- Almonty Industries (AII) reports a 13 per cent increase in Q1 FY23 revenue, reaching CAD$7 million, primarily driven by growth in the Panasqueira mine
- Almonty plans to reopen the Los Santos mine in Spain in Q3 CY23, following decreased production after being placed on care and maintenance in February 2020
- Despite a rise in revenue at Panasqueira, the mine saw a 16.9 per cent decline in overall production for the quarter
- Almonty CEO Lewis Black says that the company’s successful flotation technology will be utilised to retreat tails at Los Santos, expecting similar earnings to the Panasqueira mine
- AII shares were up 0.7 per cent, trading at 72 cents at 4:00 pm AEST
Tungsten mining company Almonty Industries (AII) has reported a 13 per cent increase in revenue for the quarter and announced plans to reopen its Los Santos mine in Spain.
Almonty’s gross revenue for Q1 FY23 reached CAD$7 million (A$7.7m), representing a rise of CAD$840,000 compared to the same period in 2022.
The company attributed the growth primarily to a 13.4 per cent increase in revenue at the Panasqueira mine.
However, Almonty experienced decreased production at its Los Santos mine in Spain following a decision in February 2020 to place it on care and maintenance.
The decision resulted in a 16.9 per cent drop in production at Los Santos during Q1 FY23 compared to Q1 FY22.
Today, Almonty announced its decision to reopen Los Santos in this year’s third quarter.
While revenue at Panasqueira was boosted, the mine also witnessed a 16.9 per cent decrease in overall production, primarily due to lower amounts of ore being mined and processed during Q1 FY23 compared to the same period in the previous year.
Shipment volumes also decreased by 3.4 per cent in Q1 FY23.
At the end of the quarter, the company had a cash balance of CAD$6.3 million, down from CAD$8.4 million from the previous quarter but up from CAD$8.3 million year-on-year.
Long-term debt reduced to CAD$174.2 million, down from CAD$192.8 million the year prior.
Mine production costs jumped from CAD$4734 to CAD $5728 year-on-year, while administrative costs increased from CAD 1361 the year prior to CAD$1689.
Discussing the re-opening of Los Santos, Almonty CEO Lewis Black said Almonty has been conducting studies to recommence production through the utilisation of its flotation technology, which had previously been proven successful at the Sangdong tungsten mine.
The company intends to retreat the tails at the mine to capture the more than 800,000 metric ton unit (MTU) of W03 contained within its sands and torta.
“We have now successfully established that our Sangdong process can commercially treat the Los Santos tails, and with a minimal amount of adjustment to the already existing flotation circuit at Los Santos, we will now begin to plan for bringing the Los Santos Mine back into production,” he said.
“We expect this plan, once enacted, to generate similar earnings to our existing Panasqueira production mine in Portugal and therefore will have a material effect on our current revenue and earnings as we continue to construct Sangdong.”
Almonty shares were up 0.7 per cent, trading at 72 cents at 4:00 pm AEST.