Randgold Resources (LSE:RRS) published its second quarter results, showing a 6-percent increase in profit and a 9-percent increase in production from its Q1 results, the company announced on Thursday (August 9).
The London miner was able to produce 313,302 ounces of gold in Q2, up from the 286,890 ounces it achieved in the previous quarter. Meanwhile, profit from mining rose to US$190.6 million, allowing the company to maintain its 2018 targets.
“[G]iven Kibali’s strong performance, we are on track to be within the group production and cost guidance for 2018,” stated Mark Bristow, chief executive of Randgold.
Randgold maintained its annual targets of gold production reaching between 1.3-million to 1.35-million ounces at a cost of between US$590 ounces to US$640 ounces, which the company largely attributed to the success at its Kibali mine.
At the end of Q2, Kibali’s underground operations were successfully transitioned from contractor-mining to owner-mining, which followed the example of the company’s Loulo mines. At Loulo, the move should deliver cost reductions and efficiency improvements, while Kibali remains on track to beat its 2018 production forecast.
Meanwhile, Randgold’s Tongon mine only accounted for 22 percent of its total production in 2017, but was able to record a 12 percent increase in output during the second quarter this year. Despite this, its 2018 target was lowered to 250,000 ounces from the 290,000 ounces previously reported.
A strike at the Tongon mine in Ivory Coast, which started on July 13, has crushed production and followed similar stoppages at the operation earlier this year.
“The Tongon work stoppage is obviously a challenge, but we take comfort from the government’s leadership in ensuring measures are taken to protect the assets and that they are dealing with the situation,” stated Bristow.
“We are still assessing its impact,” he added.
As of 12:45 p.m. EST, Randgold was up 1.28 percent, trading at GBX 5,598.00.
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Securities Disclosure: I, Nicole Rashotte, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
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