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Article Excerpt
OPERATOR: Good afternoon. My name is Tim, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time I would like to welcome everyone to the Atna Resources fourth quarter and fiscal 2008 earnings call. (Operator Instructions). Thank you. Ms. Kimball, you may begin the conference.
VALERIE KIMBALL, MANAGER, IR, ATNA RESOURCES LTD.: Thank you. Before beginning the conference call, Atna Resources Management would like to alert you to the fact that in discussing the Company's performance and operations today, there will be forward-looking statements within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation.
Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts. These forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates, and opinions of the Company's Management as of today's date and involve a number of certain risks and uncertainties. Consequently, there can be no assurances that such statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements.
The Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if Management's beliefs, estimates, or opinions, or other factors should change except as required by law.
More information can be found in the Company's various filings on SEDAR, www.SEDAR.com, with Canadian securities regulators, and its filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Company's Form 20-F dated March 31, 2009.
I would now like to turn the call over to CEO and President, Mr. James Hesketh.
JAMES HESKETH, CEO AND PRESIDENT, ATNA RESOURCES LTD.: Thank you Valerie. Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the Atna Resources fourth quarter and fiscal year end 2008 conference call. Today we'll discuss our year-end results and the status of our projects.
I have with me today Mr. Robert [Fye], our Controller; and Mr. Bill Stanley, our Vice President of Exploration. And you just heard from Valerie Kimball, our Manager of Investor Relations. Mr. Fye will provide an update on our financial results, and Mr. Stanley will follow up with a briefing on the status of our exploration projects. I will follow up with a brief discussion on the status of our operating and development projects after that. This will be followed by a question-and-answer period.
Bob, could you please provide us with an update on our financial results?
ROBERT FYE, CONTROLLER, ATNA RESOURCES LTD.: Thanks Jim. I'll briefly reiterate the financial highlights from our year-end news release dated March 31. All financial amounts discussed will be in Canadian dollars and Canadian GAAP unless otherwise noted.
As of December 31, 2008 our unrestricted cash and short-term investments totaled CAD20.6 million, which is lower by approximately CAD3.8 million during the quarter. The decrease was due primarily to spending on the Briggs Mine development project partially offset by positive exchange rate changes on our US cash positions.
As of March 23, 2009 our cash balances were approximately CAD12 million. The decrease from year-end was due primarily to spending at the Briggs Mine and normal operating expenses.
For the year ended December 31, 2008, we recorded a net income of CAD20.3 million and income per share of CAD0.26. This compares to a net loss of CAD3.3 million and a loss per share of CAD0.05 for the same period last year. The positive variance of CAD23.6 million in net gain was due primarily to the CAD20.9 million gain on the sale of the royalty package, which had no net book value; positive variance of CAD3.7 million from income tax benefits related to new, net tax operating loss carry-forwards we expect to utilize in the future; negative variance in G&A costs; asset write-offs -- and increases in reclamation accruals were partially offset by a positive variance in foreign exchange gains as a result of the weakening Canadian dollar in the period on our US cash balances.
That wraps up my high-level financial discussion, and I would like to invite our listeners to review our year-end news release dated March 31 and our annual report on ? Form 20-F for more details on our year-end results. All of these documents are available in the Canadian and US securities filing systems, also known as SEDAR and EDGAR,
JAMES HESKETH: Thank you Bob. Bill, do you want to give us an update on the exploration work?
BILL STANLEY, VP, EXPLORATION, ATNA RESOURCES LTD.: Certainly. I would be delighted to do so. And I also welcome everyone to the conference call today.
Atna's exploration focus subsequent to the merger this year and in the fourth quarter has principally been in support of the Briggs Mine restart, expansion of those reserves at Briggs, and assessment of the nearby projects for additional ore feed to the project.
Two significant drill programs were completed late in 2008 and early in 2009. The first was a Phase I exploration of the Briggs Main Deep target area beneath the current reserves at Briggs. Work there included over 16,000 feet of drilling in 19 drill holes. 13 of these holes cut significant mineralization within the Briggs Deep target and have been released in press releases dated February 27 and January 28 of this year. These holes demonstrate the presence of a potentially significant body of ore-grade material.
A second phase of seven holes has commenced to follow up (technical difficulty) this work and the encouraging intercepts from the first phase of drilling. We anticipate completion of this second round of drilling in mid May, and this should provide the necessary...
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