- A contract worker at OceanaGold’s (TSX:OGC) Didipio Mine in the Philippines has recently died after serious head injuries sustained in late July
- The incident marks the second fatal injury at Didipio since June 21, when an employee was found unconscious on the ground near the mine’s paste plant and could not be revived
- OceanaGold is an intermediate gold and copper producer with four operating mines spread across the United States, the Philippines and New Zealand
- OceanaGold stock last traded at C$3.31 per share
A contract worker at OceanaGold’s (TSX:OGC) Didipio Mine in the Philippines has recently died after serious head injuries sustained in late July. The incident occurred as the worker attempted to clear a metal blockage from a jaw crusher.
Though production was not impacted, the incident marks the second fatal injury at Didipio since June 21, when an employee was found unconscious on the ground near the mine’s paste plant and could not be revived. In this instance, management voluntarily suspended production for 24 hours.
“We are all deeply saddened by this tragic event, especially those at Didipio who have lost two colleagues in a short period,” Gerard Bond, OceanaGold’s president and chief executive officer, said in a statement. “Although the two events are unrelated, we are taking immediate action at Didipio to improve the effectiveness of the OurSafe Behaviours safety program, increase hazard identification training – particularly in relation to stored energy – and expand in-field coaching on the identification of critical and high-risk tasks and verification of critical controls. Ensuring the safety of our workforce is paramount.”
Didipio is expected to produce 120,000-135,000 ounces of gold and 12,000-14,000 tons of copper in 2024, and boasts more than 2.5 million ounces of gold in resources and reserves that will see its operations through 2035.
Company wide, OceanaGold is sitting on 8.3 million ounces of gold measured and indicated and 4.9 million ounces in reserves across its properties in the Unites States, the Philippines and New Zealand, and it expects to produce between 510,000-570,000 ounces of gold in 2024.
In terms of efficiency at extracting its metals, the company has managed to more than double revenue from US$500 million in 2020 to US$1.02 billion in 2023, while improving the quality of its operations by:
- Consistently deleveraging its balance sheet from 0.35x in 2021 to becoming debt free in the first half of this year.
- Generating tens of millions in annual free cash flow since 2022 and operating cash flow since 2021.
- Developing a robust exploration pipeline (slide 13) that will see the company spend up to US$36 million across its portfolio in 2024.
OceanaGold has a plan in place to continue delivering cash flowing growth until 2026 through reductions in all-in sustaining costs while increasing production by approximately 30 per cent to up to 680,000 ounces of gold.
Despite the company’s rosy outlook and recent track record, and its team’s 30 years of operating, development and exploration experience, its stock has gained only 1.53 per cent since 2019, granting investors a potentially undervalued price to build a position with gold continuing to test all-time-highs.
About OceanaGold
OceanaGold is an intermediate gold and copper producer with four operating mines spread across the United States, the Philippines and New Zealand.
OceanaGold stock (TSX:OGC) last traded at C$3.31 per share.
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(Top photo at OceanaGold’s New Zealand operations: OceanaGold)