Wilton had selected Open Pit Mining which enable more equipment to operate simultaneously & less costly and are currently removing the top soil (Over Burden), which does not contain the gold.

Once the Top Soil (Over Burden) were remove,  the Group expects the mining operations to be able to feed the Processing Facility with 300 tonnes per day of ores by end August 2023, and mining to ramp up to 500 tonnes per day of ores by end September 2023 and sustain at this rate thereafter. 

Loans and borrowings

In the statutory notice of demand dated 3 July 2023 (&ldquo 3 July Statutory Demand&rdquo ), as the Company had failed to pay a total alleged compensation amount of US$2,000,000 within 3 working days of the Letter of Demand, the solicitors acting for KHM demand payment of a total compensation amount of US$2,000,000 under Section 125(2)(a) read with Section 125(1)(e) of the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018, within 21 days from the date of service of the 3 July Statutory Demand.

In the statutory notice of demand dated 3 August 2023 (&ldquo 3 August Statutory Demand&rdquo ), as the Company had failed to pay a total alleged compensation amount of US$23,587,643.80 (being the principal sum of US$13,500,000 plus interest at the rate of 13% per annum starting from the date of the Project Financing Arrangement of 26 October 2017 to 24 July 2023, amounting to US$10,087,643.80), KHM demanded payment of a total termination amount of US$23,587,643,80 as of 24 July 2023, plus interest at the rate of 13% per annum that shall continue to accrue until the date of full payment, under Section 125(2)(a) read with Section 125(1)(e) of the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018, within 21 days from the date of service of the 3 August Statutory Demand.

The Company has on 24 July 2023 filed a court application to set aside the 3 July Statutory Demand and, by which, is concurrently contesting the alleged claims and/or amounts alleged to be due under the (a) Letter of Demand from KHM, as well as (b) the Notice of Termination.

With regards to the 3 August Statutory Demand (which is based upon the matters asserted in the Notice of Termination), the Company is currently evaluating its next course of action in consultation with its professional advisors.

500 tonnes per day flotation and carbon-in-leach mineral processing facility (" Processing Facility&rdquo )

The Group is focussing on the commercial production of the Processing Facility. Subsequent to the announcement titled &ldquo Project Milestone Update &ndash III of PT Wilton Makmur Indonesia Tbk.&rdquo which had been released on 2 February 2023, the mining operations are currently transitioning to 24-hour production (overburden removal) which will enable target production rates of up to 15,000 tonnes per month. 

The operating pit design had been reviewed to enable selective mining and more equipment to work in the area simultaneously. The design review had also enabled improvements in efficiency and reduced production costs as the disposal area is now adjacent to the mining area and less equipment is required to sustain the required production rate.

For the upcoming few months, additional overburden removal capacity will be utilised to advance waste ahead of mining ores. Barring unforeseen circumstances, the Group expects the mining operations to be able to feed the Processing Facility with 300 tonnes per day of ores by end August 2023, and mining to ramp up to 500 tonnes per day of ores by end September 2023 and sustain at this rate thereafter. 

The Processing Facility is being resourced to operate on a 24-hour basis at a nominal rate of 500 tonnes per day and opportunities to improve processing efficiency and operate at a rate above 500 tonnes per day will be evaluated as production transitions to a steady state.   

From 1H2023

Project Financing Liability
On 26 October 2017 (and supplemented on 12 March 2018), the Group secured a project financing arrangement of US$13.5 million (the &ldquo Project Financing Arrangement&rdquo ) with Karl Hoffmann Mineral Pte. Ltd. (&ldquo KHM&rdquo ) to build a 500 tonnes per day flotation and carbon-inleach mineral processing facility (the &ldquo Processing Facility&rdquo ) at the Group&rsquo s Ciemas Gold Project located in West Java, Indonesia (the &ldquo Project Financing Liability&rdquo ). The Project Financing Liability is recorded at amortised cost.

11. Loans and borrowings
Repayment
The repayment amount for the project financing over the tenure of the arrangement is variable as it is dependent on the future profitability of the Processing Facility. The repayments are repayable on a semi-annual basis until maturity and are denominated in USD. The repayment of the Project Financing Liability will commence, for a period of 10 years, once the Processing Facility has operated at the designed capacity and processed no less than 500 tonnes per day of gold ore for a continuous period of no less than 7 days.

The fixed repayment of the project financing is US$1.6 million per annum. The variable repayment of the project financing is dependent on the profitability of the Processing Facility. If there are subsequent changes to the forecasted future payments, the carrying amount of the Project Financing Liability will be adjusted to reflect the present value of the revised estimated future payments at the Project Financing Liability&rsquo s original effective interest rate. Any consequent adjustment is recognised as finance expense or finance income in profit or loss.   

Embedded derivatives
The project financing arrangement carries an option for the holder to extend the tenure of the project financing arrangement if the Processing Facility delays commencement of operations or does not maintain the minimum production volume agreed upon. In an event of default, the project financing arrangement carries an option for the holder to terminate the arrangement and settle on an amount defined in the contract. If the Group is unable to settle in cash, the holder has the option to convert the outstanding project financing liability into shares of the Company.

The Company identified that the options feature are embedded derivatives that should be recognised separately and through profit or loss measured at fair value at each reporting date. As at 31 December 2022, the Company made an assessment of the fair value considering the probability of occurrence of the above trigger events and determined the fair value of the derivatives to be immaterial. 

Can expect a sudden gap up to cover the big gap, once there is any positive news on the settlement terms with Karl Hoffmann.

Don' t think they wanna kill the Goose that lay the Golden Eggs.

High chance they wanna a big chunk of the cake.