Apex Mining earnings jumped 40%
Apex Mining Co. Inc. said its net income soared by 40 percent to P7.61 billion in the nine months ending in September, driven by elevated metal prices despite lower sales volume.
On Tuesday, the Razon Group’s mining firm net income in the third quarter alone amounted to P2.23 billion, up 3.43 percent.
Revenues in the January to September period were 23 percent higher at P19.1 billion, derived from gold and silver sales of both the company itself and its own subsidiary.
Apex Mining sold 65,691 ounces of gold, representing a 17 percent decrease. Silver sales declined by 21 percent to 229,746 ounces.
Despite weak sales, Apex Mining’s profitability improved due to higher metal prices. Average gold prices jumped by 36 percent to $4,528 per ounce and silver prices more than doubled to $72.89 per ounce.
Apex Mining also said the weighted average US dollar to Philippine peso foreign exchange rate was P60.81 to one US dollar, marking a 7-percent depreciation.
Total ore tonnes milled in the Maco mine reached 832,431 tons, 18 percent higher. However, ore gold grades averaged lower, at 2.39 grams per ton.
Apex Mining’s subsidiary, Itogon-Suyoc Resources Inc. (ISRI), milled 123,264 tons as of end-September, rising by almost 15 percent.
Meanwhile, the cost of production went up by 13 percent to P7.58 billion. This was mainly due to a bigger volume of ore processed that resulted in greater consumption of materials and supplies, higher personnel costs and increased power consumption.
Apex Mining said the Maco mine in Davao de Oro still has sufficient reserves and resources to sustain operations until 2034, assuming a production rate of 3,000 tons per day.
