Vista Gold Corp. (NYSE American and TSX: VGZ) ("Vista" or the "Company") today announced its unaudited financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2024, with cash totaling $19.0 million at quarter-end. All dollar amounts in this press release are in U.S. dollars.
Frederick H. Earnest, President and CEO of Vista, said, "During the third quarter, we continued to successfully execute our corporate strategy and demonstrated significant progress toward achieving our 2024 goals and objectives. We announced positive results from our ongoing drilling program, advanced technical studies to support our evaluation of an alternative scale development option at Mt Todd, continued to prioritize low overall spending, and ended the quarter with $19.0 million of cash.
"We believe fundamentals for gold are strong, and we are positioning Mt Todd as a leading development opportunity in the current environment of a plus $2,600 gold price, diminishing major deposit discoveries, and depleting gold reserves. We will continue to prioritize the efficient use of our cash while we seek opportunities to create long-term value for our shareholders and execute our health, safety, and environmental initiatives."
The Company is nearing completion of the planned 6,000 - 7,000 meter drilling program. Phase 1 and interim Phase 2 results were announced in August and September, respectively. To date, the drilling program has successfully confirmed the extension of the core zone and the mineralized boundaries in the northern section of the Batman deposit and identified multiple high-grade intercepts in the South Cross Lode zone, a narrower mineralized structure adjacent to the Batman deposit that extends up to 400 meters to the northeast. The drilling program is expected to be completed by year end.
Vista is finalizing trade-off studies and preliminary evaluations for Mt Todd and anticipates moving forward with a feasibility study targeting throughput in the range of 12,000 - 17,000 tonnes per day ("ktpd") (4 - 6 million tonnes per annum), with 150,000 to 200,000 ounces of annual gold production, an initial capital cost of less than $400 million, and a mineral reserve grade of approximately 1 gram gold per tonne. By using contract mining, third-party power generation, and construction practices commonly used in Australia, Vista believes there is opportunity to maintain high capital efficiency at this project scale. The feasibility study will leverage prior technical studies and the work completed for the 50 ktpd feasibility study, preserve the potential for future expansion, and demonstrate the opportunity for Mt Todd to deliver substantial economic returns in a range of development scenarios. A decision to commence the feasibility study is expected prior to the end of the year.
On October 17, 2024, the Company filed a $50 million Shelf Registration Statement on Form S-3 ("Shelf Registration") with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The Shelf Registration will replace the previous $100 million Form S-3 filed on November 19, 2021 that will expire on December 3, 2024. The Company is under no obligation to use the Shelf Registration and has filed the Shelf Registration in the normal course of business, consistent with the Company's practice of maintaining a current Shelf Registration.
Summary of Financial Results
Vista reported a consolidated net loss of $1.6 million, or $0.01 per basic common share, for the quarter ended September 30, 2024, compared to a consolidated net loss of $1.5 million, or $0.01 per basic common share for the quarter ended September 30, 2023.
Cash and cash equivalents totaled $19.0 million at September 30, 2024, compared to $6.1 million at December 31, 2023. The Company continued to have no debt.
Management Conference Call
Management's conference call to review financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2024, and to discuss corporate and project activities is scheduled for October 24, 2024, at 10:00 a.m. MDT (12:00 p.m. EDT).
Participant Toll Free: +1 (800) 717-1738
Participant International: +1 (289) 514-5100
Conference ID: 59918
This call will be archived and available at www.vistagold.com after October 24, 2024. An audio replay will also be available through November 7, 2024, by calling toll-free in North America +1 (888) 660-6264 or +1 (289) 819-1325 using passcode 59918#.
