Orezone Reports Third Quarter 2024 Results
All dollar amounts are in USD unless otherwise stated and abbreviation "M" means million.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Nov. 05, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Orezone Gold Corporation (TSX:ORE, OTCQX:ORZCF) ("Orezone" or "Company") reported its operational and financial results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024. The Company will host a conference call and webcast on November 6, 2024 commencing at 8:00am PT to discuss its quarterly and year-to-date performance, and outlook for the remainder of the year, including commentary on the progress of its Phase II hard rock expansion and early success on its multi-year, discovery-focus drilling campaign. Call access and webcast details are provided at the end of this press release.
Patrick Downey, President and CEO, commented, "The third quarter provided a number of positive developments for our Bomboré Mine. Operationally, mining access was opened up in the Siga pits and grid power returned to normalized levels, both of which will ensure ongoing improved gold production and costs in Q4-2024. We generated solid free cash flow during the quarter and continued to pay down debt and advance the Phase II hard rock expansion which will set the path for Bomboré to increase annual gold production by 50% within the next 12 months. We also commenced our multi-year exploration program with the first two diamond drill holes from the current campaign returning robust results, with broad and above-average grade mineralization to 240 metres below the current pit limit, validating our belief that with further targeted drilling, Bomboré can grow into a 7 to 10 million ounce orebody.
With unhedged gold sales at record prices continuing into the fourth quarter, we forecast generation of continued strong operating cashflow that will help support the Phase II expansion construction. The $58M Phase II term loan previously announced with Coris Bank is advancing and is expected to close in the coming weeks."
2024 THIRD QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS AND SIGNIFICANT SUBSEQUENT EVENTS
(All mine site figures on a 100% basis)
Q3-2024
Q3-2023
9M-2024
9M-2023
Operating Performance
Gold production
oz
26,581
30,726
82,244
107,509
Gold sales
oz
27,698
29,167
83,864
105,914
Average realized gold price
$/oz
2,473
1,910
2,280
1,922
Cash costs per gold ounce sold1
$/oz
1,410
1,152
1,297
936
All-in sustaining costs1 ("AISC") per gold ounce sold
$/oz
1,655
1,306
1,519
1,088
Financial Performance
Revenue
$000s
68,652
55,803
191,680
203,911
Earnings from mine operations
$000s
22,340
13,882
72,389
81,042
Net income attributable to shareholders of Orezone1
$000s
4,984
5,194
25,620
39,134
Net income per common share attributable to shareholders of Orezone1BasicDiluted
$$
0.010.01
0.010.01
0.070.06
0.110.11
Adjusted EBITDA1
$000s
25,756
19,163
72,175
93,334
Adjusted earnings attributable to shareholders of Orezone1
$000s
7,365
3,588
18,427
39,398
Adjusted earnings per share attributable to shareholders of Orezone1
$
0.02
0.01
0.05
0.11
Cash and Cash Flow Data
Operating cash flow before changes in working capital
$000s
18,888
16,474
53,876
82,839
Operating cash flow
$000s
24,043
6,978
29,677
66,059
Free cash flow1
$000s
14,120
(4,024
)
(818
)
35,490
Cash, end of period
$000s
66,900
27,711
66,900
27,711
1 Cash costs, AISC, Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted earnings, Adjusted earnings per share, and Free cash flow are non-IFRS measures. See "Non-IFRS Measures" section below for additional information.
Safety: Continued strong safety performance with 1.31M and 3.68M hours worked without a lost-time injury for Q3-2024 and 9M-2024, respectively.
Liquidity: Free cashflow generation of $14.1M in Q3-2024 despite the continued build-up of VAT receivables and Phase II Expansion capital expenditures in the quarter. Cash stood at $66.9M at September 30, 2024, increases of $55.5M from June 30, 2024 and $47.4M from December 31, 2023, respectively.
Gold Production and Costs: Gold production of 26,581 ounces at an AISC of $1,655/oz as a result of an above-average strip ratio due to mine sequencing, and drawdown of lower-grade stockpiles due to heavy rainfall events restricting pit access during the quarter combined with higher-than-budgeted government royalties from a better realized gold price.
Siga Pits Mining Extension: Mining at Siga East ramped up in Q3-2024 after the relocation of households to the new MV3 resettlement site in June 2024 while mining at Siga South commenced in August 2024. The Q4-2024 mine plan calls for greater mill delivery of higher-grade ore tonnes from the Siga pits as mining productivity and material movement are forecasted to improve with the end of the rainy ...