Form 10-Q/A for SILVERADO GOLD MINES LTD
23-Jan-2009
Quarterly Report
ITEM 2. MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OR PLAN OF OPERATION
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
The information in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-QSB contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, including statements regarding Silverado's capital needs, business plans and expectations. Such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties regarding the market price of gold, availability of funds, government regulations, common share prices, operating costs, capital costs, outcomes of gold recovery activities and other factors. Forward-looking statements are made, without limitation, in relation to operating plans, property exploration and gold recovery activities, availability of funds, environmental reclamation, operating costs and permit acquisition. Any statements contained herein that are not statements of historical facts may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as "may", "seek", "should", "expect", "plan", "intend", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "predict", "potential" or "target", the negative of such terms or other comparable terminology. Actual events or results may differ materially. In evaluating these statements, you should consider various factors, including the risks outlined below, and, from time to time, in other reports Silverado files with the Securities Exchange Commission (the "SEC"). These factors may cause actual results to differ materially from any forward-looking statement. Management disclaims any obligation to publicly update these statements, or disclose any difference between its actual results and those reflected in these statements. The information constitutes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Given these uncertainties, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements.
OVERVIEW
I. MINING
Silverado Gold Mines Ltd. and its wholly-owned subsidiaries Silverado Gold Mines Inc. and Silverado Green Fuel Inc. (collectively referred to herein interchangeably as the "Company" or "Silverado") are engaged in the acquisition and exploration of mineral properties in the State of Alaska. Precious metals, primarily gold, and antimony are the main interests. Silverado has more than 35 years of experience in all aspects of the gold mining industry, from grass-roots exploration, to state of the art mining and processing technologies, for both lode and placer gold deposits. The primary focus is presently on the continued exploration of the Nolan Creek Property, located 175 air miles north of Fairbanks, Alaska, where plans include exploration for both placer and lode gold and antimony lode deposits at the Nolan Gold & Antimony Project. The exploration activities include lode diamond drilling and trenching, geochemical and geophysical surveys and test mining work carried out as part of Silverado's exploration programs.
Silverado holds interests in four groups of mineral properties in Alaska, as listed below:
1) Nolan Creek property
2) Hammond Property;
3) Eagle Creek Property; and
4) Ester Dome Property.
As an exploration stage company, all of the properties are presently in the exploration stage. Silverado does not have any commercially viable reserves on any of the properties, and there is no assurance that commercially viable mineral deposits exist on any of the mineral properties. Further exploration will be required before a final evaluation of the feasibility of commercial mining on any of the properties is determined. There is no assurance that further exploration will result in a final evaluation that determines a commercially viable mineral deposit exists on any of the mineral properties.
At the Nolan Creek Property, the nature of all deposits encountered to date are small (4,000 to 14,000 bank cubic yards) but gold bearing in nature. Although drill densities and exploration activities have resulted in the discovery and test mining of individual placer gold deposits, the Company has not yet identified a resource base sufficient for establishing annual production levels over a sustained period of time. Silverado mines the deposits, processes the gold bearing gravels and sells this gold even though the criteria for a proven reserve have not been met. The Company may continue with test mining of small placer gold deposits at the Nolan Creek property without establishing that the placer gold deposits contain sustainable and commercially viable mineral deposits. The Company is also drilling and developing a gold/antimony lode resource on the Workman's Bench portion of the Nolan Creek Property.
II. LOW-RANK COAL WATER FUEL
Silverado has been working for six years through its subsidiary, Silverado Green Fuel Inc., on the development of low-rank coal water fuel ("LRCWF"), a non-toxic liquid fuel product derived from sub-bituminous and lignite coal. In its finished form, LRCWF is a non-toxic, non-hazardous environmentally friendly strategic liquid fuel. The Company's primary focus is to perform bench-scale testing on Mississippi lignite coal. Bench-scale testing will, among other things, provide the Company with data that may result in the Company deciding to proceed with an independent financial analysis for building a production facility. There is no assurance that a full independent financial analysis will be completed or that a production facility will be constructed if at all.
PLAN OF OPERATIONS
Management's plan of operation for the next three months is discussed below:
I. MINING
The ability of the Company to continue as a going concern and to implement the following plan of operations is dependent upon the Company's ability to raise additional capital. The Company's operations have been funded primarily from sales of its stock and the sale of gold extracted during exploration activities. As of August 31, 2008, the Company has $239,938 in cash, $154,105 in gold inventory, and $935,490 in negative working capital. The following plan of operations will require approximately $1,000,000 of additional capital to properly implement and the Company is planning to raise $2,000,000 from sales of its stock for such purpose.
1. NOLAN CREEK PROPERTY - Lode and Placer Exploration
During the third quarter of our fiscal year, exploration concentrated on the Workman's Bench gold and antimony mineralized zones on our Nolan Property. During June, July and August 2008, the Company drilled 28 diamond drill holes into the Workman's Bench mineralized zones, with a total footage of 9,321 feet, to intersect the gold bearing antimony-quartz vein systems. Drilling has extended the known lateral extent of the stibnite (antimony)-gold vein systems on Workman's Bench from 600 feet to 1,000 feet.
Workman's Bench is the Company's prime exploration target for a lode gold and antimony deposit in the southwestern part of the Solomon Shear Zone. The Solomon Shear Zone contains northeast striking gold antimony-quartz vein systems which also occur in other areas on the Nolan Creek property, including across Smith Creek on Pringle Bench and north of Smith Creek Dome.
A NI 43-101 Technical Report regarding the Nolan Creek property, entitled "Estimation of Lode and Placer Mineral Resources, Nolan Creek Wiseman B-1 Quadrangle, Koyukuk Mining District, Northern Alaska" dated July 29, 2008, has been prepared by Thomas K. Bundtzen of Pacific Rim Geological Consulting Inc. and is available on SEDAR at
www.sedar.com.This year's drilling on Workman's Bench has focused on defining the lateral and vertical extent of the known gold and antimony mineralized zones, in particular on the main exposed vein in underground exploration Tunnels C and D. Information thus far indicates the gold and antimony mineralized zones at Workman's Bench are open laterally and at depth.
Assay results for the 2008 drilling program received thus far have been disclosed in two press releases dated July 21, 2008 and August 14, 2008, which can be found at the Company's website at
www.silverado.com.All diamond core drilling was performed by Tri-Con Mining Inc. The core recovery averaged about 95% in most drill holes. All drill core was logged and photographed by geologists, under the supervision of a professional geologist. Once all technical data was derived from the core, the core was cut lengthwise. The half-core was sampled by pre-determined intervals based on geology, and placed in sealed sample bags and labeled with the assigned sample number. All samples were delivered to ALS Chemex in Fairbanks for analysis. With the shipment to the laboratory of every 20th sample, the Company submitted two (2) standard samples, and one (1) blank sample for analysis. From time to time the Company instructed the laboratory to assay duplicate samples of the pulp from the drill core.
In June and July 2008, the Company conducted a VLF-EM ground geophysical survey over Fortress and Saddle Zones on its Nolan property to identify structures such as shear zones, faults, and veins that occur within the bedrock. The Fortress and Saddle Zones disclosed additional strong conductors (geological structures) to those located in 2007. These geological structures exist at and around the northeast end of Solomon's Shear Zone and are at the headwaters of Thompson Pup Creek where Silverado extracted many fresh (sharp-edged) gold crystals as part of its previous operations.
The VLF-EM ground geophysical survey was conducted by Tri-Con Mining Inc. Compilation of survey data, processing and interpretation was performed by a professional geologist.
The Company is currently operating under multi-year (2008 - 2010) Bureau of Land Management (BLM) approved "Plan of Operations" that authorizes the collection of a bulk sample of mineralized vein material. Work under this plan is anticipated to lead to the construction of an initial 150 ton/day gravity and water concentrator to process the bulk sample. Larger-scale year round operations are concurrently under planning and analysis, and preliminary discussions continue with the BLM on this subject. Further, a contract has been awarded to SRK Consulting (U.S.), Inc. of Anchorage, Alaska to characterize the bulk sample's waste rock and its potential to generate poor quality drainage from a spoil pile. The products of this work will be a geochemical characterization of the waste rock, a prediction of current and future drainage quality with and without the implementation of management measures, and the recommendation of preferred management measures to prevent the release of water of unacceptable quality. Further, a program of Nolan Creek background water sampling has been designed and is underway that samples the creek at select locations for the application of numerous laboratory. The combination of the waste rock characterization study and Nolan Creek background water quality work are intended to facilitate subsequent larger-scale mining and processing operations as their feasibility is determined.
There is no assurance that a commercially viable mineral deposit exists at this time on the Nolan Creek property. Further exploration will be required before a final evaluation as to the economic and legal feasibility of mining this property is determined. Although the results to date are encouraging, at this point there is no assurance that further exploration will result in a determination that a commercially viable mineral deposit exists on the property. Towards that end, a preliminary assessment is being conducted on the Workman's Bench portion of the property.
Further to the Company's geological, geochemical and geophysical discoveries from the 2007 exploration season, the Company is following-up exploration at the Nolan Creek gold/antimony lode properties and gold placer resource areas within the Nolan Creek Gold Project. This follow-up exploration program is further defining and assessing lode gold and antimony occurrences at the Nolan Creek Project. The Company's follow-up lode exploration work is increasing our geological, geochemical and geophysical knowledge of the Solomon Shear Zone, the Fortress Zone, and other lode gold/antimony occurrences on the property, and will assist the Company in ascertaining whether or not they have economic potential.
Continued drilling is being conducted on the Workman's Bench portion of the Solomon Shear Zone to determine whether or not we can proceed with confidence to additional test mining, and eventually to commercial mining.
In the next three months, Silverado plans to concentrate on the continued drilling and assessment of the Workman's Bench gold/antimony deposit with the intent to place it into test production as soon as possible. Concurrent with this, an analysis of the feasibility of additional winter placer mining will be ongoing.
2. HAMMOND PROPERTY
Annual rentals have been paid to keep the mining claims in good standing.
This property will require additional funding to continue its development. At present there is no plan to work on this property. If funding is acquired, there is no guarantee that a commercial gold-bearing placer deposit will be developed. If a gold bearing deposit is developed, additional funding will be required to mine the deposit, and until a feasibility study is completed, there is no guarantee that the deposit will be profitable to mine.
3. EAGLE CREEK PROPERTY
The Number One Vein on this property was the lode quartz gold structure that was historically mined commercially for antimony.
Annual assessment work has been carried out on the property and the mining claims are in good standing. Assessment work was focused on the northwest part of the claim block, where drilling and trenching has defined an intrusive host rock thought to be a sill that contains low-grade gold, silver and antimony mineralization. Otherwise, no work is presently planned for this property.
The Company has determined it is appropriate to expend its funds for the foreseeable future on the Nolan Project as it presents the best opportunity to initiate steady cash returns.
4. ESTER DOME PROPERTY
Proposals have been solicited from qualified third-party consultants to engage in the engineering design of the closure of the former Grant Mine mill tailings pond. A contract award is anticipated to take place during the fourth quarter of this year and design work is expected to be completed by the close of the winter of 2008-2009. This tailings pond, currently filled to capacity, will be capped and decommissioned after the final approval of the tailings pond closure plan is gained from local and state regulatory agencies.
Furthermore, with respect to other areas on this property, several large scale projects have been proposed over the past ten years and remain warranted, but for the time being the Company has determined it is appropriate to expend its funds for the foreseeable future on the Nolan Creek Project as it presents the best opportunity to initiate steady cash returns.
Further exploration will be required before a final evaluation as to the economic and legal feasibility of mining the Nolan Creek or any of Silverado's properties is determined.
II. LOW-RANK COAL WATER FUEL PROJECT
The Memorandum of Understanding ("MOU") dated December 18, 2006 among Silverado Green Fuel Inc., the State of Mississippi as represented by the Mississippi Development Authority, Choctaw Country Board of Supervisors, and the Choctaw Country Economic Development District, remains in place. No steps have been taken to proceed with building the LRCWF demonstration facility contemplated under the MOU as the Company is not currently pursuing the construction of a demonstration facility in Mississippi. If the Company determines, upon completion of a successful independent financial analysis, that the construction of such facility is commercially viable, the Company may seek an extension of the MOU to discuss the construction of a commercial facility. As discussed below, there is no assurance that a full independent financial analysis will be completed.
The Company has developed preliminary commercial models based on various assumptions and estimates for the construction of commercial production facilities and the cost of producing LRCWF using locally-mined coal purchased from third parties. Estimated production costs may vary significantly, as LRCWF production is dependent, among other factors, on coal quality, coal price and location of the proposed commercial facility.
Whether the Company proceeds with the construction of a commercial production facility is dependent on the completion of a successful financial analysis with respect to a particular location and utilizing a particular type of coal as an input. With respect to Mississippi lignite coal, the Company anticipates spending approximately US$300,000 during the current fiscal year on bench-scale testing. Bench-scale testing will, among other things, provide the Company with data that may result in the Company deciding to proceed with an independent financial analysis for building a production facility.
Subsequent to the quarter end, the Company completed an independent financial analysis and the Company has determined that construction of a commercial production facility would be economically viable. However, proceeding with the construction of such a facility will be dependent on several factors including
(i) determining the size and location of the facility, (ii) acquiring land and transportation infrastructure, (iii) obtaining necessary permitting, (iv) obtaining a long term supply agreement for coal, and (v) obtaining sufficient financing. The Company's business venture into LRCWF is at a very early stage and is subject to a high degree of risk. There is no assurance that the Company will succeed in obtaining government or private funding for this project or that a commercial facility based on a particular financial analysis will be constructed at all. The Company may pursue other initiatives including joint ventures, divestiture and licensing/royalty arrangements.
OFF-BALANCE SHEET ARRANGEMENTS
We have not entered into any off-balance sheet arrangements that have or are reasonably likely to have a current or future effect on our financial condition, changes in financial condition, revenues, or expenses, results of operations, liquidity, capital expenditures, or capital resources and would be considered material to investors.
CRITICAL ACCOUNTING POLICIES
Our critical accounting policies (the policies we believe are most important to the presentation of our financial statements and require the most difficult, subjective and complex judgments) are outlined in our notes to the financial statements above.
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