https://www.miningweekly.com

Jupiter weathers challenging year

29th April 2022

By: Tasneem Bulbulia

Senior Contributing Editor Online

     

Font size: - +

ASX-listed Jupiter Mines achieved group net profit after tax of $54-million for the financial year ended February 28, down 20% from the previous year.

Its share of profits generated by subsidiary Tshipi é Ntle Manganese Mining was $42.8-million, down 32%, owing to continued low manganese prices and higher freight costs.

Tshipi é Ntle Manganese Mining operates the Tshipi Borwa mine, an openpit manganese mine in the Kalahari Manganese Field in South Africa’s Northern Cape.

Tshipi achieved an increase in production of 9.8% from 3.4-million tonnes to 3.7-million tonnes.

Jupiter’s marketing branch earned $7.3-million in marketing fees.

The group generated underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortisation and impairment (underlying Ebitda) of $44.8-million and an Ebitda of $57.5-million.

During the period, the group successfully disposed of its exploration and evaluation assets, leaving Jupiter to concentrate on its single asset.

A gain of $12.6-million was recognised during the year on disposal of the group’s exploration and evaluation assets following the demerger of its Central Yilgarn Iron Ore assets.

The board has declared an unfranked final dividend of A$0.01 apiece. This dividend reflects an 84% pay-out ratio for the second half of full-year 2022 and a $19.6-million payout.

“Full-year 2022 was a challenging year for a number of reasons: above-average rainfall in the mine causing operational delays and rail logistics challenges [as a result of] weather, cable damage and derailments,” acting CEO Scott Winter says.

He notes that the mine continues its low cost of operations and delivered strong profitability even in a high shipping cost and depressed manganese price environment.

“Jupiter has worked through a number of changes, notably the change to the board and executive and the divestment of the exploration and evaluation assets. After delivering a 6.1% dividend yield in full-year 2022 we are excited for what full-year 2023 will bring.

“We look forward to working with Tshipi to safely optimise operations at the mine, whilst also investigating other opportunities to grow Jupiter’s manganese business,” he says.

Edited by Chanel de Bruyn
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor Online

Comments

The content you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.

If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.

If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.

For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.

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