Mining’s old guard needs strong medicine
A new report details subpar investor returns in the mining industry over the last decade, particularly big cap diversified companies which have not adapted to new realities.
Shares of OceanaGold (TSX: OGC) fell by as much as 10% on Wednesday after the Canadian gold miner reported a lower output for the second quarter compared to last year.
Gold production for Q2 2024 came in at 98,200 oz., down almost 25% from the 2023 quarter (130,100 oz.), as both the Didipio and Waihi mines, located in the Philippines and New Zealand respectively, fell short of expectations. The Q2 output is also 6.3% lower than the previous quarter.
Still, the company expects to meet its full-year guidance of 510,000-570,000 oz. for a double-digit annual growth, driven by its Haile mine in South Carolina, where the Horseshoe underground deposit recently went into production, and the Macraes operation in New Zealand.
More than 60% of the 2024 production is second half weighted, as it previously anticipated at the beginning of the year, OceanaGold said.
“The investment in waste stripping at Haile and Macraes during the first half of 2024 has positioned us for increased gold production in the remainder of the year,” OceanaGold CEO Gerard Bond said in the Q2 results release.
“We began accessing open pit ore from Ledbetter phase 2 at Haile in the middle of the second quarter, achieved target Horseshoe underground production rates at Haile in July, and are on track to begin mining open pit ore from Innes Mills 7 at Macraes in the third quarter,” he added.
On the financial side, the company had free cash flow of $31.2 million during the quarter, less than half of what it generated in Q2 2023. This is despite the completion of its public offering in the Philippines and the sale of the Blackwater project in New Zealand.
By 11:10 a.m. ET, OceanaGold traded 6.2% lower at C$3.35 a share in Toronto, within a 52-week range of C$2.08 and C$3.84. The gold mining company has a market capitalization of C$2.4 billion ($1.7bn).
