Asanko Gold Inc. has reported half-year financial results which show gross revenue of $43million.
Q2 2016 Highlights:
• Asanko Gold Mine produced 36,337 ounces of gold in its first quarter of commercial production, in line with guidance of 35,000 to 40,000 ounces of gold.
• Gross revenue of $43.2 million from gold sales of 35,074 ounces.
• Mining costs of $3.74/tonne mined and processing costs of $13.79/tonne milled in line with feasibility study with scope for further improvement as operations stabilize at steady state levels.
• Costs per unit of gold produced disproportionally high due to production of fewer gold ounces while ramping up to steady state and mechanical improvements made to the processing plant.
• Operations generated cash flow before working capital changes of $11.6 million.
• Working capital position improved to $21.5 million from $10.8 million at March 31, 2016.
• Balance sheet at June 30, 2016 remains strong with cash of $34.5 million and unrefined gold doré on hand with a market value of $10.2 million.
• Processing plant improvements, undertaken in Q2, along with mining of the main Nkran ore zones now resulting in steady state operations, with the processing plant milling 274,325 tonnes in July at 2.1 g/t gold to produce 17,042 ounces for the month.
• Guidance of 90,000 to 100,000 ounces of gold production for the second half of 2016 re-iterated.
Commenting on the company’s performance, Peter Breese, President and CEO, said, “The Asanko Gold Mine delivered a solid set of results for its first quarter of commercial production. On the operational side, two of the main ore zones in the Nkran pit started to be encountered towards the end of the quarter and, after a number of operational improvements and de-bottlenecking on the plant, the operations are now running at steady state levels, with the processing plant producing over 17,000 ounces of gold in July.”
“On the financial side, the operations are now generating positive cash flow. Whilst costs per ounce of gold produced were high, this was expected as the mine was still ramping up to steady-state levels. Importantly, the mining and processing unit costs are in line with our feasibility estimates and are expected to improve. With a substantial increase in gold production expected during the second half of the year, we expect costs to decrease towards our life of mine forecasts.”
Source: Ghana/AccraFM.com
