DRDGOLD is the latest gold producer to miss out on the gold bonanza of the past six months because of falls in production which meant the company has not gotten the full benefit of the soaring gold price.
In a trading statement released today DRDGold said it expected to report headline earnings of between 146.6c a share and 161.4c a share for the year to end-June compared with the 148.2c a share earned in 2023.
Reason is the dump retreatment operator produced only 160,000 ounces of gold during 2024 falling short of guidance of between 165,000 oz and 175,000 oz.
As a result, cash operating costs will come in at between R820,000/oz and R835,000/oz compared with guidance for the year of R800,000/oz.
Cash operating costs at the flagship Ergo operation jumped 12% to R3.57bn (previous comparable period R3.18bn) “due to the significant increase in contract reclamation cost and machine hire costs driven by the mechanical lifting and hauling of material at clean up and legacy sites.”
Cash operating costs rose by 23% to R622.3m (R504.9m) at the Far West Gold Recoveries operation.
The company commented that “With Ergo’s replacement reclamation sites now fully operational and the clean-up programme coming to an end, Ergo’s production is expected to stabilise for the upcoming financial year ending June 2025.”
