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 gold and silver mining company McEwen Mining made small gains on Thursday following its announcement of Q2 earnings that beat estimates. The Toronto based miner reported a net income of US$8.4 million and profits of $0.03 a share for the quarter. It was a marked improvement on last years results, when the company reported losses for the same time period back in 2015. Revenue for the quarter came in at $14.6 million.
McEwen’s cash flow suffered a slight dent with the purchase of a royalty on its El Gallo property in Mexico for $5.3 million. The acquisition is expected to provide future leverage to rising gold and silver prices. At the San Jose mine, Argentina, in which McEwen owns a 49% stake, both gold and silver production saw marked increases on last year’s output. The company ended the second quarter of 2016 with liquid assets of $55.7 million, made up of a mixture of cash, precious metals and securities.
The miner’s stock has seen positive growth over the past four weeks, outperforming the S&P500 by roughly 4%. For Q2 McEwen produced 27,888 ounces gold and 875,006 ounces silver. Production guidance remains unchanged for the year, standing at 99,500 gold ounces and 3.3 million silver ounces. Chairman Rob McEwen owns 25% of the company.
