Rising prices pulled up OceanaGold earnings
Higher metal prices raised the profit of OceanaGold Philippines Inc. (OGPI) in 2024 by 13.1 percent to $30.3 million from $26.8 million a year earlier despite lower revenues and output.
In a disclosure on Thursday, the local subsidiary of Australian-Canadian mining firm OceanaGold Corp. said revenues settled at $342.9 million, down by 7.6 percent from $371 million.
“While 2024 production was impacted by underground mine redesign and resequencing work as well as severe weather events, we still finished the year capitalizing on record high gold prices and delivering strong free cash flow of $109 million for the full year 2024,” said Peter Sharpe, chair of OceanaGold Philippines.
The company produced 97,000 ounces of gold last year, a 30-percent drop from 138,500 ounces.
Copper production also went down by 13 percent to 12,300 tons from 14,200 tons.
The mining firm attributed the decline in gold output partly to a decrease in underground ore mined due to weather events in the third and fourth quarters of the year.
Also blamed for a decrease in mill feed were interruptions in the process plant in the second quarter and power outages due to the severe weather events in the fourth.
OGPI said gold prices averaged $2,434 per ounce last year, up by 23.3 percent from $1,974 per ounce.
At the same time, the average price of copper rose 7.5 percent to $4.16 per pound from $3.87 per pound.
The firm’s all-in sustaining cost, which refers to expenses relative to sustaining the operations of its Didipio gold and copper mine in Nueva Vizcaya, reached $1,140 per ounce.
This was 56.2 percent lower due to the decrease in gold sales volumes, increased mining, and general and administrative costs as well as higher capital additions to the mining fleet.
