HALF YEAR FINANCIAL REPORT 2019

Press release: Stockholm, August 23, 2019, 8,45 am

SECOND QUARTER 2019

• Revenue was 30 MSEK (0)

• Net profit was -35 MSEK (-8)

• Earnings per share was -0,26 SEK (-0,06)

• The first concentrate delivery was made on April 8th

• Erkki Kuronen, head of geology and mining, was appointed Managing Director of Sotkamo Silver Oy

• The Board resolved to a directed share issue of 4.2 million shares at 3,60 SEK and an issue of a convertible bond of 15 million SEK.

HALF YEAR 2019

• Cash flow from operating activities was -32 MSEK (4)

• Investments were 117 MSEK (75)

• Cash and cash equivalents were 8 MSEK (326)

• Equity was 267 MSEK (362)

• The production was about 221,000 oz silver, 600 oz gold, 150 tonnes lead and 290 tonnes zinc in concentrate.

• Milled tonnes were 88 000 and the silver (Ag) head grade 100 gram per tonne.

Comparative figures refer to the corresponding period of the previous year.

CEO TIMO LINDBORG

During the late spring and summer, production of Silver Mine has increased progressively towards full production capacity. We have already reached the long-term production capacity target of 450,000 ton a year (12 months) for both mining operation and process plant. With high feed rate, good performance of the mine and plant we expect to reach the earlier set 330‑350,000 tonnes feed amount and the 1,15-1,25 million troy ounces of silver production target for this year. Because of the slightly delayed production start and use of the lower content ore during the ramp-up period the revenue was lower than during normal production. The goal is that the ramp-up period is completed and Silver Mine will be in full production by the end of August.

THE BUSINESS

Sotkamo Silver's business concept is to develop and extract mineral deposits in the Nordic region. Operations are conducted with comprehensive consideration of people and the environment.

Sotkamo Silver AB owns, directly and through its subsidiary Sotkamo Silver Oy, mineral deposits containing silver, gold, zinc, lead and tungsten. The company's main project is the Silver Mine in Sotkamo municipality, where production ramp up started during the first quarter 2019 and the ramp-up period is planned to be finalized by end of August.
   

   
Production ramp up

The production capacity has been increased to 450,000 tonnes per year. The goal is to mill 330,000 - 350,000 tonnes of ore in 2019. The silver ore is mined from the open pit and underground mine.

Until the end of June, we produced about 220,000 Oz silver, 600 Oz gold, 150 tonnes lead and 290 tonnes zinc in the concentrates, around 330,000 Oz silver equivalents (AgEq).

Underground mining and development have been in progress for the whole first half of 2019. Production ramp up at the concentrating plant was started at the end of March and has been the focus of the operations team at Silver Mine. By the end of June, designed milling capacity was achieved and optimization of the flotation process was ongoing. Metal recoveries and the performance of the plant has been positive and gives solid base for further optimization of the process and metal recoveries.

However, feed tonnes and head grades were below the target levels. During Q2 ca. 88 kt of ore was processed which is about 75 % of the targeted quarterly production for 2019. This is due to the gradual ramp up of feed rate and planned and unplanned shutdowns especially in April and May. The team has successfully solved the issues and plant achieved designed feed rate on the second half of the June. Head grades were ca. 20 % below the full year forecast due to the large share of ore feed comprising of the ore from the open pit and drifting. This will be compensated during the rest of the year as underground stoping will take place in full capacity.

Focus of the underground mine has been in the horizontal development and improving of the mine infrastructure, like ventilation, communications system and dewatering. Ore from drifting has been processed with ore from the first stope, open pit and old stockpile. The mining of the first stope started at the end of June.

Open pit mining was done at small volume in April and stockpiled ore has been fed to the concentrating plant.

The slightly delayed production caused shortfall of revenues compared with the plan. Sales for the second quarter was 30 MSEK.

The AgEq values were calculated according the formula: AgEq=Ag+(Au*Aueq factor)+(Pb*Pbeq factor)+(Zn*Zneq factor).

The eq factor = (metal unit price)/(Ag unit price). The used metal prices were: Ag 14.99 $/Oz; Au 1,358 $/Oz; Pb 1,891 $/tonne; Zn 2,602 $/tonne.

SHARES AND SHARE TRADINGS

Sotkamo Silver shares are traded on NGM Equity in Stockholm and on NASDAQ Helsinki. The Company ticker code is SOSI at NGM Equity and SOSI1 at NASDAQ Helsinki. The shares ISIN-number is SE0001057910. The shares are also traded on Börse Berlin, Open Market where the Company Code number is A0MMF4 and ISIN-number is the same as on NGM Equity Stockholm; SE0001057910.
   

   
FINANCIAL CALENDER                

• Year-end report 2018 was published February 22, 2019
• AGM was held on April 11, 2019
• Q1 was published May 14, 2019
• Q2 was published August 23, 2019
• Q3 is published November 15, 2019
• Year-end report 2019 is published February 14, 2020

 
FINANCIAL REPORTS
The reports are available at the Company webpage:
http://www.silver.fi/sivu/en/finansiella_rapporter/

   
Contact person

Timo Lindborg, CEO of Sotkamo Silver AB, tel. +358 40 508 3 507
   

This information is information that Sotkamo Silver AB is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation and the Securities Markets Act. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact persons set out above on August 23, 2019, at 8.45 CET.

The official Stock Exchange Releases are given in Swedish and there may be differences in the translated versions.
   

ABOUT SOTKAMO SILVER AB

Sotkamo Silver AB's business concept is to exploit mineral deposits in the Nordic countries with positive social and environmental benefits. Sotkamo Silver owns mineral deposits, which contain silver, gold and tungsten in Finland and Sweden as well as zinc and gold in Norway. The Company's main development project is the Silver Mine project in the municipality of Sotkamo.

Sotkamo Silver applies SveMin's & FinnMin's own rules of reporting for public mining & exploration companies. Sotkamo Silver has chosen to publish mineral resources and ore reserves according to the internationally accepted JORC or NI 43-101 code. The company applies International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) as approved by the European Union.Legal Entity Identifier (LEI): 213800R2TQW1OZGYDX93

The ticker symbol is SOSI in NGM Equity in Stockholm and SOSI1 in NASDAQ Helsinki.

ISIN-code for Sotkamo Silver shares is SE0001057910.

Read more about Sotkamo Silver on www.silver.fi

The Company's press releases and financial reports are distributed via Cision Sverige and are available on www.silver.fi

Tags: