Past year: ▼ 40%(15.0c – 1.00 CAD)
Each one in plain English, with the numbers worked through for a shareholder.
19 June 2012material agreement termination▲ Good
Took mining and earthworks at Twangiza in-house, ending the contract with Banlaw Afrique DRC that had run since January 2010, to cut costs and get more control ahead of building further mines on the belt. The Banlaw crew stayed on in the same roles as Banro employees.
12 Mar 2012resource reserve update● Neutral
Filed the NI 43-101 technical report for Namoya Phase 1 on SEDAR and EDGAR, prepared by Venmyn Rand and dated 24 January 2012.
12 Mar 2012resource reserve update● Neutral
The Venmyn Rand technical report behind the January 2012 Namoya Phase 1 assessment, dated 24 January 2012.
2 Mar 2012debt financing● NeutralMajor
Closed the US$175m senior secured note issue at 10% due March 2017. Twangiza had produced 14,795 ounces to that point and poured 7,441 ounces in February, with commercial production expected by the end of Q1 2012 and 10,000 ounces a month by April; Namoya was targeted for commissioning in Q1 2013 and about 11,500 ounces a month by the end of Q2 2013.
27 Feb 2012debt financing● NeutralMajor
Raised the debt offering by US$50m to US$175m: senior secured notes at 10% maturing 1 March 2017, with 48 warrants per US$1,000 unit - 8.4 million warrants exercisable at US$6.65 for five years. Proceeds go to Namoya construction, repaying an existing credit facility, and work on a hydro power option for the belt.
7 Feb 2012debt financing● NeutralMajor
Announced a private placement of up to US$125m of units, each US$1,000 of senior notes due 2017 plus a warrant, to build the Namoya mine. This is Banro's first substantial debt.
24 Jan 2012resource reserve update▲ GoodMajor
Updated economic assessment for Namoya Phase 1, a gravity and heap-leach operation on oxide and transitional ore: 122,000 ounces a year for the first five years at US$464 an ounce cash cost, US$148m to build, a 71.3% after-tax return and a US$366m net present value at US$1,500 gold with a ten-month payback.
24 Jan 2012drilling result▲ Good
Initial trenching at the Kamituga project returned 51.0 m at 2.65 g/t, 32.0 m at 2.36 g/t and 18.0 m at 3.06 g/t gold from the Kibukila and Mobale prospects - the third of Banro's four projects on the 210 km Twangiza-Namoya belt to show grade at surface.
23 Dec 2011resource reserve update▲ GoodMajor
Lifted measured and indicated resources at Namoya, the second mine on the belt, 39% to 1.58 million ounces (24.77 Mt at 1.99 g/t, 0.4 g/t cut-off), with 440,000 inferred ounces (9.47 Mt at 1.44 g/t). The ounce count rose on far more tonnes at a lower grade: the January 2011 estimate was 14.58 Mt at 2.43 g/t.
11 Oct 2011production update▲ GoodMajor
Poured first gold at Twangiza in South Kivu province, the first new commercial gold mine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in more than half a century, two years after the board decided to build it. Management guided to about 120,000 ounces a year in 2012.
27 June 2011drilling result▲ GoodMajor
Infill drilling at Namoya for the feasibility study returned 28.30 m at 2.78 g/t, 11.76 m at 6.44 g/t and 9.34 m at 7.56 g/t gold, none of it in the January 2011 resource estimate. Namoya was then being tabled for production in Q1 2013, with the feasibility study due December 2011 and construction from Q1 2012.
21 Apr 2011material agreement● NeutralMajor
Signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding with China Gold International Resources to negotiate a joint venture over Twangiza Phase 2 and a related hydro power project, potentially extending to the rest of the belt. It never became a definitive agreement in the record that follows; Banro funded the belt itself, with 10% notes a year later.
14 Apr 2011production update▲ GoodMajor
Twangiza Phase 1 construction on schedule for commercial production in Q4 2011 and fully funded: US$94m of cash at 1 April against a US$209m capital budget including a US$13.5m contingency, about US$25m more than the cost to complete. Plant and civils 86% done, whole mine 60%.
28 Mar 2011resource reserve update● Neutral
A revised version of the Twangiza Phase 1 economic assessment, same 9 March effective date but revised on 24 March 2011, with a changed author list.
11 Mar 2011resource reserve update● Neutral
SENET's economic assessment technical report for Twangiza Phase 1, effective 9 March 2011, filed while the plant was already 86% built.
9 Mar 2011resource reserve update● Neutral
SENET's NI 43-101 preliminary assessment of the Namoya heap-leach project, effective 3 March 2011 - the study behind the January 2011 Namoya numbers that were superseded by the January 2012 assessment.
19 Aug 2008resource reserve update▲ GoodMajor
Pre-feasibility study on the Twangiza gold project in South Kivu: a mine averaging 345,125 ounces a year in its first three years and 195,772 over its life, at cash costs of US$212 an ounce falling out to US$345, with a post-tax net present value of US$352m and a 20.5% return. The authors recommended progressing to a bankable feasibility study and flagged that much of the indicated resource rested on relatively wide-spaced data needing infill drilling to firm up the early mine schedule.
