LONDON, Feb. 14, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- Crew Crew Gold Corporation ("Crew" or the "Company") (TSE:CRU) (OSE:CRU) (Frankfurt:KNC) (Other OTC:CRUGF) is pleased to report its financial and operating results for the six months ended December 31, 2005.
The Company acquired Guinor Gold Corporation ("Guinor") on December 9, 2005. The results for the quarter ended December 31, 2005 include the results of Guinor from the date of acquisition to the period end.
The results from mining operations for the quarter show improvement over the last quarter and include the results for the Nalunaq Gold Mine and the LEFA Gold Mine. For the quarter ended December 31, 2005 the gold operations generated a gross operating profit of $2.3 million (2004 - ($0.2) million), an improvement of $2.5 million.
The Company recorded EBITDA for the quarter ended December 31, 2005 of $0.7 million compared to EBITDA of negative $1.0 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2004. EBITDA for the six months ended December 31, 2005 was $3.6 million compared to $0.4 million for the six months ended December 31, 2004.
For the quarter ended December 31, 2005 the Company recorded a net loss of $0.2 million ($0.00 per share) compared with a net loss of $4.3 million ($0.03 per share) for the quarter ended December 31, 2004, an improvement of $4.1 million. For the six months ended December 31, 2005 the Company recorded a net profit of $1.2 million ($0.00 per share) compared with a net loss of $4.8 million ($0.03 per share) for the six months ended December 31, 2004, an improvement of $6.0 million.
Ore production at Nalunaq for the quarter ended December 31, 2005 was 36,000 tonnes (2004 - 26,500 tonnes), an average of approximately 400 tonnes a day (2004 - 290 tonnes) and for the year to date is 69,000 tonnes (2004 - 60,000 tonnes) representing an average of 385 tonnes per day (2004 - 330 tonnes). This is consistent with managements' expectations.
Of the tonnage produced at Nalunaq in the quarter ended December 31, 2005 34,300 tonnes were shipped for processing. Gross gold production was 19,800 ounces achieving grades of 18.31 grams per tonne, compared to 16.87 grams per tonne for the previous quarter. This recovery rate is ahead of the average achieved for the year ended June 30, 2005 by approximately 9%. After tailings and efficiency fees, 18,800 ounces of gold were recovered with a gross value of $9.6 million. After accounting for processing costs of $1.3 million, net sales of $8.3 million were realized for the quarter.
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