportunity to continue this initiative and further increase our lead and zinc concentrates output will certainly improve financial returns and manage our business risk.”
