MINERAL AND FINANCIAL INVESTMENTS LIMITED
Investment in Golden Sun Resources Ltd. via Secured Convertible Note
HIGHLIGHTS:
· Golden Sun's Bellavista Mine is permitted and expected to be in production in Q3-2019
· Most recent historic resource estimate of about 1.0 million ounces of gold (22Mt @ 1.46g/t Au)
· The Bellavista Mine produced gold at an annual rate of about 50,000 oz p.a in 2005-2007 period.
· Investment valuation a very attractive $8/ounce of in-situ gold resources
· Highly attractive convertible terms: 20% interest rate, five-year term and secured
· Board and management team, with high levels of experience and significant investments in Golden Sun, pursuing a prudent, gradual, self-financing production expansion plan.
George Town, Cayman Islands - June 13th, 2019 - Mineral and Financial Investments Limited (LSE-AIM: MAFL) ("M&FI" "MAFL" or the "Company") is very pleased to announce that it has made an investment in Golden Sun Resources Limited ("Golden Sun"). The investment in Golden Sun has been made by acquiring US$250,000 of the "Series B Convertible Note" of Golden Sun Resources Ltd., a company incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands which are being issued by Golden Sun. The notes mature on April 30, 2024. Interest shall be charged at the rate of 20% per annum, calculated monthly in arrears, and accrue on the outstanding Loan Amount and shall become payable upon Maturity. All Series B Convertible Notes shall rank pari passu without any preference or priority one over another and shall rank pari passu with the Series A Convertible Notes previously issued by the Company. The Series A Convertible Notes are held by the Board, management and a few people close to board members. The Company may, at its election, at any time after April 30, 2021 and up to the Maturity Date, upon the achievement of the performance objectives of achieving US$350,000 per month of cash flow for 3 consecutive months convert the notes in to shares.
Upon full conversion today, and with no additional financing assumptions, MAFL's ownership interest in the company would be 2.4%. Assuming no further equity financing, at maturity, M&FI would upon conversion own 4.5% of Golden Sun.
Jacques Vaillancourt, M&FI's Chairman said "This investment is consistent with our cornerstone investment principles underpinning our ongoing search for investments with attractive financing terms backed by outstanding natural resource assets, good management and representing good value within the mining sector. Bellavista should be in production during 2019 and is precisely the type of near-term cash flow opportunity that M&FI is seeking. Bellavista is a high-quality asset that will be advanced prudently."
THE PROPERTY
Golden Sun's principal asset, held through its wholly owned subsidiary Central Sun Mining Enterprises Ltd. which inturn wholly owns Metales Proccesados MRW S.A., consists of the Bellavista mine, this property consists of a single exploitation concession covering approximately 1,600 acres in Miramar District, Montes de Oro Canton, in the Province of Puntarenas, Republic of Costa Rica. The project is situated approximately 70 km west-northwest of the city of San Jose, and about 3 km northeast of the town of Miramar. The property has most, but not all of the equipment that was in place when it was a producing mine in 2007, but needed renovation and repairs. Additionally, The Costa Rican Government's Resolution No. 821-2012-SETENA acknowledged and confirmed that Golden Sun's mining permits are still intact and valid.
PROJECT HISTORY
The Bellavista and adjacent Montezuma properties are known to have produced gold intermittently from the late 1800s to the mid-1960s. The most active periods during that period were 1896-1902 and 1909-1914, the latter a seasonal operation that utilised water-driven stamp mills and cyanide vat leaching, processing about 100 tons per day. Underground production prior to 1914 is believed to be 80,000 to 100,000 ounces of gold from multiple quartz veins, largely from the Montezuma deposit. Small-scale mining ceased in the late 1960's.
Exploration continued on the property during the 1980's and 1990's. In October 1997, Wheaton River Minerals Ltd. ("Wheaton") purchased the Bellavista property and completed a feasibility study in 1999. In 2002, Glencairn Gold Corporation ("Glencairn") purchased the Bellavista property from Wheaton. Glencairn changed its name in 2006 to Central Sun.
Construction at the Bellavista Mine commenced in December 2003 and open-pit mining operations (contracted out) began in March 2005. Leaching operations commenced in April 2005 and the first gold was poured in June 2005. Full commercial production was achieved in December 2005 (4,257 oz. of gold). Up to the end of 2005 a total of 2.28 million tonnes of waste had been removed, including development stripping. A grinding mill was constructed in 2006 to process the higher-grade fresh and transitional ore.
Central Sun operated the mine until mid-2007, producing approximately 165,000 ounces since 2005, before being suspended due to a landslide. The risk of a landslide was anticipated prior to the mine's suspension and contingencies were put in place. Accordingly, when it did ultimately occur in late 2007, there was no significant environmental damage; however, the original leach pad will not be used in the future development of the project. The site is regularly surveyed and there has been no measurable movement in the pad area since despite a number of seismic events which occurred in the vicinity.
In January 2009, the Bellavista property was sold to B2Gold as part of a package of properties. In May 2013 an option to purchase the Bellavista Property was granted by B2Gold to Talara Investments Inc., a predecessor company of Golden Sun Resources, a Costa Rican company. This option has since been exercised. Golden Sun Resources, through its subsidiaries, holds the relevant mining permits relating to the Bellavista mine.
Approximately $30 million has been spent on exploration and feasibility studies 1985-2003; about $70 million spent on construction and development in 2003-4 (much of the equipment still on site); Golden Sun's board and shareholders have invested approximately over $8.0 million to-date.
RESOURCES
Historical resource estimates stand at approximately 1.0 million ounces of gold. Additionally, there is an estimated 80,000oz of contained gold remaining in the leach pad (3 Mt @+/-1.0 g/t).
Bellavista Mill and Pit (as in 2014).
Resources and Reserves Prior to Production (PAH 2002)
Category |
Cut-off grade |
Tonnes |
Grade g/t Au |
Contained oz |
Proven+Probable reserves |
0.50 |
11,239,661 |
1.54 |
556,500 |
Measured, Indicated & Inferred Resources |
0.50 |
9,930,339 |
1.18 |
375,965 |
Note: the resources do not include any reserves nor do they include the deep mineralization in the northern extension.
The resource and reserves figures have been produced by predecessor companies and are not produced under a compliant standard. MAFL have not sought to verify or validate the figures used and these are provided for guidance only.
Bellavista Mine Production 2005-2007
(based on crusher production figures)
Year |
Tonnes |
Grade g/t Au |
Contained oz |
2005 |
798,349 |
1.67 |
42,865 |
2006 |
1,500,807 |
1.57 |
75,756 |
2007 |
847,255 |
1.72 |
46,853 |
Total |
3,146,411 |
1.64 |
165,473 |
Note: The mine production figures have been produced by predecessor companies. MAFL have not sought to verify or validate the figures used and these are provided for guidance only.
COMPANY AND DEVELOPMENT PLANS
Golden Sun, the Cayman based holding company, is private and tightly controlled by a shareholder base of approximately 17 shareholders/noteholders (including M&FI). There are 5.7 million common shares outstanding and $3.3M of secured notes convertible into 2.55M shares. The board is composed of highly experienced mining executives who have funded the vast majority of the company's recent progress with the intention of expanding the operations to become self funding.
The purpose of the entity is to bring the project back into production in several small expansion phases. Golden Sun owns 100% of Metales Procesados MRW S.A. (Costa Rica), which holds the permits relating to the Bellavista Property. The production profile will initially be small-scale and some of these phases will be successive, while others will be coincident.
PHASE 1 (Q3-2019):
· High grade (+8 g/t) ores vat leached in a bank of 2 large concrete cells (1,000 t/cell) to generate early cash flow
· Small-scale 12,000 t.p.a. leaching capacity. We expect this layout can deliver gold production of 2,700 oz p.a.
· Partially leached ore stockpiled for future milling.
· Phase 1 production expected to generate cash flows to finance future development phases.
PHASE 2:
· Potentially expand production to 12,000 oz p.a. via open pit mining and additional leaching capacity.
PHASE 3:
· Potentially expand underground mining and install a CIL/Merrill Crowe processing plant;
· Undertake Montezuma exploration less than 500m from the Bellavista Processing plant;
PHASE 4:
· Undertake a feasibility study to build a 3,500 tpd mine/mill complex as per the original operating capacity in 2007.
· Estimated potential annual production of 45,000 oz p.a.
· Expand exploration footprint, seek acquisition opportunities and custom milling opportunities elsewhere in Costa Rica that may supplement ore feed.
The Directors believe this is a compelling investment for many reasons, including the leverage to gold price, the attractive investment structure and the high dividend payout potential. The Directors have also considered in their assessment this being a "first mover" advantage in Costa Rica as the country evolves towards more pro-active mining policies which would would allow for the creation of environmentally sound long term jobs in the sector and the opportunity to hold a stake in a permitted, financed, near-term (Q3/2019) development project for a highly attractive multiple of US$8 per resource ounce. The Director's believe that Golden Sun's board of directors, investors and management team are commited to a financially prudent plan with minimal dilution
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
James Lesser, Mineral & Financial Investments Ltd. +44 780 226 8247
Katy Mitchell and Jessica Cave, WH Ireland Limited +44 161 832 2174
Jon Belliss, Novum Securities Limited +44 207 382 8300
