Sparton Resources Inc. (SRI:TSX-V) (the "Company"), announced today that it has completed the second sale of germanium (?Ge?) concentrate from its 51% owned 306 Huajun Coal Co. Ltd. (?Huajun?) which produces germanium concentrates and thermal coal in the Lincang area of Yunnan Province, China. (See news release dated September 21, 2009). The sale represents the final sale of germanium concentrate in 2009 after takeover of control of the Huajun operations by the Company?s 100% owned subsidiary Yunnan Blue Bay Mining (?YBB?) on September 9, 2009.
The sale represents all remaining concentrate in inventory as of November 8, 2009 and produced during the period from November 9 to December 24, 2009. A total of 32.74 tonnes of concentrate was sold containing approximately 483 kg of Germanium metal. The price received for the concentrate was 3300 RMB/Kg of contained germanium (USD$482/Kg), down slightly from the previous sale. Total revenue was 1,594,000 RMB or USD$ 232,700 (exchange rate of 6.85RMB = 1 USD). All of these funds will be for the benefit of YBB in accordance to the terms of the Huajun share purchase agreement. The buyer for this second sale was a semiconductor producer in Kunming City, Yunnan.
Cash flow after operating costs and taxes for the period from September 9 to December 24, 2009 was 645,204RMB or USD$94,190 on gross revenue of 2,362,458RMB or USD$344,844. Cash flow for the period was 27% of revenue.
These figures represent a total of approximately 90 operating days.
Huajun Operations Huajun continued to operate at about 50% capacity during the reporting period, as are all other Ge producers in the Lincang area. The price received for this concentrate sale represents about 50% of the current spot price for Ge metal on world markets. This is somewhat consistent with previous sales, and represents the price penalty paid for selling a Ge concentrate in the local market to a refiner instead of selling Ge metal or industrial Ge oxide or chloride.
The revenues received from future sales are expected to increase to over 90% of the value of the contained Ge once a small refinery has been completed by YBB to service the Huajun production. Final design and budgeting for construction of this facility is underway and, subject to financing, it is expected to be put in place during 2010. YBB has now initiated a western financial management and reporting system for the operations.
Discussion The Huajun mining and processing operations are currently being reviewed and a development plan is in preparation for accessing deeper ore and making minor modifications to the treatment process to increase recoveries. The initial results indicate the planned development will provide a minimum of 6 years of production at current rates. This planning is expected to be completed by mid February, 2010.
Sparton's international exploration, development, production and evaluation programs are being carried out under the direct supervision of A. Lee Barker, P. Eng., P Geol., the Company's President and CEO who is a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101. |