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Operations Update

Annual 2009


Highlights
  • A 31% increase in gold production to 342,085 oz (2008: 260,847 oz), including 17,786 oz from underground development at Chirano capitalized for financial reporting purposes.
  • A 15% increase in average realized gold price to $996 per oz (2008: $866 per oz).
  • A 9% decrease in cash operating costs to $391 per oz (2008: $428 per oz).
  • Net income of $109 million (2008: $61.9 million).
  • An 85% increase in proven and probable reserves at Tasiast.
  • The discovery of the mineralized "Greenschist zone" at Tasiast over a 500 metre strike length, which is open to the north and south and down dip.
  • The discovery of the Paboase underground deposit at Chirano.
  • The completion of the Chirano and Tasiast plant expansions.
  • Commencement of Akwaaba underground commercial production at Chirano.
  • Commencement of dump leaching operations at Tasiast.
  • A CAD $165 million equity financing.
Red Back expects production to increase to between 485,000 - 525,000 oz in 2010, a projected 42 - 54% increase from 2009, at a cash cost of between $390 - $420 per oz. Red Back's objective is to reach an annualized production rate of 800,000 oz during 2012 on the strength of CIL, dump leach and heap leach operations at Tasiast and the commencement of mining of the second underground deposit at Chirano.

Results of Operations

(amounts in thousands of dollars except for earning per share) Year ended December 31,
2009 2008 2007
Gold revenue 318,389 223,660 73,497
Net income (loss) 109,162 61,901 (91,904)
Earnings per share, basic 0.48 0.33 (0.70)
Earning per share, diluted 0.48 0.32 (0.70)
Total assets 961,131 701,702 557,134
Long-term liabilities 68,565 58,885 62,036

The Company reported record net income of $109 million for the year compared to $61.9 million in 2008. The significant contributing factors to the strong results in 2009 are:
  • a 92% increase in mining operating profits due to increased production, a decrease in cash cost per oz and higher gold prices; and
  • over $20 million in income contributions from corporate activities relating to a termination fee on the Moto transaction, a gain on sale of marketable securities (see "Liquidity and Capital Resources" section) and realized foreign exchange gains.
Lower operating costs per oz compared to 2008 are due to higher production, and lower power and mining costs at Chirano and Tasiast respectively. Royalties include an $8 million expansion fee due to the government of Mauritania upon completion of the plant expansion at Tasiast. In addition, the Company started depreciating the costs of the plant expansions at Chirano and Tasiast and amortizing the underground development costs at Chirano in the fourth quarter of 2009.

General and administration costs increased in 2009 compared to 2008 because of higher compensation and promotional costs during 2009. Stock-based compensation costs, also higher, are based to a large degree on the appreciation of the Company's share price, which in 2009 increased by almost 100%.

Results for the year also include other income of $13.2 million from the receipt of a termination fee from the Moto transaction, a $6.2 million gain from foreign currency transactions and a $3.0 million gain on sale of securities. The write-off of previously deferred exploration costs relates to early-stage mineral exploration licenses relinquished in the normal course of business following a review of their prospectivity.

The tables below summarize key operating statistics of the Company for the last quarter and the year.

  Three months ended Dec. 31, 2009 Three months ended Dec. 31, 2008
  Chirano Tasiast Total Chirano Tasiast Total
Ore tonnes mined ('000t) 1,246 1,620 2,866 864 1,112 1,976
             
CIL Ore tonnes milled ('000t) 877 547 1,424 539 394 933
CIL Average grade (g/t) 2.2 2.8 2.4 2.0 3.7 2.7
CIL Average recovery 89.9% 90.2% 90.0% 91.9% 92.5% 92.2%
             
Gold produced, CIL (oz) 54,518 44,589   99,107 31,346 41,318 72,664
Gold produced, dump leach (oz) - 12,083   12,083 - - -
Gold produced, total (oz) 54,518 56,672 111,190 31,346 41,318 72,664
Gold sold (oz) (Note 2) 52,225 49,922 102,147 28,778 40,719 69,497
             
Realized gold price per oz $1,122 $1,110 $1,116 $783 $789 $786
             
Cash costs per oz (Note 3)            
  Operating $445 $324 $386 $497 $319 $393
  Royalty $  34 $176 $103 $  26 $  24 $  25
Depreciation and amortization per oz (Note 4) $174 $275 $223 $125 $224 $187
Note 1: Production statistics may not calculate exactly due to rounding.
Note 2: 2009 gold sold at Chirano excludes 3,782 oz recovered from underground operations and capitalized during pre-production development.
Note 3: This is a non-GAAP measure. It is calculated by dividing costs on the statement of income and retained earnings by gold oz sold.
Note 4: For Tasiast, approximately $94 per oz ($128) of depreciation and amortization are due to the amortization of the fair value excess on purchase of the Tasiast mineral properties on August 2, 2007.


  Year ended December 31, 2009 Year ended December 31, 2008
  Chirano Tasiast Total Chirano Tasiast Total
Ore tonnes mined ('000t) 3,723 4,817 8,540 3,094 2,522 5,616
             
CIL Ore tonnes milled ('000t) 2,718 1,684 4,402 2,205 1,486 3,691
CIL Average grade (g/t) 2.3 2.9 2.5 1.9 3.1 2.5
CIL Average recovery 90.4% 91.9% 91.0% 91.8% 93.6% 92.8%
             
Gold produced, CIL (oz) 183,425 142,260 325,685 120,793 140,054 260,847
Gold produced, dump leach (oz) - 16,400 16,400 - - -
Gold produced, total (oz) 183,425 158,660 342,085 120,793 140,054 260,847
Gold sold (oz) (Note 2) 165,052 154,720 319,772 120,285 137,993 258,278
             
Realized gold price per oz $999 $992 $996 $873 $860 $866
             
Cash costs per oz (Note 3)            
Operating $443 $336 $391 $478 $384 $428
Royalty $ 30 $ 81 $ 55 $ 26 $ 26 $ 26
Depreciation and amortization per oz (Note 4) $123 $241 $180 $105 $227 $170
Note 1: Production statistics may not calculate exactly due to rounding.
Note 2: 2009 gold sold at Chirano excludes 17,786 oz recovered from underground operations and capitalized during pre-production development.
Note 3: This is a non-GAAP measure. It is calculated by dividing costs on the statement of income and retained earnings by gold oz sold.
Note 4: For Tasiast, approximately $93 per oz (2008: $128) of depreciation and amortization are due to the amortization of the fair value excess on purchase of the Tasiast mineral properties on August 2, 2007.


Tasiast gold mine, Mauritania

Tasiast's 30 year mining lease is located in the north-western part of Mauritania, approximately 300 kilometres north of the capital of Nouakchott and 162 kilometres east-southeast of the port city of Nouâdhibou. Tasiast's exploration licenses include a 60 kilometre strike length of the Aoueouat greenstone belt of Achaean age. To December 31, 2009, drilling in support of the resources and reserves only covers 8 kilometres of this belt. Red Back is continuing an extensive exploration program to identify prospective mineralized areas along this belt.

The current mine plan includes the Piment and the West Branch deposits. Drilling results to date have expanded the in-situ reserves from 2.3 million oz at December 31, 2008 to 3.0 million oz at August 31, 2009, as detailed in the table below.

  Tonnes
(Mt)
Au
(g/t)
Ounces
(Moz)
Total Proven 33.8 1.43 1.56
Total Probable 30.0 1.45 1.40
Total Stockpile 3.7 0.76 0.09
Total 67.5 1.40 3.05
Note: the ore reserve estimate used a gold price of US$700

The existing ore body is open both at depth and along strike to the north and south. Drilling during 2009 generated a 75% expansion in the measured and indicated resource to 6.51 million oz (News release dated February 1, 2010). A drilling program to further expand the resource and reserves is currently underway. A new reserve estimate is expected before the end of the first quarter in 2010.

The reserves include lower grade oxide ore which is being processed by dump leaching. The Company is continuing test work to establish the recovery and processing characteristics of low grade fresh ore to enable processing by heap leaching. Results to date show an average recovery rate of 59%. Completion of this test work should occur in the first half of 2010 followed by the estimation of an initial heap leach reserve in the third quarter.

The expansion of the Tasiast processing facility was completed in 2009. The irrigation of the dump leach pads commenced in the fourth quarter and recoveries from dump leaching are expected to increase through 2010. At the same time, the new tailings facility became operational allowing for increased throughput in the expanded mill.

During the last three months of the year Tasiast produced 56,672 oz (2008: 41,318 oz) at a cash operating cost of $324 per oz (2008: $319 per oz). Tasiast's production for the full year was 158,660 oz (2008: 140,054 oz) at a cash operating cost of $336 per oz (2008: $384 per oz). The decrease in operating costs compared to 2008 in largely due to lower mining costs and higher production.

Royalties exceeded the expected rate of 3% of revenues due to the inclusion of an expansion fee paid to the government of Mauritania following receipt of the final permits relating to the plant expansion project. Expansion fees will also apply in 2010, the remaining period of time during which they are payable. The fees will be expensed proportionately to the production during the year. The total 2009 expansion fees were paid at the end of August and were expensed proportionately to the production of the last four months of the year. As a result, the fourth quarter of 2009 included $7.3 of the total $8 million paid in 2009.

The completion of the plant expansion combined with the operational dump leach pads will result in higher production in 2010 (245,000 -- 265,000 oz). Cash costs per oz are forecast to remain constant at $325 - $350 as the benefits of higher production are expected to be offset by a lower grade profile.

Chirano gold mine, Ghana

The Chirano mining lease, granted in April 2004, is situated in south-western Ghana, 100 kilometres southwest of Kumasi, Ghana's second largest city. The project is within the Bibiani gold belt and the present mining plan includes a series of open pit deposits and the high grade Akwaaba underground mine. Gold mineralization continues at depth below the current open pit designs at many of the deposits currently included in the mine plan. The initial underground inferred resource estimates for the Paboase and Suraw deposits were published in March 2009. Further mineralized high-grade intercepts resulted in an increase in the resource estimate of Paboase and Akoti, which now includes an indicated resource of 248,000 oz plus an additional 610,000 oz of inferred resources.

Underground mining at Akwaaba reached commercial levels of ore production at the end of October at which time capitalization of all mining costs other than the continuing development of the decline ceased.

Chirano's production in the fourth quarter of 2009 was 54,518 oz (2008: 31,346 oz) at a cash operating cost of $445 per oz (2008: $497 per oz). For the year, Chirano produced 183,425 oz (2008: 120,793 oz) at a cash operating cost of $443 per oz (2008: $478 per oz). Cash operating costs are lower compared to 2008 due to increased production, higher grade, and lower electricity charges.

The processing of increasing quantities of higher grade ore from Akwaaba and the utilization of the expanded processing facility will lead to increased production of 240,000 -- 260,000 oz in 2010. Cash costs are expected to be $460 - $490 per oz, slightly higher than in 2009 because of the impact of the higher cost underground mining operations.

Third Quarter 2009

Second Quarter 2009

First Quarter 2009

Fourth Quarter 2008

Third Quarter 2008

Second Quarter 2008

First Quarter 2008

 

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