South Africa police standoff with illegal gold miners escalates
The police sealed off access to the Buffelsfontein gold mine in Stilfontein several weeks ago to deny the miners access to food and other essentials.
Russian largest gold producer Polyus said on Monday that its second-quarter net profit rose 63% year-on-year to $684 million due to a 31% increase in gold prices.
Its second-quarter adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) were at $860 million, up 42% year-on-year, while revenue rose 29% to $1.2 billion.
Polyus remains on track to produce 2.8 million troy ounces of gold in 2020 with capital expenditures expected at between $700 million and $750 million.
Its board of directors recommended a dividend payment for the first half of 2020 of $435 million, or 30% of Polyus’ EBITDA for the period. The dividend payment, with the record date due October 20, is expected at 240.18 roubles ($3.19) a share.
Polyus was able to maintain uninterrupted operations at all assets during the second quarter, despite the covid-19 outbreak at its Olimpiada mine in Russia which was contained.
Polyus remained free-cash-flow positive with $450 million of levered free cash flow, bringing the first-half figure to $709 million.
(By Polina Devitt; Editing by David Evans)
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