PRECIOUS METALS

Strong results from Perseus

Record after-tax profit of $A92.2 million

Barry Avery
The process plant at Edikan gold mine in Ghana's central Ashanti region.

The process plant at Edikan gold mine in Ghana's central Ashanti region.

The result, at 16.7c per share, is a 288% improvement on last year’s result, thanks to a 26% increase in revenue and 10% decrease in expensed.

The result was also pushed along by a foreign exchange gain of $US52.4 million. The company’s cash balance was $103.7 million (19.7c per share), up 181%.

Working capital was $177.6 million, an increase of $108.3 million, up 157% on the figure for 2014.

The company’s Edikan gold mine in the central Ashanti region of Ghana performed strongly, increasing gold production by 17% to 212,000 ounces and containing all-in site costs at $US877 per ounce, a 32% decrease.

 The average sale price of gold was steady at $US1324/oz. 

“Our team has worked very hard to improve the operating performance at our Edikan Gold Mine and this is reflected in the strong financial results. Favourable foreign exchange movements have certainly improved the result in Australian dollar terms but significant cost savings and productivity gains underpin the performance as does a prudent approach to gold price risk management which has delivered an average gold price of $US1324/oz in a falling gold market,” managing director Jeff Quartermaine said.

“Our debt free working capital base of $A178 million has been steadily built up during the course of the year and this has placed us in a strong position to deliver growth in total shareholder returns notwithstanding the challenging gold price environment in which we are currently operating.”

Perseus has other exploration targets in Ghana as well as the Tengrela development in neighbouring Ivory Coast. The company expects to start constructing Tengrela in September 2015 and first gold to be poured within 14 months.

A growing series of reports, each focused on a key discussion point for the mining sector, brought to you by the Mining Monthly Intelligence team.

A growing series of reports, each focused on a key discussion point for the mining sector, brought to you by the Mining Monthly Intelligence team.

editions

ESG Mining Company Index: Benchmarking the Future of Sustainable Mining

The ESG Mining Company Index report provides an in-depth evaluation of ESG performance of 61 of the world's largest mining companies. Using a robust framework, it assesses each company across 9 meticulously weighted indicators within 6 essential pillars.

editions

Mining Magazine Intelligence Exploration Report 2024 (feat. Opaxe data)

A comprehensive review of exploration trends and technologies, highlighting the best intercepts and discoveries and the latest initial resource estimates.

editions

Mining Magazine Intelligence Future Fleets Report 2024

The report paints a picture of the equipment landscape and includes detailed profiles of mines that are employing these fleets

editions

Mining Magazine Intelligence Digitalisation Report 2023

An in-depth review of operations that use digitalisation technology to drive improvements across all areas of mining production