TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Nov. 14, 2014) - Victory Nickel Inc. ("Victory Nickel" or the "Company") (TSX:NI) (www.victorynickel.ca) today reported financial results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2014. Commissioning of the Company's dry frac sand processing plant in Seven Persons Alberta, located approximately 18 km southwest of Medicine Hat (the "7P Plant"), was completed on August 11, 2014. The 7P Plant operated at less than its 500,000 ton per year ("tpy") nameplate capacity throughout the third quarter, both pre- and post-commissioning; staffing and training was in progress during the quarter, limiting throughput. The 7P Plant is now fully staffed.
The 7P Plant was being commissioned during the second quarter, therefore comparative numbers for prior quarters are either not available or not meaningful and are not shown. For further information please see the
Company's Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements and MD&A filed at sedar.com.
For the three months ended September 30, 2014:
Frac Sand Operations:
- Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization ("EBITDA" as defined below) from the frac sand operations was $597,000; total EBITDA for the Company was $115,000.
- Gross margin was $750,000, or $21.49 per ton. Margin is expected to increase once the 7P Plant is operating at its nameplate capacity.
- 39,121 tons of frac sand was produced at the 7P Plant.
- 34,892 tons of frac sand were sold, generating revenue of $5,949,000.
- Cost of goods sold was $5,199,000, or $149.00 per ton.
- The Company entered into a take-or-pay contract for approximately 20% of the frac sand production capacity of the 7P Plant, and continued negotiations on additional contracts.
Exploration and Development and Corporate Activities:
- The Company incurred an aggregate loss of $408,000, or $0.01 basic and diluted loss per share, after corporate administration, exploration and development and financing costs.
- The Company completed the issuance of unsecured convertible notes aggregating US$5,000,000.
- The Company completed a share consolidation on a one-for-ten basis.
Subsequent to the end of the third quarter, the Company:
- Entered into an option to acquire a 100% interest in a 300 acre frac sand property in southwestern Wisconsin, USA.
- Added the fourth and final crew at the 7P Plant enabling production on a 24-hour-per-day, seven-day-per-week basis to produce up to 500,000 tpy of 16/30, 20/40, 30/50 and 40/70 Northern White frac sand.
- Received approval from the Board of Directors to proceed with Phase Two of the frac sand business plan, including construction of a 1,000,000 tpy frac sand wash plant in Wisconsin.
"I'm very pleased with our accomplishments thus far in 2014," said Victory Nickel's CEO René Galipeau. "The successful start-up of sales from the 7P Plant has proven that Phase One of Victory Nickel's business plan has succeeded and that we are able to produce, supply and distribute frac sand where and when our customers need it. The growth in demand for our Northern White frac sand during the third quarter has been tremendous, although delayed about a month; production capacity at the 7P Plant is now at 500,000 tons per year; and we anticipate contracted volumes will continue to increase. Looking ahead, we are focused on executing Phases Two and Three of our business plan, as well as the many other opportunities that we have identified to grow the Company's presence in the North American frac sand sector."
About Frac Sand
Frac sand is a proppant used in the oil and gas business as a part of the hydraulic fracturing process - a means of increasing flow to the wellhead. Frac sand must have particular characteristics including achieving certain levels of crush resistance, sphericity and roundness, and it is therefore a relatively rare commodity. Vast quantities of frac sand are consumed, and more is needed all the time, as shale gas and oil plays in Canada and the US rise to prominence.
About Victory Nickel
Victory Nickel Inc. is a Canadian company with four sulphide nickel deposits containing significant NI 43-101-compliant nickel resources and a significant frac sand resource at its Minago project. Victory Nickel is focused on becoming a mid-tier nickel producer by developing its existing properties, Minago, Mel and Lynn Lake in Manitoba, and Lac Rocher in northwestern Québec, and by evaluating opportunities to expand its nickel asset base. Through a wholly-owned subsidiary, Victory Silica Ltd., Victory Nickel is establishing a presence in the frac sand market prior to commencing frac sand production and sales from Minago.
About Victory Silica
Victory Silica is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Victory Nickel and is charged with a phased plan to establish the Company in the frac sand market. In Phase One, the Company constructed a 500,000 tpy dry processing plant and has begun processing and selling sand imported from Wisconsin. The 7P Plant is well located in an area populated with fracking companies, its potential customers, and is within only a few hours' trucking distance of major oil or gas play well sites. Phase Two, which includes the construction of a concentrator, also known as a "wet plant", in Wisconsin, is expected to reduce costs and ensure security of sand supply through the control of a frac sand mine in Wisconsin. In Phase Three, the Company intends to construct a larger frac sand plant to process and distribute both imported and domestic sand, which may potentially, but not necessarily, include sand mined as a co-product of development at the Company's Minago project. The Company has already identified a site in Manitoba for this purpose.
Condensed Consolidated Segmented Statement of Operations
| Three months ended September 30, 2014 |
Corporate |
Exploration and Development |
Frac Sand |
Total |
| Revenues |
$ - |
$ - |
$ 5,949 |
$ 5,949 |
| Cost of goods sold |
- |
- |
(5,199) |
(5,199) |
| Gross margin |
- |
- |
750 |
750 |
| Operating expenses |
|
|
|
|
| |
General and administrative |
(470) |
(8) |
(153) |
(631) |
| |
Share-based payments: |
- |
- |
- |
|
| |
|
Options |
(256) |
- |
- |
(256) |
| |
|
Share Bonus plan |
- |
- |
- |
- |
| |
Amortization of property, plant and equipment |
(4) |
- |
(186) |
(190) |
| |
(Writedown) recovery of E and E projects |
- |
(26) |
- |
(26) |
| |
Pre-exploration costs |
- |
(4) |
- |
(4) |
| |
Net frac sand pre-operating costs |
- |
- |
- |
- |
| Operating (loss) income |
(730) |
(38) |
411 |
(357) |
| |
Finance income |
1,074 |
- |
- |
1,074 |
| |
Finance costs |
(1,344) |
- |
(9) |
(1,353) |
| Net finance costs |
(270) |
- |
(9) |
(279) |
| (Loss) income before income taxes |
(1,000) |
(38) |
402 |
(636) |
| |
Income tax recovery |
228 |
- |
- |
228 |
| Net (Loss) Income for the Period |
$ (772) |
$ (38) |
$ 402 |
$ (408) |
EBITDA
EBITDA is non-GAAP financial measure. Victory Nickel supplements its financial information prepared in accordance with GAAP with EBITDA because we believe investors commonly use EBITDA as a component of valuing companies engaged in frac sand sales. Victory Nickel defines EBITDA in accordance with the table below. Victory Nickel's EBITDA is not necessarily comparable to the EBITDA measures of other companies due to the potential for differences in methods of calculation.
| Three months ended September 30, 2014 |
Corporate |
Exploration and Development |
Frac Sand |
Total |
| Net (Loss) Income for the Period |
$ (772) |
$ (38) |
$ 402 |
$ (408) |
| Income tax recovery |
(228) |
- |
- |
(228) |
| Net finance costs |
270 |
- |
9 |
279 |
| (Writedown) recovery of E and E projects |
- |
26 |
- |
26 |
| Amortization of property, plant and equipment |
4 |
- |
186 |
190 |
| Share-based payments |
256 |
- |
- |
256 |
| EBITDA |
$ (470) |
$ (12) |
$ 597 |
$ 115 |
Please visit the Company's website at www.victorynickel.ca. Should you wish to receive Company news via email, please email cathy@chfir.com and specify "Victory Nickel" in the subject line.
Forward-Looking Information: This news release contains certain forward-looking information. All information, other than information regarding historic fact that addresses activities, events or developments that the Company believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future is forward-looking information. Forward-looking information contained in this news release includes, but may not be limited to the progress and success of the Company's projects, including the Company's goals and business plan with respect to the frac sand business and the future demand for frac sand. The forward-looking information contained in this news release reflects the current expectations, assumptions and/or beliefs of the Company based on information currently available to the Company. With respect to the forward-looking information contained in this news release, the Company has made assumptions regarding, among other things, the Company's future working capital requirements, the Company's ability to generate sufficient cash flow from operations and access existing credit facilities and capital markets to meet its future obligations, goals and business plan, future prices for frac sand and by-products and future demand for processed frac sand. The forward-looking information contained in this news release is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations, including the need to obtain required approvals and permits from regulatory authorities, the volatility of frac sand and by-product prices and demand and geological, technical, drilling and processing problems. Any forward-looking information speaks only as of the date on which it is made and, except as may be required by applicable law, the Company disclaims any obligation to update or modify such forward-looking information, either because of new information, future events or for any other reason. Although the Company believes that the assumptions inherent in the forward-looking information are reasonable, forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future performance and accordingly undue reliance should not be put on such information due to the inherent uncertainty therein.