Caledonia Mining sparkles after stellar year at Blanket

The AIM-traded firm owns 49% of the Blanket Mine in Zimbabwe, and continued to consolidate Blanket with the operational and financial information set out on a 100% basis unless.

In the fourth quarter, the mine produced record gold at 13,591 ounces, against 11,515 ounces in 2015, with full-year production also meeting records at 50,351 ounces from 42,804 ounces in the prior year.

The company achieved an on-mine cost per ounce of $614 in the fourth quarter and $636 across the year, compared to $701 for both measurements in 2015.

Its all-in sustaining cost per ounce was £843 in the fourth quarter, reducing from $1,127, and for the year it was $912, from $1,037.

Average realised gold prices per ounce reached $1,187 in the final quarter of 2016 and $1,232 across the year, compared to respective figures of $1,083 and $1,139 in 2015.

Caledonia reported gross profit of $6.89m for the quarter, up from $3.41m, with gross profit for the year improving to $23.49m from $13.18m.

Profit attributable to the owners of the company was $3.26m in the fourth quarter and $8.53m for the year as a whole, increasing from $1.94m and $4.78m respectively.

Fourth quarter adjusted basic earnings per share were 7.8 cents, surging from the 1.1 cents reported a year prior, with adjusted basic earnings per share for the whole year coming in at 21.4 cents, compared to 8.8 cents in 2015.

Cash and cash equivalents, net of overdraft, ended the quarter and the year at $14.34m, up from $10.88m.

The company said net cash from operating activities was $6.94m in the fourth quarter - a sizeable improvement from $2.56m in the same period of 2015 - while net cash from operating activities was $23.01m for the whole 12 months, up from $6.87m.

“2016 was a pivotal year for Caledonia as we continued to progress towards our long-term production target of 80,000 ounces at Blanket by 2021,” said Caledonia chief executive officer Steve Curtis.

“In 2016 we began to access ore below a depth of 750 meters, the previous limits of our development infrastructure, we installed increased milling capacity in the plant and made significant progress in the sinking of the new Central Shaft which remains on track, and on-budget, for completion in 2018.”

Curtis said regarding the longer term future of the mine, the board was pleased that the exploration efforts at Blanket delivered “good results” in the year with the addition of over 200,000 ounces of new inferred resources at a grade of five grammes per tonne.

“Our exploration efforts were also successful in the upgrading of 47,700 ounces from inferred to indicated resource at a grade of 5.19 grammes per tonne.

“We remain confident that our ongoing exploration efforts will continue to yield further successes and I am confident that the life of mine will continue to be supplemented by further resource additions and upgrades.”

Production guidance for 2017 was 60,000 ounces at an all-in sustaining cost of $810 - $850 per ounce, a 19% increase in production and between a 7% and 11% decrease in all-in sustaining costs when compared to 2016, Curtis confirmed, as the ramp-up of production at Blanket towards 80,000 ounces by 2021 continued.

“Caledonia remains well positioned for future growth and continues to evaluate investment opportunities as they arise.”