VATUKOULA Gold Mines Limited needs further funding of about $US15million-$US20m ($F27.52m-$F36.69m) on top of the $US40m ($F73.39m) committed by Zhongrun International Mining Company Limited to meet its production commitment.
General manager Kevin Zhu said they had identified the amount of funding needed to achieve its longer-term targeted production rate of 100,000 ounces of gold per annum.
“Recent structural changes in staffing and departmental responsibilities have been introduced together with revised productivity bonus calculations to provide increased incentive for underground workers.
“New underground mobile equipment (four trucks and two loaders) has been purchased and is already in operation.
However, operating costs remain high with the most significant of these being power generation,” Mr Zhu said.
He said Vatukoula gold mine was an old mine by world mining standards and a “quick fix” was neither anticipated nor being sought, adding an incremental and sustainable improvement was being planned.
“Currently, production is on par with last year cumulated from January to June.”
In terms of their recent delisting on AIM — London Stock Exchange’s market for smaller, growing companies, Mr Zhu said the directors of the parent company in London (Vatukoula Gold Mines Plc) conducted a review of the benefits of share trading on AIM.
“In consultation with the company’s advisers and its major shareholders, it was agreed that it was in the best interest of the company and its shareholders as a whole if the admission of the shares to trading on AIM was cancelled,” he said.
“The board had concluded that the commercial disadvantages and costs of maintaining a listing at this time in the company’s development outweighed the potential benefits.”
He said the special resolution to delist was put at a general meeting of shareholders on June 23 this year and was duly passed with the delisting effective from July 1.
