Higher fuel and mining costs contributed to a quarterly loss for
Losses in the three months ended Sept. 30 totalled $1.1 million (or 2 per share) on revenue of $8.4 million, compared with earnings of $306,000 (10 per share) on $9.3 million in the similar period of 1999.
Cash flow between the two periods sank considerably, to $764,000 from $3.1 million.
Losses in the first nine months of 2000 were $3.2 million (10 per share) on $25.4 million, compared with $177,000 (1 per share) on $25.9 million in the corresponding period of 1999.
Again, cash flow decreased, to $2.3 million from $5.6 million.
The Eagle River mine in northern Ontario cranked out 20,250 oz. during the recent quarter, bringing 9-month output to 60,650 oz. About 25,000 oz. are expected to be produced in the current quarter, owing to the selective mining of higher-grade ore.
Cash costs averaged US$237 per oz. in the first nine months, versus an average realized price of US$283 per oz. Costs are up 22% from the year-ago period, when 63,400 oz. were sold for an average US$274 per oz.
Recent drifting in the No. 6 zone has yielded 17.48 grams gold per tonne over 150 metres. The average width sampled was 1.93 metres. Similarly, drifting in the No. 8 and 2 zones returned 13.18 grams over 106 metres and 11.83 grams over 100 metres, respectively. All three zones are now producing.
Meanwhile, shaft-sinking is nearing half-finished, having passed beyond the 220-metre level. The shaft is scheduled to be operational early in 2002 and is expected to result in a savings of $15 per oz. over the current ramp system.
On Sept. 30, River Gold had a negative working capital of $2.4 million and 31.2 million shares outstanding. The company had 135,000 tonnes of broken ore in inventory.
In the current quarter, River Gold will write down the carrying value of its interest in
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