PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The share price of gold miner Pantoro rose by more than 5% on Tuesday after the company announced that it was debt free, following the final repayment to the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA).
The final payment under a gold pre-payment facility was due at the end of April, but the Pantoro board decided to close out the facility repayments early.
“We are very pleased to have completed repayment of the gold prepayment facility ahead of schedule,” said MD Paul Cmrlec.
The facility was used to fund the construction of the Nicolsons mine, and has been repaid at a rate of 500 oz a month since December 2016. Cmrlec noted that the finalization of the facility will result in an additional free cash flow of around A$2.6-million per quarter, at the current gold price.
This additional cash flow will enable the company to complete the current processing plant upgrade and the construction of the new Wagtail underground mine, while also continuing mining and processing operations at Nicolsons.
Pantoro currently has a hedging agreement in place with CBA, with a total of 38 000 oz to be delivered at an average price of A$1 724/oz to October 2019.
The company was trading at a high of 31.5c a share on Tuesday, up from a low of 29.5c a share.