The company spent most of the past two years restructuring under the U.S. bankruptcy code, after failing to resolve reclamation agreements with the U.S. government over the Moab uranium mill in eastern Utah.
Atlas had operated the mill from 1956 to 1987 and, when the mill was closed and dismantled in 1996, it began exploring for gold instead. Now the company has been released from any future liability for the mill and has shifted its focus yet again, to base metals in Bolivia.
The year’s earnings included an extraordinary gain of US$9.2 million, resulting from the forgiveness of debt through restructuring. As a part of the restructuring, the company took a US$3.3-million writedown against the carrying value of the Gold Bar claims in Nevada and the Bolivian lead-zinc-silver operations.
Before these items, the company showed an operating loss of US$3.4 million ($2.75 per share). Lower metal prices and lower headgrades at the Andacaba mill, near Potosi, resulted in lower revenues of US$3.5 million, down from US$5.1 million the year before. This contributed in the operating loss for the year.
In all, Atlas milled 124,000 tonnes of ore (at a headgrade of 1.8% lead, 5.9% zinc and 170 grams per tonne) in 1999. The mill produced 1,887 tonnes of lead concentrates grading 63% lead and 3,670 grams silver per tonne, plus 12,478 tonnes of zinc concentrates grading 45% zinc and 675 grams silver.
The company expects headgrades to increase in 2000 as more ore comes from the high-grade San Juan-San Jose veins. Late in 1999, the company began sinking two internal shafts in the Andacaba mine to gain access to lower levels of the veins.
Recently, Atlas optioned the Grassy Mountain gold property in Oregon to
After restructuring, Atlas has 4.5 million shares outstanding.
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