Global Mining Symposium: Evolution Mining’s Jake Klein on margins over volume

In the first six months of fiscal 2021, Evolution Mining (ASX: EVN) banked over 50% of every ounce of gold it produced in terms of its EBITDA margins, posted a return on equity of 18%, and issued an interim dividend of US$247 per oz., or about 12% of its revenue, well above its peers.

”It’s been all about a journey of trying to improve the quality of our assets and focusing mostly on margin and return on capital rather than on volume,” Jake Klein, the company’s founder and executive chairman, told participants in The Northern Miner’s second-quarter Global Mining Symposium. “We’re not convinced that producing more gold and making the same or less money is better than producing the most profitable ounces.”

Klein added he was “very proud” that the company has paid 16 consecutive dividends.

“It’s our job as a company to safely convert ounces in the ground into cash in the bank and then decide prudently how best to invest that cash, and if we can’t invest it better and get a better return than our shareholders can, we should be giving it back to our shareholders.”

The Australia-focused gold miner has four wholly owned mines in Australia — Cowal in New South Wales, Mungari in Western Australia, and Mt Rawdon and Mt. Carlton in Queensland, as well as an economic interest, also in Queensland, in Glencore’s (LSE: GLEN) Ernest Henry copper-gold mine.