Centamin's gold production jumps 58% in 3 months

CAIRO - 20 January 2022: Centamin's gold production jumped by 58 percent during the fourth quarter of 2021, benefiting from its activity in Egypt, according to Reuters.

Centamin is an Australian mineral exploration and mining company headquartered in Mount Pleasant, Western Australia, listed on the London and Toronto Stock Exchanges, with subsidiaries in Australia, Britain, Canada, Egypt and African countries.

The company, which operates the only commercially producing gold mine in Egypt, said production reached 107,549 ounces during the three months ending on December 31.

The company said in December that a review of the Sukari mine it operates in Egypt showed the largest reserve growth in 10 years, which supports its plans to produce 500,000 ounces of gold annually in the next 10 years.

The review was aimed at assessing additional opportunities and improving costs and productivity.

The company's gold production for the full year was 415,370 ounces, which is in line with expectations.

Centamin aims to produce between 430,000 and 460,000 ounces of gold in 2022 and spend $215 million.

On the other hand, the profits of Centamin Company, which operates the Sukari mine in southeast Egypt, declined during the first half of 2021 to $114.9 million, or 39.9 percent on an annual basis.

Egypt's share of mine revenues decreased to $59.5 million, or 20.5 percent, according to Centamin's financial statements published in August.

The decline in profits came under pressure from a decline in revenues by 18 percent to reach $367.4 million in the first half of 2021, coinciding with a 20 percent decline in the company’s gold production.

The company's sales volumes declined in the first half of 2021 to 203.8 thousand ounces from 270.5 thousand ounces in the same period last year, or 25 percent.

The cost of producing an ounce also rose to $807 from $642.

Centamin is also looking for buyers for its Burkina Faso project and has announced that it is evaluating strategic options, including the potential sale of a non-core asset in Baty West, Burkina Faso.

The company said that a review of its assets in West Africa showed that the Batty West project did not meet investment criteria and that it had begun to identify potential partners or buyers for the project.

The company's gold production fell 20 percent to 204.3 thousand ounces, in line with a three-year plan for the Sukari mine that includes reducing quantities of it.