Asanko Gold Production Remains On Target For 245,000 Ounce Year
Galiano Gold Inc. (TSX: GAU) (NYSE: GAU)has unveiled its first quarter operating and financial results including results from the Asanko Gold Mine (AGM), located in Ghana, West Africa.
The AGM is a 50:50 joint venture (JV) with Gold Fields Ltd which is managed and operated by Galiano. All financial information contained in this release is unaudited and reported in US$.
Q1 2021 Asanko Gold Mine Highlights (100% basis):
- Production on plan: Gold production of 59,999 ounces during the quarter, in line with 2021 production guidance of 225,000-245,000 ounces.
- Consistent cost performance: Total cash costs per ounce1 of $989 and all-in sustaining costs1 (“AISC”) of $1,158/oz, in line with 2021 cost guidance of $1,100 – $1,300/oz.
- Strong financial results: Reported gold revenue of $110.6 million generated from 62,925 gold ounces sold at an average realized price of $1,757/oz, net income after tax of $29.7 million and Adjusted EBITDA of $39.2 million during the quarter.
- Significant cash generation: Generated $35.4 million of cash flows from operating activities and free cash flow1 of $20.5 million during Q1 2021.
- Return of capital: Returned $10.0 million to joint venture participants through cash distributions.
- Consistent milling and strong metallurgical performance: The processing plant delivered a quarterly milling performance of 1.4 million tonnes (“Mt”) at an average plant feed grade of 1.4g/t. The processing facility continued to deliver metallurgical recovery well above design achieving 95% recovery.
- Focus on exploration: Infill drilling at Miradani North continued to demonstrate encouraging widths of mineralization and grade in multiple parallel zones with focus shifting to step out drilling.
- Excellence in safety: There were no lost-time injuries (“LTI”) nor total recordable injuries (“TRI”) reported during the quarter, resulting in 12-month rolling LTI and TRI frequency rates of 0.10 and 0.58 per million employee hours worked, respectively.
- Robust liquidity: $59.4 million in cash (including $15.0 million drawn on the $30.0 million revolving credit facility (“RCF”)), $10.3 million in gold sales receivables and $6.1 million in gold on hand at the JV.
Q1 2021 Galiano Gold Highlights:
- Return on investment in JV: Receipt of a Q1 distribution of a $5.0 million from the Asanko Gold Mine joint venture.
- Stable balance sheet: Cash on hand of $61.2 million and $3.8 million in receivables as at March 31, 2021, while remaining debt free.
- Growth: Work on two exploration stage properties in Ghana and Mali initiated, in both cases adjacent to active and historic mining and exploration properties.
- Strong earnings: Generated net income after tax of $13.0 million or $0.06 per share during the quarter.
“The Asanko Gold Mine had another solid operating quarter, delivering according to plan, enabling a distribution of $10 million to the JV partners,” CEO, Greg McCunn, said.
“We expect production and costs to be weaker in Q2 as we are undertaking waste stripping of Cut 3 at Akwasiso and will be supplementing the Esaase ore feeding the mill with low grade stockpiles.
“ Following completion of the strip, we will be harvesting ore from Akwasiso in H2 2021 and into 2022 and expect to deliver on both our cost and production guidance this year.
“At Galiano, initiating exploration activity at the Asumura property in Ghana and acquiring the early stage exploration properties in Mali give us an opportunity to reinvigorate our greenfield exploration initiatives and create value through exploration.”
