Mr. Mick Wilkes reports
OCEANAGOLD ANNOUNCES FIRST QUARTER 2013 RESULTS
OceanaGold Corp. has released its first-quarter 2013 results for the
quarter ending March 31, 2013. Details of the consolidated financial
statements, and the management's discussion and analysis are
available on the company's website. (All references in U.S. dollars.)
Key highlights include:
- Total company gold production of 67,463 ounces and copper production of
3,663 tonnes in the first quarter of 2013.
- Cash costs for the first quarter from the New Zealand operations only
were $687 per ounce on gold sales of 58,585 ounces.
- Didipio commissioning continues to advance well with steadily increasing
throughputs and recovery rates.
- Since commencement of production in
December, 2012, Didipio has produced 7,251 ounces of gold and 3,866
tonnes of copper.
- Blackwater project's inferred resource increased to 600,000 ounces of
gold at an average grade of 21.0 grams per tonne.
In the first quarter of 2013, the company produced 60,586 ounces of gold
in New Zealand and added 6,877 ounces of gold and 3,663 tonnes of
copper from Didipio which continues to ramp up. The total ounces of
gold produced were in line with expectations despite incurring a pitwall slump early in the first quarter at Macraes. The company expects
the New Zealand operations to have variable quarterly production for
the remainder of 2013 with less gold production in the second quarter
but rebounding in the third quarter on account of revised mine
sequencing associated with the pitwall slump.
The company reported EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes,
depreciation and amortization excluding gain/loss on hedges) of $47.1-million and revenue of $95.6-million in the first quarter from the New
Zealand operations. The company's cash costs of $687 per ounce on gold
sales of 58,585 ounces of gold from the New Zealand operations were
slightly higher than in the previous quarter. As expected, cash costs
were below the low end of the full-year cost guidance range; however,
costs are expected to vary throughout the remainder of the year due to
variable production rates.
At the Didipio mine in the Philippines, commissioning activities
continue to advance well with throughput rates steadily increasing and
at times exceeding the planned 2.5-million-tonne-per-year production rate for the year.
Since the commencement of commissioning and to the end of the first
quarter of 2013, Didipio had produced 7,251 ounces of gold and 3,866
tonnes of copper. Subsequent to the quarter-end, the company shipped
its first concentrate from the San Fernando port on the west coast of
Luzon, Philippines. The second shipment is expected in the coming days.
In the first quarter, the company announced drill results for the final
drill hole (WA25) of the current drilling program at the historic
Blackwater mine. The drill hole WA25 successfully intercepted the
Birthday reef 1,190 metres downhole and 250 vertical metres from the
base of the old mine workings. WA25 intercepts included 0.45 metre
(estimated true width of 0.35 metre) at 31.8 grams per tonne gold from 1,119 metres
downhole. Results from this drilling campaign indicate the Birthday
reef continues for at least 680 metres vertically below the last worked
level of the Blackwater mine. The company has increased the inferred
resource at Blackwater by 250,000 ounces to 900,000 tonnes at 21 grams per tonne gold for 600,000 ounces of
gold.
OceanaGold managing director and chief executive officer, Mick Wilkes, said: "The company had
another strong quarter with steady production from the New Zealand
mines and continued success with the ramp-up at Didipio. Commissioning
of Didipio continues to advance well and we are beginning to realize
the positive cash flow from the operation having made one shipment in
early April with the next shipment expected in the coming days. More
than 13,000 tonnes of copper-gold concentrate is currently in storage
at site or port and mining activities continue to perform well with a
large inventory of ore on the ROM pad. Our transformation into a
multinational producer with lower costs continues to progress as
planned and we are on track to declare commercial production at Didipio
in the second quarter of 2013."
Conference call/webcast
The company will host a conference call/webcast to discuss the results
at 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday, April 30, 2013 (Melbourne, Australia, time)/5:30 p.m.
on Monday, April 29 (Toronto time). Details are available on the
home page on the OceanaGold website.
Local (toll-free) dial in numbers
Australia: 1-800-148-052
New Zealand: 0-800-441-017
Canada and North America: 1-888-390-0546
All other countries (toll): 1-416-764-8688
Playback of webcast
If you are unable to attend the call, a recording will be available for
viewing on the company's website from 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday April
30 (Melbourne, Australia, time)/8:30 p.m. on Monday, April 29 (Toronto time).
STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS
(in thousands of U.S. dollars, except per share amounts)
Three months ended
March 31, 2013 Dec. 31, 2012 March 31, 2012
Gold sales $ 95,639 $ 119,018 $ 88,558
---------- ---------- ----------
Cost of sales, excluding depreciation and amortization (39,875) (46,656) (60,688)
General and administration (6,162) (4,607) (3,093)
Foreign currency exchange gain (loss) (418) (250) (1,622)
Other income (expense) (2,108) (405) 130
---------- ---------- ----------
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization
(excluding gain (loss) on undesignated hedges) 47,076 67,100 23,285
Depreciation and amortization (29,547) (27,606) (21,823)
Net interest expense and finance costs (6,376) (7,670) (4,002)
---------- ---------- ----------
Earnings (loss) before income tax and gain (loss) on
undesignated hedges 11,153 31,824 (2,540)
Tax (expense) benefit (4,663) (8,704) (1,323)
---------- ---------- ----------
Earnings (loss) after income tax and before gain (loss) on
undesignated hedges 6,490 23,120 (3,863)
Gain (loss) on fair value of undesignated hedges 813 1,539 -
Tax (expense) benefit on undesignated hedges (244) (462) -
---------- ---------- ----------
Net profit (loss) $ 7,059 $ 24,197 $ (3,863)
========== ========== ==========
Basic/diluted earnings (loss) per share $ 0.02 $ 0.09 $ (0.01)
We seek Safe Harbor.
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