OceanaGold income falls 30% in Q2 on lower output

MANILA, Philippines — Australian-Canadian mining firm OceanaGold (Philippines) Inc. (OGPI) reported yesterday a 30 percent drop in its second quarter net income as lower gold and copper output dragged its revenues.

In a regulatory filing, OGPI said its net income fell to $14.2 million from $20.3 million recorded in the second quarter last year.

The company’s revenues in the second quarter reached $68.8 million, more than a fifth lower than the $88.3 million it earned in the same period of last year.

Total gold produced by OGPI’s Didipio mine in Nueva Vizcaya settled at 23,100 ounces, about 28 percent lower than the 32,200 ounces the mining firm recorded a year ago.

Likewise, the mine’s copper output fell by 17.65 percent year-on-year to 2,800 metric tons (MT) from 3,400 MT.

As a result, the firm’s gold sales plunged by 42 percent on an annual basis to 18,900 ounces from 32,700 ounces while its copper sales fell by 37 percent year-on-year to 2,200 MT.

The decline in production was attributed to lower grade ores mined during the reference quarter, according to OGPI.

The company added that it pushed back to the third quarter the mining of higher grade ores as a result of the recorded fatality at the Didipio mine’s paste plant.

OGPI recorded a 32 percent year-on-year drop in the grade of ore gold it mined and a 10 percent reduction in the grade of copper ore.

“We expect gold production to increase in the second half of the year as we access higher grade ore and increase mining rates from the underground,” OGPI president Joan Adaci-Cattiling said.

“We are also continuing to invest in exploration, both near-mine and regionally and look forward to sharing results in the future,” Adaci-Cattiling added.

OGPI expects its full-year gold production to be “around” the low end of its production guidance.

For the year, the firm expects to produce between 120,000 and 135,000 ounces of gold and 12,000 to 14,000 MT of copper.