Australian firm reports record production at Mondulkiri gold mine
Australia’s Emerald Resources NL has announced record output from its Okvau gold mine in Mondulkiri province for the December quarter of 2024. “The continued strong production and financial performance at Okvau has also seen cash and bullion increase to $151 million at the end of the quarter,” Emerald said in a filing with the Australian Stock Exchange on Monday.
The mine produced 31,888 ounces in the quarter and gold poured was 31,489 ounces. This is 5-25 percent higher than Emerald’s forecast production of 25,000-30,000 oz, and compares with production of 29,184 oz and 30,425 gold poured in the same quarter a year earlier.
“Gold pour” is when the unrefined gold is turned into gold bars. “Several improvements have been implemented during 2024 which has culminated in a steep change in process plant output,” Emerald’s Managing Director Morgan Hart said.
“These outstanding results are a testament to the quality of the team at Okvau who strive for continual improvement, notwithstanding the sustained strong performance of the mine since first production. “Whilst delaying the resource and open pit ore reserve update, the improvements give us the opportunity to consider the positive impact on the physical and financial inputs which we now anticipate will be completed by the end of this month.”
The December quarter figure brought Okvau’s total production for calendar 2024 to 2.9 tonnes, compared with 3.2 tonnes in 2023. The Okvau open-pit mine, about 275 km northeast of Phnom Penh, began operations in 2021 and contains estimated gold reserves of 11.95 tonnes.
It is operated by Renaissance Minerals, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Emerald. Renaissance is the biggest gold producer in Cambodia. Of the 13 tonnes of gold produced in the Kingdom in the first 10 months of 2024, Renaissance accounted for 12.5 tonnes, according to data released by the Ministry of mines and Energy (MME) in November.
The December quarter figure brought Okvau’s total production for calendar 2024 to 2.9 tonnes, compared with 3.2 tonnes in 2023. The Okvau open-pit mine, about 275 km northeast of Phnom Penh, began operations in 2021 and contains estimated gold reserves of 11.95 tonnes.
It is operated by Renaissance Minerals, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Emerald. Renaissance is the biggest gold producer in Cambodia. Of the 13 tonnes of gold produced in the Kingdom in the first 10 months of 2024, Renaissance accounted for 12.5 tonnes, according to data released by the Ministry of mines and Energy (MME) in November.
Chinese company Rong Cheng Industrial Investment (Cambodia), also mining in Mondulkiri, was the second-biggest producer with 22 kg. Renaissance Minerals produces semi-finished gold alloys containing 90 percent gold. All extracted gold ore is shipped to Australia for refining, where they are transformed into 100 percent pure gold.
Ten gold mining companies operate in Cambodia – all but three of them Chinese-owned – and the government earned $15 million in royalties from the sector in 2023, compared with $5.3 million in 2022, according to the MME. Last year was the best in a decade for the global gold mining industry, with bullion prices rising 26 percent, driven by demand from central banks as well as retail investors.
Financial services firm JPMorgan Chase sees another bumper year for gold this year, forecasting an average price of $3,000 and ounce compared with $2,175 last year. Renaissance reported an average price for its Cambodian gold of $2,699/oz for the December quarter.
Source: https://www.khmertimeskh.com/