SSR Mining (NASDAQ: SSRM) (TSX: SSRM) (ASX: SSR) will pay a quarterly cash dividend of $0.05 per share starting from the first quarter of 2021, the company announced on Thursday, together with its Q3 2020 results.
“With the transformational merger with Alacer Gold finalized, integration efforts near completion, and our operations running at steady state following covid-19 interruptions, the focus has turned towards delivering a number of value-enhancing catalysts before year-end,” president and CEO Rod Antal said in a press release.
“A recurring quarterly dividend is expected to be the primary method of capital return, and we will periodically evaluate supplementing this dividend from trailing excess attributable free cash flow through incremental dividends and/or share buyback programs,” Antal added.
For the third quarter, the company posted attributable net income of $26.8 million ($0.19 per share), as well as an adjusted attributable net income of $67.8 million ($0.49 per share). Consolidated cash balance at quarter-end increased to $772.8 million.
The newly acquired Çöpler mine contributed to the company’s low-cost production for the three-month period. From the date of acquisition to quarter-end, it produced 19,586 ounces of gold at all in sustaining costs (AISC) of $737/oz. Pit cutback to provide access to higher-grade ore is expected in the next quarter.
The Marigold mine in Nevada added 49,137 ounces of gold production at AISC of $1,243/oz during the past quarter, while the Seabee operations in Canada produced 20,249 ounces of gold at AISC of $988/oz.
The Puna operations in Argentina produced 1.3 million ounces of silver at AISC of $11.26/oz, generating income of $17.4 million for the quarter.
Year-to-date production across the four operations has reached 491,821 gold equivalent ounces. SSR says it remains on track to meet its updated full year production guidance of 680,000-760,000 gold equivalent ounces at AISC of $965-$1,040/oz.
Shares of SSR Mining surged 10.1% by 1:30 p.m. EST following its latest quarterly results. The Vancouver-based miner has a market capitalization of C$5.7 billion.