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OceanaGold’s (TSX:OGC) Q2 production drops 30pc

Mining
TSX:OGC
30 July 2020 12:46 (EDT)

OceanaGold (OGC) has seen production and profits dramatically drop in in its second quarterly report of the year.

During the quarter the company produced a total of 58,678 ounces of gold from its Halie and Macraes mining operations.

This is a considerable drop compared to 80,700 in 2019’s corresponding quarter. Gold sales also fell to 61,955 ounces of gold compared to 91,400 ounces sold in last year’s second quarters.  Finally, 

The considerable drop was the result of two factors. Firstly, the ongoing shutdown of the company’s Didpio mine, which has been non-operational since mid-last year, resulted in a lower overall comparative production.

This was further compounded by COVID-19 restrictions in the second quarter, which hindered production at the company’s New Zealand operations for five weeks.  

Finally, following the completion of mining at the the Correnso orebody, production at the Waihi mine fell around 27 per cent, further impacting the company’s second quarter production. 

The lower gold sales resulted in a substantial knock-on effect to the company’s bottom line. OceanaGold has thus far generated a quarterly net loss of approximately $42.19 million compared to a net profit of approximately $20.56 million in 2019’s corresponding period. 

As a result of the lower production, OceanaGold has lowered its annual production guidance from between 360,000 and 380,000 ounces to between 340,000 and 360,000 ounces.

Michael Holmes, President and CEO of OceanaGold said The second quarter was expected to be the company’s weakest in terms of production, but the results also demonstrate the impact the pandemic has had on the industry. 

“We look forward to the second half where we continue to expect a material increase in production at both Haile and Macraes at lower all-in sustaining costs plus continued advancement of our key organic growth projects including those recently outlined in the Waihi District Study,” he said.  

OceanaGold (OGC) is down 6.14 per cent and is trading at $3.82 per share at 4:10pm EDT.

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