Mines in our area still doing well
Although some things in our area are not in as great shape as they used to be, the mines are still doing well.
Sibanye-Stillwater reported that its South African gold operations, which consist of Driefontein and Kloof in our area and the Beatrix mine in the Free State, returned to profitability following a recovery from industrial action, an appropriate wage agreement and the higher gold price.
It says the SA gold operations delivered a positive adjusted net income of R774 million for the first quarter of this year, compared to the adjusted net income loss of R680 million during the first quarter of last year.
Driefontein’s operations delivered a strong performance for the quarter, with the tonnes of gold that were milled increasing since last year’s strike and an increase in gold because higher grade panels were accessed. Underground production also increased by 31 per cent following the recovery from the strike. However, surface production was 25 per cent lower because of a steady depletion of payable surface material. Kloof’s underground production was also 65 per cent higher year-on-year compared to last year during the strike. Production from surface sources was 53 per cent lower year-on-year due to the depletion of the available surface rock dumps. The mining house noted that it is pursuing various projects to generate electricity itself, which will improve the security of the energy supply and make them less dependent on Eskom. Meanwhile, Harmony Gold reported a 13 per cent increase in gold production at Mponeng. However, it reported that its costs increased by eight per cent, mainly due to lower-than-planned underground recovered grades at Kusasalethu and an ongoing project at Target 1 in the Free State.
The mining house also reported that the construction of the first phase of its renewable energy programme to generate 30MW of solar power is currently underway. DRDGold, which owns Far West Gold Recoveries between Carletonville and Fochville, also reported a quarter-on-quarter upgrade increase in production. In its operational update for the quarter ending 31 March 2023, DRDGold reports that gold production increased by four per cent from the previous quarter to 1,329 kg. The company’s EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) increased by 54% from the previous quarter because of an increase in Rand gold price.
