Avesoro swings to profit as gold production soars by 300%

The firm reported a pre-tax profit of $16.8m from a loss of $19.0m the year before, after revenues jumped by 325% to $165.9m and first half gold production increased by 318% to 128,319 ounces.

“Following a particularly strong Q1 2018 performance, the Youga mine is now performing at a normalised production rate. New Liberty's performance continues to improve with a further seven percent increase in gold production during the quarter and unit cost reductions in all key areas of operations,” said chief executive Serhan Umurhan.

The Youga mine in Burkina Faso saw a second quarter upgrade in its mineral resource and reserve estimate, while Liberian New Liberty saw a total production increase of 88% over the six months ended 30 June.

Both mines performed in line with expectations, with the company maintaining its outlook and forecasting further improvements in unit cost performance as mining volumes increase in the second half of the year.

The latter part of the year will also see the company continue its exploration efforts with 89,900 metres, or 52% of the full-year budget, drilled across Liberia and Burkina Faso so far.

Avesoro ended the period with cash of $12.7m and debt of $134.5m, increases of 354% and 12.7% respectively.

“We now look forward to delivering another strong performance in the second half of 2018 and we maintain our full year production guidance of 220,000 - 240,000 ounces of gold at an all-in-sustaining cost of between US$960 and US$1,000 per ounce sold," said Umurhan.

Avesoro Resources’ shares were down 0.21% at 238.50p at 0818 BST.