Column: After three years of exports China is now short of lead
The global lead market has bifurcated since the start of June, with Shanghai prices significantly outperforming that of the LME.
Eldorado Gold’s (NYSE:EGO) profit dropped $3 million in Q2 2013 compared to the same period last year, totalling $43.3 million or $0.06 per share.
Average cash operating costs were up 31% with each ounce of gold running the company $478 – a figure which Paul Wright, the firms’s CEO said is “relatively low.”
The Canadian gold miner – which holds properties in Europe, China and Brazil – did show increased sales however, shipping out 176,260 ounces of gold this past quarter compared to 132,919 last year.
As global gold prices decline, so do profits for mining companies: In Q2 2012 Eldorado’s product sold for an average of $1,382 per ounce, down from $1,612 last year.
The miner also suffered on the markets this year, dropping 44.5% on the New York exchange year-to-date. Trading was down 2% after Q2 results were released on Friday.
To weather the storm of weak commodity prices, the gold miner has made cuts to exploration and capital spending including exploration budget slashes of nearly 50%, and the deferral of the Kisladag mine expansion. Also, initial production from the Perama Hill, Certej and contentious Skouries mines has been delayed by one year.
Eldoardo has maintained its output forecasts of around 745,000 ounces with cash costs of $520 per ounce.
But lately not everything at Eldorado has been about spending cuts: The gold producer paid its CEO $75,000 for every working day in 2012 – putting him in the number one spot on Business in Vancouver’s tally of British Columbia’s executive salaries.
Meanwhile, the miner has revised its dividend payments which are tied to the price of gold. According to Reuters, the company will now pay $50 in dividends per ounce sold if the average realized gold price is $1,500; previously this would have produced a $100 dividend.
