RE:RE:q3IMO this is another of their made-up excuses for poor performance. In Q3 of 2021 the company reported that they stacked 3.3 million tonnes of ore on the HLP at a stcked grade of 0.90 g/t. Both the tonnage and grade were records. Now they are saying that a third of that stacked ore was low grade (i.e < 0.3 g/t), but the average was 0.9 g/t? Yah right. The crushed ore would have had to have been 1.2 g/t. - almost double the reserve grade.
The NR also says "
If not for the conveyor belt failure, the mine was on track to meet guidance" Not a chance! No way to produce 58,559 oz in Q4, when you only put 45,000 recoverable ounces on the HLP in Q3.
In Q3 of 2021 VG reported that 71,600 recoverable ounces were placed on the HLP. In Q4 an additional 50,000 recoverable ounces were placed on the HLP, but Q4 gold produced was less than 50,000 oz.
But the company told us
Not To Worry that low-flow drip lines delayed gold recovery in Q4 and that the lost ounces would be recovered in subsequent quarter(s). In fact, gold produced in Q1/Q2 of 2022 was lower than the previous year.
Last year the low flow drip lines was a convenient reason (excuse) for missing guidance. This year it is the conveyor belt breakage. Why not take a week to repair the belt and replace it during the 1-month scheduled maintenance period next quarter?
The real issue is not being addressed and that is the declining tonnage of ore mined and stacked. Year-to-date the quantity of ore mined and stacked is 20% less than last year. How is that ramping up to a production rate of 200,000 oz/yr? If you are going to mine and stack 20% less ore, then over the long run, you are going to produce 20% less gold.
I believe part of the reason for lower mining rates is equipment availability issues. Required maintenance schedules for loading equipment and trucks have likely been delayed due to not having an equipment maintenace shop that was only completed earlier this year. If that is the reason, just say so instead of giving us bogus excuses and terms like "mine sequencing"?
There is a reason that the company's p/e is 4 while Wesdome's is 37. Even with all of the setbacks, we should be trading at least with a p/e of 8 - 10!
We can only wish for a white knight to swoop in and save us with a takeover offer.
A note to HoneyBadger on Recovery rates. 150 days is the length of time to achieve near 100% recovery. An estimated 50% occurs in the first 50 - 60 days.
HoneyBadger77 wrote: This (from Page 1-13 and 1-14 of the 2019 Technical Report) might help explain things:
1.10.1.1.1 ROM Ore
ROM ore (less than 0.30 g/t but above the cut-off grade of 0.15 g/t) will be sent directly from the Eagle pit to the primary HLP during the stacking months, and to the ore stockpile during the stockpiling months (January to March). The ROM ore will be reclaimed from the stockpile using a loader and trucks and taken to the primary HLP. The ROM ore will be segregated from the crushed ore but will be placed within the overall primary HLP.
EAGLE GOLD MINE
TECHNICAL REPORT
Prepared by JDS ENERGY & MINING INC.
For VICTORIA GOLD CORP.
iwasgold - (10/4/2022 11:21:10 PM)
q3
These guys are bad news. Only now do we find out they bypassed the crushers for a third of the ore mined in q3 last year. Did I miss something, or did they just not tell us? Can you imagine putting the blasted rock directly on to the leach pad? Oh boy. Q3 this year has a million tons less ore mined and therefore stacked, than q3 last year. This has nothing to do with the conveyor breakage. This must be the reason the shares have sold off so much. Insiders know that the operation is stumbling around in the dark without a clue. I guess the reason must be incompetent, lazy , or no-show workers and managers. I don't see how they can talk about 250k ounces when 200k is a distant dream.