VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – The TSX-listed stock of British Columbia-focused miner Copper Mountain Mining jumped more than 12% on Monday trading, after the company reported a higher-than-expected headline profit, on account of the mine performing above plan.
The Vancouver-headquartered miner that operates its flagship Copper Mountain mine, located near Princeton, swung back into the black during the three months ended September, reporting an adjusted profit of C$11-million, or C$0.08 a share, beating the average of eight analyst forecasts calling for a profit of only C$0.05 a share.
Net profit came to C$26.57-million, or C$0.15 a share, up from a loss of C$7.94-million, or C$0.05 a share, a year earlier.
Revenue increased 7% year-on-year to C$77.15-million, mainly attributable to higher copper prices. Realised copper prices rose 35% year-on-year to $2.91/lb in the quarter.
Copper Mountain had completed three shipments of copper concentrate containing about 19.3-million pounds of copper, 6 500 oz of gold, and 72 700 oz of silver.
The Copper Mountain mine produced 20.9-million pounds of copper, compared with 22-million pounds of copper in the third quarter of 2016.
Site cash costs were $1.25/lb of copper produced, net of precious metal credits, and total cash costs were $1.62/lb sold, net of precious metal credits. This was higher compared with the year-earlier site cash costs of $0.97/lb and total cash costs of $1.45/lb, mainly owing to a lower grade and reduced recoveries, as well as fewer precious metal credits.
The 2017 guidance remains unchanged at a range between 75-million to 85-million pounds of copper, plus precious metal credits.
The stock had gained up to C$C$1.84 apiece, before falling back to a closing price of C$1.76 apiece.