by Ian Mclelland Gold recovery specialist, Goldplat, rose 10% after stating that results for the first quarter of its current financial year “continued to be buoyant”. Specifically, Goldplat stated that its financial position continued to strengthen, with the Company now holding more than £2 million in cash on the balance sheet. The Company’s gold recovery businesses in South Africa and Ghana continue to generate the group’s cash flow, but Goldplat will soon start a third revenue stream through the Kilimapesa Gold Mine in Kenya. At Kilimapesa, production remains on track to commence before the end of the year. Over 175 metres of high grade quartz veins has now been exposed, with bulk sampling indicating an average grade of 6.28 grams per tonne gold over 114 metres of strike. Other site work, including refurbishment of the processing plant, leach tanks, crushing section and electric reticulation are now complete. Looking underground, 1,500 tonnes of material has now been extracted and stockpiled, which is being added to tailing stockpiles from local artisanal miners. Additional drilling is also underway, both from the Adit and from surface, to compile a JORC compliant resource. Goldplat added that it had now stockpiled 1,600 tonnes of artisanal tailings with an average grade to date of 15 grams per tonne gold. Back in South Africa, Goldplats announced that it had secured additional gold recovery contracts with major South African gold producers, including AngloGold Ashanti, where it has secured two stockpiles of material. There is potential of a wider reaching deal with AngloGold Ashanti who are additionally seeking to remove any gold bearing material from other projects before final rehabilitation is completed. A long term contract has also been signed with Rand Refinery to supply toll processing facilities. Good news also emanated from Ghana where a third contract has been secured for gold recovery with Goldfield’s Tarkwa operation. Beyond South Africa, Ghana and Kenya, Goldplat said it was evaluating the possibility of expanding its gold recovery operations into Zambia and Tanzania, and had already indentified 100,000 tonnes of high grade tailings in Tanzania suitable for its ambitions. Goldplat CEO Demetri Manolis said: "With demand for gold remaining buoyant we are ideally positioned to maintain our strong growth. Developments in Kenya are running according to plan with production still on schedule for the end of the year, and our processing operations in South Africa and Ghana are producing significant cashflows which unlike many other juniors, means we have a strong balance sheet. We are currently looking to utilise our recovery technology to expand into other countries in Africa and in turn, strengthen our connections with the mining industry to identify and acquire additional brown field projects that we can rapidly advance into production. In essence, I am confident we are in the right sector with a strong business, which gives me the utmost confidence for the future."

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