Toby Bradbury, President and CEO, commented:
“2021 is a re-building year for the operation. Relative to our financing plan announced in September 2020, we got a late start with financing received in December 2020. This slightly delayed the planned remedial works but good progress has been made in delivering essential elements of the recovery. Despite the set-back in ore production in this first quarter and into April, we remain confident that we will return to full production capacity by end of year 2021 with a more flexible and robust production schedule.
The resumption of diamond drilling is increasing the confidence in our near-term production outlook and we have already identified additional areas that may lead to an expansion of the resources.
On our projects, we are busy with preparations for ore sorting at the Ming Mine which will improve margins and profitability from 2022, once the developed state of the mine has been re-established.
The Company has received a number of unsolicited offers of interest in its Little Deer and Whalesback Mines and is actively seeking arrangements that can advance these projects while retaining significant interest. These deposits have existing NI 43-101 Resource Statements which are in the process of being updated.
Similar to other mining companies, the Covid-19 pandemic continues to be a factor in the way we manage our operations. The safety and health of our employees is a top priority. We continue to be successful in managing exposure to the virus at our operations, with the vigilance of our personnel and guidance of public health authorities. The incidence of the disease on the island is low and no cases have been experienced at the mine”.
