https://www.miningweekly.com
Africa|Business|Coal|Construction|Eskom|Export|Financial|Generators|Gold|Infrastructure|Power|Storage|Technology|Equipment|Power Generation|Power-generation|Products|Solutions|Environmental|Infrastructure|Operations
Africa|Business|Coal|Construction|Eskom|Export|Financial|Generators|Gold|Infrastructure|Power|Storage|Technology|Equipment|Power Generation|Power-generation|Products|Solutions|Environmental|Infrastructure|Operations
africa|business|coal|construction|eskom|export|financial|generators|gold|infrastructure|power|storage|technology|equipment|power-generation|power-generation-industry-term|products|solutions|environmental|infrastructure|operations

Goldplat’s third-quarter performance impacted by operational headwinds

5th May 2023

By: Tasneem Bulbulia

Senior Contributing Editor Online

     

Font size: - +

Aim-listed Goldplat’s two gold recovery operations in South Africa and Ghana achieved a combined operating profit for the third quarter of £1.47-million, a 36% decrease against the third quarter in the previous year (excluding listing and head office costs and foreign exchange losses), it notes in an operational update for the period.

The combined operating profit for the operating entities for the nine months ending March 31 decreased by 20% year-on-year to £4.84-million.

The quarter’s results were a consequence of reduced operating performances in South Africa of £1.18-million and in Ghana of £295 000.

Despite the reduced operating performance in the quarter, Goldplat says it still expects to meet current market expectations for the full financial year.

Several events have contributed to the reduced operating results for the quarter.

Firstly, while Gold Recovery Ghana’s (GRG’s) production remained in line with that of previous quarters, Goldplat experienced delays to the export of product as a result of the finalisation of the renewal of its gold licence, which is required for export.

Although the licence has been approved by the Minerals Commission of Ghana, the final signature from the regulated authorities has taken longer than expected, the company informs.

As a result, production is currently locked up in inventory on site since the previous licence expired at the end of January. This situation has not been resolved as of the date of this announcement.

Once the new licence is signed, accumulated inventory will be sold which is expected to lead to non-recurring higher sales volumes in the fourth quarter.

Goldplat mentions that the supply of material from South America and Ghana has remained steady and it continues to have positive engagements with clients in South America and West Africa.

Also, while the Goldplat Recovery operations in South Africa achieved an improvement in operating profit for the period, compared with the previous quarter, by £356 000 to £1.18-million, as a result of good supply from by-products towards the end of the second quarter and during the third quarter, production in the lower-grade circuits was impacted by electricity cuts by State-owned power utility Eskom.

The South African operation lost a total of 19 operating days, 20% of the total days available in the quarter, owing to electricity cuts and infrastructure-related issues during the period.

Goldplat expects the current electricity situation to continue during the next 12 months.

The company says it continues to explore mitigating actions and viable power generation solutions to minimise the impact on the business.

The most viable solutions involve additional connections to the local municipal grid or a new direct connection to Eskom; however the timelines of these options are uncertain and unclear.

As a result, the company is re-evaluating options for securing diesel generators to run all or part of the operations in South Africa, while it continues to explore aforementioned options.

The construction of the new tailings storage facility (TSF) continued in the period.

The capital spent on this was £250 000 and Goldplat estimates it will need to spend a further £250 000 to completion.

This is £200 000 higher than anticipated and is the result of the company gaining clarity on the requirement to install specific monitoring equipment, it says.

Apart from the capital incurred on the TSF, Goldplat incurred an additional £100 000 in capital expenditure during the period, of which £80 000 was spent on the refurbishment of one of its circuits.

The company estimates that it will require a further £1.15-million (including £250 000 for TSF) during the next nine to 15 months to be spent on repairing and maintaining current operations, on completing the TSF and improving the environmental impacts of its current operations.

Goldplat says it continues to assess the economic and environmental feasibility of the fine coal recovery technology company it invested in, aligned to its strategy to diversify its recovery operations into other commodities.

Cash balances in the group remained strong at £2.75-million at the end of the period, with significant balances invested in inventory and debtors with its main exposures to smelters in Europe and South Africa.

“We have been experiencing longer than expected delays at one of the smelters but remain comfortable of the outturn. We are dealing with delays on a daily basis and expect the situation to improve in the last quarter of the current financial year,” Goldplat states.

“I am pleased with the operating results achieved by the group, considering some of the difficult circumstances we’ve experienced during the third quarter in South Africa and delays of the gold licence in Ghana.

“The impact of the gold licence should be in a position to be reversed out once we can export the material produced on site, however, the electricity supply issues in South Africa will continue to have a significant impact into the fourth quarter,” says CEO Werner Klingenberg.

Edited by Chanel de Bruyn
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor Online

Comments

Showroom

Booyco Electronics
Booyco Electronics

Booyco Electronics, South African pioneer of Proximity Detection Systems, offers safety solutions for underground and surface mining, quarrying,...

VISIT SHOWROOM 
VEGA Controls SA (Pty) Ltd
VEGA Controls SA (Pty) Ltd

For over 60 years, VEGA has provided industry-leading products for the measurement of level, density, weight and pressure. As the inventor of the...

VISIT SHOWROOM 

Latest Multimedia

sponsored by

Hyphen, Eva mine, ferrochrome price make headlines
Hyphen, Eva mine, ferrochrome price make headlines
27th March 2024
Resources Watch
Resources Watch
27th March 2024

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION







sq:0.153 0.193s - 129pq - 2rq
Subscribe Now