Africa-focused gold miner Perseus Mining has added $72-million to its cash and bullion balance in the quarter ended September 30, taking its cash and bullion balance to $594-million.
That, along with its zero debt and $300-million of undrawn debt capacity, puts the company in “an excellent position” to continue growing the business or return capital to shareholders if the latter should prove to be a more appropriate use of funds, MD and CEO Jeff Quartermaine says.
He reports that Perseus delivered a good operating performance for the third quarter, with gold production and all-in sustaining costs (AISC) having outperformed internal targets.
The ASX-listed company’s Yaouré and Sissingué mines, in Côte d’Ivoire, and its Edikan mine, in Ghana, produced a combined 132 804 oz of gold in the quarter under review, at an average production cost of $805/oz and an AISC of $937/oz.
Gold sales decreased by 17.5% quarter-on-quarter to 115 954 oz, mainly as a result of the timing of sales transactions.
The average gold price realised was $1 936/oz, while Perseus’ average cash margin for the quarter was $999/oz, 8% better than the cash margin of $926/oz achieved in the June quarter.
Notional operating cash flow from operations was $132-million, $5-million more than the June quarter, driven by the improved gold price achieved and reduced AISC, but offset slightly by marginally decreased gold production.