VANCOUVER, BRITISH
COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - March 19, 2010) - Mundoro
Capital Inc. (TSX:MUN) (the "Company") provides the
following update regarding the Maoling project and its financial and operating
results for the year ended December 31, 2009. The highlights provided in this
release should be read in conjunction with the Company's year-end financial
statements and Management Discussion and Analysis, which will be filed on SEDAR
at www.sedar.com by
March 31, 2010. All dollar amounts are in U.S. dollars unless otherwise stated.
Project
Termination Suggested by Joint Venture Partner
In January, 2010
the Company delivered to senior officials in the Liaoning government a report
titled "A Study on Yushi Reservoir Water Source Protection Zoning and Analysis
of Impact of Maoling project on Water Source Protection" prepared for the
Company by three Chinese design institutes. In response to that report, on
March 16, 2010 Mundoro received a letter dated February 22, 2010 from its
Chinese partner in the Maoling joint venture suggesting that the parties
immediately negotiate to terminate the Maoling gold project and liquidate the
joint venture company. The reason cited for the proposed termination and
liquidation are that current Chinese environmental and drinking water
regulations make it impossible for the joint venture company to conduct mining
activities at Maoling.
Mundoro does not
intend to terminate the joint venture and liquidate the joint venture company.
The Company believes that the work completed to date by its Chinese and
international engineering firms and environmental consultants demonstrates that
the project can be developed in a sustainable and responsible manner with no
significant impact on the downstream water storage facilities supplying Yingkou
City and Dalian City.
We intend to
continue reasonable efforts to engage relevant Chinese and Canadian government
agencies on the matter. It is unclear if our efforts will be successful. To
date we have been unable to engage Chinese government representatives in a
direct discussion of the scientific and technical facts from the various
studies and reports completed to date. We are no longer in meaningful active
discussions with any party regarding participation in the Maoling project. We
are reviewing our alternatives with Chinese legal counsel and do not intend to
expend significant further funds on the development of the Maoling project
until such time as the political and legal alternatives have been identified
and evaluated. There is no assurance that the Chinese government will permit
development of the Maoling project.
Project Update
Considerable effort was made in 2009 to
update earlier understanding of the technical and environmental aspects of the
Maoling project as it relates to evolving Chinese government mining and
environmental regulations. The effort focused on revising the processing plant
circuit, the tailings storage facility and the water management for the Maoling
Gold Project.
As part of the evolving Chinese regulatory
framework, particularly with respect to cyanide management and Chinese tailings
regulations, Mundoro commissioned Ausenco International Pty Ltd ("Ausenco") and
Golder Associates ("Golder") to prepare a series of studies related to the
Maoling Gold Project processing plant and waste storage facilities. The Ausenco
study, completed in the fourth quarter of 2009, dealt with a modification to
the process flowsheet to incorporate a flotation circuit. The optimized test
work on the flotation and Carbon in Leach ("CIL") route achieved an overall
recovery of 89%. This was comprised of 94% recovery to a flotation concentrate
representing 8% of the feed tonnage and with the subsequent cyanidation of that
concentrate gave 95% recovery, yielding an overall gold recovery of 89%, close
to the 90% recovery previously achieved using no flotation. By incorporating
the flotation circuit, the use of cyanide was reduced on a kilogram per tonne
of ore basis.
Ausenco carried out an estimate of
comparative capital costs and operating costs for the revised flowsheet,
comprising an identical front end of crushing, grinding and gravity circuits,
but with the addition of a simple bulk flotation circuit and a smaller CIL and
cyanide destruction circuit. The capital cost estimate showed a small reduction
compared to the original gravity-CIL circuit previously studied in 2007. The
operating cost estimate showed a 25% reduction due mainly to the significant
savings in cyanide consumption and the consequent reductions in cyanide
destruction reagents.
The first of the Golder studies was to
redesign the tailings storage facilities to reflect the flotation–CIL flowsheet
completed by Ausenco. Mundoro also commissioned Golder to design the overall
waste storage and water management plans for Maoling and to work with Chinese
design institutes to draft a report on the environmental considerations for
mine development in the Maoling area and how the development plan pertains to
Chinese government mining and environmental regulations and international
practices.
The Golder study for the waste storage
facilities planned for Maoling demonstrates the flotation tailings could be
stored in an unlined tailings storage facility as there is no cyanide in the
flotation tailings. Only the CIL tailings, <10% of the mass, will require
storage in a lined storage facility. Both tailings facilities are designed to
be operated as closed circuit facilities and the CIL facility in addition would
be zero release with flood event storage capacity exceeding Chinese regulatory
requirements. A surface water and groundwater management plan has been designed
by Golder for the construction, operation and closure phases of the Maoling
project. This will minimize potential effects on downstream surface water
systems.
These Golder studies, completed in the
fourth quarter 2009, have been evaluated by three Chinese design institutes, in
the context of Chinese environmental and mining regulations and in comparison
with Chinese and international examples as related to downstream water storage
issues, a key issue for Maoling. As part of the evaluation, the Chinese design
institutes completed in January 2010 a report titled "A study on Yushi
Reservoir Water Source Protection Zoning and Analysis of Impact of Maoling project
on Water Source Protection" which concluded that Maoling can be developed in a
sustainable and responsible manner with no significant impact on the downstream
water storage facilities supplying Yingkou City and Dalian City.
In the fourth quarter of 2009, Mundoro
continued with its community relations initiatives with the support of the
Gaizhou County government (which is within the auspices of the City of Yingkou
and is the closest town to Maoling). Mundoro implemented in September 2007 a
community relations program to spend RMB 1.2 million (US$160,000) over a three
year period to fund educational, health and sanitation development in Gaizhou
County. Mundoro has contributed approximately RMB750,000 to the community for
the upgrade of the Kuangdonggou Medical Clinic and educational contributions to
the middle school in the form of computers, equipment and supplies. The
remaining RMB450,000 will be contributed by the end of September 2010.
Financial
Highlights and Management Changes
The Company's loss for the current year was
$4,725,783 ($0.12 per share) as compared to a loss of $1,250,083 ($0.03 per
share). The $3,475 700 increase in net loss for the current year is primarily
attributable to an increase in foreign exchange loss and stock based compensation,
and a decrease in interest earned on cash and cash equivalents in 2009. The
2009 loss was attributable to the following:
- Expenditures for Maoling project management
activities of $518,670 in 2009, as compared to $484,615 in 2008.
- Expenditures for corporate expenses of $2,061,368, as
compared to $1,834,451 in 2008.
- Foreign exchange loss of $637,748, as compared to a
foreign exchange gain in 2008.
- Stock-based compensation of $1,546,874 (including
$1,034,126 restricted share units exercised for cash), as compared to $201,069
in 2008.
- Amortization of $10,943, as compared to $17,847 in
2008.
- Interest income of $49,820, as compared to $437,381
in 2008.
The Company ended the year with $12,134,801 in cash and cash
equivalents.
The
Company's corporate expenses for the current year were $2,061,368 which was
comparable to $1,834,217 of corporate expenses incurred in the preceding year.
The increase in 2009 was principally due to a $163,594 increase in corporate
governance costs due to additional director fees, travel, expenses and four
additional board meetings in 2009, as well as legal costs associated with
employment and compensation related matters. In addition, corporate development
costs increased by $145,847 in 2009 due to management time allocated to corporate
development activity in China and the evaluation of projects outside of China.
These cost increases were partially offset by decreases in marketing
expenditures and accounting fees incurred in 2008 relating to the Company's
reorganization whereas none were paid in 2009.
As of March, 2010
Mundoro added to the management team a contract Chief Financial Officer for the
Company. Mr. Bradley Blacketor is a Certified Public Accountant with over 17
years experience in the mining industry. Most recently, Mr. Blacketor has
served as Vice-President, Chief Financial Officer and Secretary of Metallica
Resources Inc. for 11 years, a company listed for trading on Amex and the TSX.
Previous to Metallica, Mr. Blacketor served as Chief Financial Officer of MinCorp
Ltd., and held senior management positions with Pincock, Allen & Holt, Inc.
and Touche, Ross & Co. Mr. Blacketor holds a Bachelors Degree in Business
Administration from Indiana University and a Masters Degree in Business
Administration from Colorado State University.
About Mundoro
Capital Inc.
Mundoro Capital
Inc. is a Canadian based company which operates as a mineral exploration,
development and investment company. The 100% ownership of Mundoro Mining, and
its Maoling Gold Project, remains the key asset of the Company. Mundoro Capital
will also evaluate and invest in other resource assets or companies in the
natural resources field, which can create value for Mundoro Capital and its
shareholders, using management's years of specialized experience in the capital
markets focused on evaluating exploration and production assets, resource
investment opportunities.
About Mundoro
Mining Inc.
Our vision is to
create value for all of our stakeholders from responsible mining. Our mission
is to build a state of the art large scale gold mine at Maoling meeting or
exceeding all applicable Chinese and international environmental standards.
Mundoro Mining has a 79% interest in Maoling through a Sino-Foreign
co-operative joint venture with the corporate arm of the Liaoning provincial
government which owns 21%. Maoling is a feasibility stage gold deposit located
in Liaoning Province, China and is one of China's largest gold resource
deposits with 4.8 million contained gold ounces in the Measured and Indicated
category and an additional 4.4 million contained gold ounces in the Inferred
category. In 2005 a Reserve of 2.8 million ounces in the Probable category was
the basis for the Pre-Feasibility Study. Thus far, two deposits that outcrop at
surface have been outlined at Maoling in which disseminated, free-milling gold
mineralization occurs within a sequence of metasedimentary rocks. The renewal
of the exploration license for Maoling has been deferred pending the renewal of
a business license for Mundoro Mining's joint venture company, Liaoning Tianli
Mining Company Ltd.
Investors are
encouraged to review 'Risk Factors' associated with the Maoling project as
outlined in the Company's prospectus documents and other regulatory filings,
available on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com.
The pre-feasibility
described herein was prepared to broadly quantify the Maoling Zone 1 deposit's
capital and operating cost parameters, and to further the development of the
project. It was not prepared for use as a valuation of the deposits, nor should
it be considered to be a final feasibility study. The information contained in
the Study reflects various technical and economic conditions at the time of
writing that can change significantly over relatively short periods of time.
There can be no assurance that the potential results contained in the Study
will be realized. The study was prepared by AMEC Americas Ltd. under the
direction and oversight of Mr. Mark Pearson P.Eng. of Vancouver, BC, an
'Independent Qualified Person' as defined by National Instrument 43-101.
Resource estimation for the Zone 1 area in 2006 was carried out in the
Brisbane, Australia office of Golder Associates Pty Limited, an international
earth sciences consulting group under the direction and oversight of Dr. Andrew
Richmond, MAusIMM, an 'Independent Qualified Person' as defined by NI43-101.
NI43-101 compliant technical reports for the pre-feasibility study and all
reserve and resource estimates have been filed on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com.
The statements
herein that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements. These
statements address future events and conditions and so involve inherent risks
and uncertainties, as disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors" in the
company's periodic filings with Canadian securities regulators. Actual results
could differ from those currently projected. The Company does not assume the
obligation to update any forward-looking statement.
The TSX has neither approved nor disapproved of the information contained herein.