VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 11/13/14 -- Pilot Gold Inc. (TSX: PLG) ("Pilot Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce its financial and operating results for the nine-months ended September 30, 2014, and to provide an update on exploration activities at TV Tower and Kinsley Mountain.
"The third quarter for Pilot Gold was highlighted by new porphyry discoveries at TV Tower, drill and permitting successes at Kinsley Mountain and the strategic, acquisition of Cadillac Mining," stated Matt Lennox-King, President and CEO of Pilot Gold. "Q4 is shaping up to be as important as we complete our 60% earn-in at TV Tower, press ahead at Kinsley Mountain and finalize a new economic study at Halilaga."
HIGHLIGHTS THROUGH AND SUBSEQUENT TO THE NINE MONTHS ENDED SEPTEMBER 30, 2014:
-- Cash and short-term investments at September 30, 2014, totalled $23.4
million.
-- At TV Tower, discovered another gold-copper porphyry, the third such
discovery since June 2014. The property boasts a contiguous area greater
than 50km2 of epithermal and porphyry-related alteration. Drill
highlights to date from this burgeoning mining camp include:
Valley Porphyry (see press releases dated June 11, July 22, and September 4, 2014):
-- 0.99 g/t Au and 0.39% Cu, or 1.65 g/t AuEq, over 153.1 metres in KRD010,
including
-- 1.57 g/t Au and 0.56% Cu (2.52 g/t AuEq) over 66.2 m; and
-- 1.59 g/t Au and 0.48% Cu over 130.9 m (2.41 g/t AuEq) in KRD-14C,
including,
-- 3.12 g/t Au and 0.85% Cu over 49.9 m (4.57 g/t AuEq)
-- 0.63 g/t Au and 0.27% Cu over 134.7 m (1.10 g/t AuEq) in KRD016C.
Hilltop Porphyry (see press release dated June 19, 2014):
-- 0.22 g/t Au and 0.26% Cu, or 0.67 g/t AuEq, over 261.3 m in KRD006,
including,
-- 0.54 g/t Au and 0.36% Cu over 57.8 m.
Columbaz Porphyry (see press release dated October 22, 2014):
-- 0.60 g/t Au and 0.11% Cu, or 0.80 g/t AuEq, over 357.7 m in CD008C,
including,
-- 8.41 g/t Au over 7.8 m.
AuEq calculated using $1,200/oz gold and $3.00/lb copper and assuming 100% recovery
-- Received approval to extend the Plan of Operations at Kinsley, allowing
an additional 20 acres of exploration disturbance on the unexplored
northern claims.
-- Reported high grade gold results including near surface oxide
mineralization from the ongoing 2014 drill program at Kinsley. Recent
drilling, including 6.19 g/t Au over 45.7 m in PK175CA (see press
release dated September 10, 2014), with surface geochemistry and mapping
continue to reinforce the extensive mineralized system at Kinsley.
-- Completed the acquisition of Cadillac Mining Corporation ("Cadillac")
pursuant to which the Company acquired all of the issued and outstanding
shares of Cadillac by way of a court-approved plan of arrangement (see
press release dated August 29, 2014). Through the acquisition of
Cadillac we added another past-producing sediment-hosted gold project,
Goldstrike-Utah, to our portfolio of exploration assets. Goldstrike-Utah
features a large land position and extensive historic databases.
Exploration highlights and significant events through and subsequent to September 30, 2014:
Kinsley Mountain
Kinsley is a Carlin-style, sedimentary rock-hosted gold system and past-producer located along the Long Canyon Trend in northeastern Nevada. Discoveries at Kinsley continue to reinforce the district-scale potential of the property.
Paving the way for an expanded program on the property, the Company received approval of a 20 acre amendment to the existing Plan of Operations on October 28, 2014. With the amendment there are 80 acres of exploration permitted on the property, covering the 12 km-long Kinsley range. Drilling is currently underway with one core and one RC drill rig focused on infill and exploration drilling.
Through September 30, 2014 the Company had completed 11,270 metres of core and 11,120 metres of reverse circulation drilling as part of the $6.46 million, 2014 drill program. Through the final three months of the year, we anticipate completing an additional 4,000 m of drilling. We also expect to continue with preliminary metallurgical analyses in order to refine the 2015 exploration plan.
In the nine months ended September 30, 2014, approximately $5.26 million in direct expenditures were capitalized at Kinsley (year ended December 31, 2013, $3.85 million) of which $4.15 million is the Company's share. Expenditures and activity through the period include: drilling and assaying ($3.50 million), salaries and stock based compensation ($0.49 million), equipment rental, road and site construction ($0.47 million), and contract labour and consultants ($0.27 million).
Pilot Gold holds approximately 79% of Kinsley. A subsidiary of Nevada Sunrise Gold Corporation holds the remaining 21% interest in the property. The Company and its partner are each obligated to fund their pro rata share of activity on the property to avoid dilution of the percentage interest held.
TV Tower
The 90km2 TV Tower gold-silver-copper property comprises nine contiguous licences and is located close to established infrastructure in northwestern Turkey. To date, there have been three copper-gold porphyry systems discovered at TV Tower (Hilltop, Valley, and Columbaz). Results from the Valley Porphyry include long runs of gold and copper mineralization starting at surface with grades superior to those typical of many copper-gold porphyry deposits around the world. The Company has defined a large silver-gold resource (KCD), and identified robust gold targets including a 4-km long oxide gold-mineralized system (K2). The proximity of the porphyry targets to the Company's 40%-owned PEA-stage Halilaga copper-gold porphyry deposit (15 km to the east) illustrates the scale of the project's growing footprint.
Expenditures during the nine-months ended September 30, 2014 include: drilling and assaying of $0.99 million, salaries of $0.64 million and consultant's costs of $0.38 million. Through September 30, 2014 the Company had completed 7,800 metres of core drilling. As a result of exploration success at the Hilltop and Valley porphyry targets, the 2014 budget was increased to $4.68 million. Through the final three months of the year we anticipate completing an additional 4,200 metres of drilling.
The Company currently holds 40% of TV Tower and is the project operator. "TMST", a subsidiary of Teck Resources Limited, holds the majority 60% interest in the project. Pilot Gold is incurring expenditures under a right to acquire an additional 20% interest (to an aggregate of 60%) of the project. There is approximately $1.2 million remaining to satisfy the total $21 million earn-in expenditure requirement.
SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA
The following selected financial data is derived from the unaudited condensed interim consolidated financial statements and related notes thereto for the nine months ended September 30, 2014 (the "Interim Financials"), as prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards. Details of these results are described in the Interim Financials and related Management's Discussion and Analysis. These documents can be found on the Company's website (www.pilotgold.com) or on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. All amounts are presented in United States dollars unless otherwise stated.
As at
September 30, 2014 December 31, 2013
(in 000s) (in 000s)
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Cash and short-term investments $23,371 $19,006
Working capital $22,504 $18,471
Total assets $90,706 $71,374
Current liabilities $2,041 $1,709
Non-current liabilities $93 $68
Shareholders' equity $84,834 $67,174
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(Expressed in 000s, except per Three months ended Nine months ended
share data) September 30, September 30,
2014 2013 2014 2013
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Loss for the period ($1,322) ($1,215) ($4,737) ($7,570)
Loss and comprehensive income
(loss) for the period ($4,100) ($716) ($6,723) ($9,420)
Basic and diluted loss per share ($0.01) ($0.01) ($0.05) ($0.09)
Total assets increased to $90.71 million as at September 30, 2014 (December 31, 2013: $71.37 million), and comprise primarily cash and short-term investments of $23.37 million (December 31, 2013: $19.01 million) and deferred exploration of $28.76 (December 31, 2013: $14.88 million). The increase in assets primarily reflects the acquisition of Cadillac and the receipt of cash raised in a bought-deal financing that closed in April 2014, offset by cash outflows related to operating expenditures through the nine months ended September 30, 2014. The balance of working capital comprises receivables and prepayments of $1.17 million (December 31, 2013: $1.03 million) which have increased primarily due to the timing of payments from Orta Truva relating to work performed by the Company on TV Tower.
For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2014, we reported net losses of $1.32 million and $4.74 million respectively, compared to net losses of $1.22 million and $7.57 million, for the same periods in the prior year. The losses per share for the three and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2014 were $0.01 and $0.01 respectively (three and nine-months ended September 30, 2013: $0.05 and $0.09 per share). The most significant contributors to the losses for the nine-months ended September 30, 2014 were the cost of wages and benefits ($1.19 million) and non-cash stock-based compensation ($0.93 million). The most significant contributors to the comparative period loss were; the write-down of the New Boston property ($1.28 million), non-cash stock-based compensation ($1.91 million), and the change in fair value of financial instruments ($1.55 million). More than 77% of our total expenditures through the nine-month period ended September 30, 2014 were dedicated to exploration and development
Other comprehensive losses of $2.78 million and $1.99 million were recognised in the three and nine months ended September 30, 2014 (comprehensive gains of $0.50 million and losses of $1.85 million for the same respective periods in the prior year). The nine months ended September 30, 2014 includes a $2.6 million loss (September 30, 2013: $1.83 million loss) from the impact of exchange gains and losses arising from exchange differences further to the translation of our foreign operations with a non-United States dollar functional currency, as well as net fair value gains of our financial instruments of $0.59 million (nine months ended September 30, 2013: $0.15 offset by reclassifications to the income statement of $0.13). The impact from exchange differences will vary from period to period depending on the rate of exchange; in the period between January 1, 2014 and September 30, 2014, there was a 5.1% weakening in the Canadian dollar versus the United States dollar.
Liabilities at September 30, 2014 and at December 31, 2013 reflect primarily accounts payable and accruals recorded at period end arising from ongoing activities.
Cash flows through the nine-month period include $2.55 million in outflows for operating expenditures, $18.22 million inflow from financing activities, $10.71 million outflow from investing expenditures derived mostly from the investment in our exploration properties, and the impact of changing foreign exchange rates ($0.55 million).
Moira Smith, Ph.D., P.Geo., Chief Geologist, Pilot Gold, is the Company's designated Qualified Person for this news release within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") and has reviewed and validated that the scientific and technical information contained in this release is accurate.
TV Tower and Kinsley are both early stage exploration projects and, except for the mineral resources at the KCD deposit at TV Tower, neither contains any mineral resource estimates as defined by NI 43-101. The potential quantities and grades disclosed herein are conceptual in nature and there has been insufficient exploration to define a mineral resource for the targets disclosed herein. It is uncertain if further exploration will result in these targets being delineated as a mineral resource. The proximity and existence of similar features at TV Tower's porphyry targets to those at Halilaga do not mean that another mineral resource will be found to exist at TV Tower or, if found to exist, that it will be of similar grade or quantity to that found at Halilaga. For further detail on TV Tower, Kinsley Mountain or the Halilaga PEA, refer to the respective technical reports filed on the Company's website at www.pilotgold.com or under Pilot Gold's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com.
This press release should be read in conjunction with Interim Financials and related Management's Discussion and Analysis. These documents can be found on the Company's website (www.pilotgold.com) or on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. All amounts are presented in United States dollars unless otherwise stated.
ABOUT PILOT GOLD
Pilot Gold is a well-funded gold exploration company led by a proven technical team that continues to discover and define high-quality projects featuring strong grades, meaningful size and mining-friendly addresses. Our three key assets include interests in the Kinsley project in Nevada, and the TV Tower and Halilaga projects in Turkey, each of which has the ability to become a foundational asset. We also have a pipeline of projects characterized by large land positions and district-wide potential that can meet our growth needs for years to come.
All statements in this press release, other than statements of historical fact, are "forward-looking information" with respect to Pilot Gold within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including statements with respect to the anticipated timing and closing of the Cadillac Agreement, or those that address potential quantity and/or grade of minerals, potential size and expansion of a mineralized zone, proposed timing of exploration and development plans. Forward-looking information is often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "seek", "anticipate", "plan", "continue", "planned", "expect", "project", "predict", "potential", "targeting", "intends", "believe", "potential", and similar expressions, or describes a "goal", or variation of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "should", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future performance and is based upon a number of estimates and assumptions of management at the date the statements are made including, among others, assumptions about future prices of gold, copper, silver and other metal prices, currency exchange rates and interest rates, favourable operating conditions, political stability, obtaining governmental approvals and financing on time, obtaining renewals for existing licences and permits and obtaining required licences and permits, the impact of archaeological, cultural or environmental studies within the property area, labour stability, stability in market conditions, availability of equipment, accuracy of any mineral resources, successful resolution of disputes and anticipated costs and expenditures. Many assumptions are based on factors and events that are not within the control of Pilot Gold and there is no assurance they will prove to be correct.
Such forward-looking information, involves known and unknown risks, which may cause the actual results to be materially different from any future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including, risks related to the interpretation of results at the Kinsley property, reliance on technical information provided by our joint venture partners or other third parties; successfully completing the earn-in at TV Tower, including the ability to complete the Expenditure Requirement; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; current economic conditions; future prices of commodities; possible variations in grade or recovery rates; the costs and timing of the development of new deposits; failure of equipment or processes to operate as anticipated; the failure of contracted parties to perform; the timing and success of exploration activities generally; delays in permitting; satisfaction of Turkish requirements relating to the periodic submissions of Environmental Impact Assessments; possible claims against the Company or its joint venture partners; labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry; delays in obtaining governmental approvals, financing or in the completion of exploration as well as those factors discussed in the Annual Information Form of the Company dated March 14, 2014 in the section entitled "Risk Factors", under Pilot Gold's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com.
Although Pilot Gold has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Pilot Gold disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise unless required by law.
Contacts:
Pilot Gold Inc.
Patrick Reid
VP Corporate Affairs
604-632-4677 or Toll Free 1-877-632-4677
info@pilotgold.com
www.pilotgold.com
