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MONTREAL, QUEBEC--(Marketwire - Nov. 9, 2010) - MDN Inc.
("MDN") (TSX:MDN) is pleased to report that it filed its
interim financial results today for the three- and nine-month periods
ended September 30, 2010. The interim financial statements and
management discussion and analysis can be found on the Company's
website (www.mdn-mines.com)
and on SEDAR (www.sedar.com).
THIRD QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS
Gold Exploration
The second drilling program on Ikungu, the
Company's flagship project, began on July 30 and continued successfully
throughout the third quarter. At the end of September, 10 holes totalling 4,403 m of the planned 5,000 m had been
drilled, and good exploration results have been obtained:
-- The structure hosting the mineralization shows continuity over more than 2.5 km, with gold intersections such as IKD-28 (10.95 g/t Au over 2.3 m) and IKD-36 (13.22 g/t Au over 4.1m) indicating the presence of high- grade zones; -- A concentration of such high-grade zones has been identified in the central sector and to the east of the structure. The next drilling program will test the continuity of zones with intersections averaging over 10 g/t; -- The results for Hole IKD-39 (19.26 g/t Au over 1.53 m in the main structure and 8.46 g/t over 1.37 m in an adjacent zone) showed vertical continuity to a depth of over 250 metres. The presence of a mineralized zone parallel to the main structure enhances the potential for discovery of new mineralized zones; -- The impressive results for Hole IKD-45 (8.60 g/t Au over 14.67 m) were obtained from a previously-undrilled 300-m zone. Gold values are associated with the presence of sulphides (over 1% in places) containing pyrite, chalcopyrite and pyrrhotite, as well as a very homogenous network of bluish-grey quartz veins indicating strong silicification.
"The most recent
drilling program on Ikungu, which is still
underway, has substantiated our interest in the property, and MDN's
management team has decided to pursue this work in the new year. This
program will enable us to improve our understanding of the geology of
this area, and possibly to outline a new gold resource," said
Serge Bureau, President and Chief Executive Officer of MDN.
In the second quarter, MDN announced the gradual acquisition of a 50%
interest in the MCGold project in
consideration of a schedule of payments and exploration expenditures of
up to $5.25 million over five years. This property lies five km from Chibougamau, Quebec, and hosts a mineral deposit
associated with a large envelope of disseminated pyrite measuring 200 m
wide by 800 m long. The average gold grade may have been underestimated
due to a shortage of samples from historical drilling in the centre of
the deposit. MDN and SOQUEM began drilling in the third quarter with
the goal of testing the potential for increasing the gold grade and the
extensions of the known mineralization. The project currently has a
43-101 resource of 166,200 ounces of gold at a grade of 1.61 g Au/t
using a cutoff grade of 1.0 g Au/t.
Tulawaka Mine
The Tulawaka gold mine in Tanzania, where MDN
holds a 30% interest, produced 15,645 ounces of gold in the third
quarter of 2010 at an average grade of 8.7 g/t gold. MDN's share was
4,694 ounces of gold. Third-quarter gold production was lower than in
the same quarter of last year because the mined grade of 8.7 g/t Au was
well below the 2009 grade of 17.4 g/t Au. The underground operation was
unable to reach the high-grade ore due to a delay in the commissioning
of new mine equipment. Lower-grade ore from surface stockpiles was used
to make up for the shortfall in underground production.
Exploration carried out by operator African Barrick
Gold at the Tulawaka Mine confirmed the
continuity of the deposit at depth and continued to delineate the
near-surface Mojamoja and West gold-bearing
zones, which lie near the existing mine and are covered by the joint
venture agreement between African Barrick
Gold and MDN. This program will be followed by a resource update on the
property in early 2011.
Crevier Project Development
MDN is progressing with the feasibility study started in early 2010 on
the Crevier deposit (resource of 25.4 tonnes of niobium-tantalum ore in Quebec). The key
program activities are proceeded on schedule
and within budget, including metallurgical development, the environmental
baseline study, geotechnical characterization of the open pit rock,
tailings management and definition drilling to the south of the future
open pit.
Financial Results
Net revenue for the third quarter totalled
$33,015 compared to $2,790,286 for the same period in 2009. The
decrease was due to lower gold production and the utilization of
available cash in an aggressive exploration and development program at
the Tulawaka gold mine.
The Company reported a net loss of $516,905 or $0.005 per share compared
to net income of $737,649 or $0.008 per share for the same period in
2009.
At September 30, 2010, MDN had cash assets of $13.4 million (cash and
investments) compared to $17.3 million at December 31, 2009.
SUMMARY OF OPERATING RESULTS
For the three months ended September 30, 2010 and 2009 2010 2009 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------- (thousands of dollars, except per share amounts) Revenue $ 33 $ 2,849 Administrative expenses $ 595 $ 1,061 Foreign exchange gain (loss) $ (109) $ (420) Net income (loss) attributable to the shareholders of the Company $ (509) $ 738 Basic and fully diluted net income (loss) per share $ (0.005) $ 0.008 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Weighted-average number of outstanding shares (in thousands) 98,158 94,939 --------------------------------------------------------------------------
About MDN
MDN Inc.(TSX:MDN) is a mining exploration and
development company with sufficient financial resources to develop its
projects in Quebec and Tanzania. The Company also remains active in the
search for new business opportunities that can increase shareholder
value. In addition to its 30% participating interest in the Tulawaka gold mine, MDN is the operator and owner
of a majority interest in mineral licenses totalling
703 km(2) in the vicinity of the Tulawaka
mine. MDN Inc. also holds a 67.5% interest in Crevier
Minerals Inc. which owns a NI 43-101 niobium-tantalum resource in the
Lac-Saint-Jean area of Quebec. MDN has an option to increase its equity
participation in Crevier Minerals Inc. to a
maximum of 87.5%. Additional information is available on MDN's website
at www.mdn-mines.com.
Forward-Looking Statements All statements in this release, other than
statements of historical fact, that address events or developments that
the Company expects to occur, are forward-looking statements. Although
the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking
statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not
guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ
materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Factors that
could cause the actual results to differ materially from those in
forward-looking statements are discussed in greater detail in the
Company's most recent Annual Information Form filed on SEDAR, which
also provides additional general assumptions in connection with these
statements. Investors and others who base themselves on the Company's
forward-looking statements should carefully consider the factors
mentioned in the Annual Information Form as well as the uncertainties
they represent and the risk they entail. The Company believes that the
expectations reflected in those forward-looking statements are
reasonable, but no assurance can be given that these expectations will
prove to be correct and such forward-looking statements included in
this press release should not be unduly relied upon. These statements
speak only as of the date of this press release.
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