PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Dual-listed Gold One increased its profit to $51.53-million in 2011, as it stepped up production from its mines in South Africa.

The profit for the year comes from gold revenue of $194.45-million, compared with 2010’s profit of $13.38-million from revenue of $81.92-million, the midtier gold producer reported on Wednesday.

Profit before tax reached a record $70.96-million, compared with the $17.74-million in the previous financial year.

Gold One generated three times more cash from its operations, bringing its cash balance to $226.49-million at the end of 2011. This was substantially higher than the previous year’s balance of $4.57-million and was also helped by a capital injection of $152.28-million from a consortium of Chinese investors as part of the Jintu transaction.

“Our relentless focus on delivery and the leverage provided by the solid operational foundation that we established during 2010 and 2011 have created a significant growth platform for Gold One,” said president and CEO Neal Froneman.

“Our strong cash position and no debt, combined with our growing production profile, strong margins and our access to competitive funding have ensured that we are well positioned to deliver on our organic and external growth targets,” he said.

Froneman noted that during the year under review, Gold One’s production increased by some 85% to 123 179 oz, as the company continued to focus on increasing output at its flagship Modder East operation, which was commissioned in July 2009.

For 2011, Modder East produced 121 518 oz of gold.

Gold One previously reported that production for 2012 was expected to be in the order of 300 000 oz, with the Modder East operation forecast to deliver some 150 000 oz at a cash cost of $530/oz.

The Cooke underground operations, which were the subject of an extensive turnaround strategy, would also produce some 118 000 oz, while the Randfontein surface operation was forecast to contribute 32 000 oz.

During the year under review, Gold One also focused on its exploration work at the Ventersburg project, where a prefeasibility study was currently under way.

Drilling also started at the Modder North exploration project.
 

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