Gold producer Apex Mining Co., Inc. reported that its bottom line for the first semester had soared by 220 percent from the same period last year on the back of higher production and revenues.
Apex Mining’s net income surged to P1.57 billion from P488.62 billion in the same period a year ago. In the second quarter alone, net income skyrocketed by 337 percent to P917.64 million.
“This consolidated quarter net income is an all-time high for Apex Mining,” said Apex Mining president and CEO Luis Sarmiento.
Revenues improved by 54 percent to P4.77 billion, another record high, from P3.09 billion in the comparative period last year. Of these, gold revenues hit P4.54 billion while silver revenues accounted for the remaining P227.85 million.
Apex Mining attributed the increase in revenues to stronger metal prices, which averaged $1,901 per ounce for gold and $23 per ounce for silver, against last year’s $1,776 per ounce and $26 per ounce, respectively.
For the period, the mining firm sold 46,257 ounces of gold and 190,434 ounces of silver.
Average ore grade in Maco mine improved by 22 percent to 3.95 grams of gold per ton.
“The higher tonnage, ore grade and recovery rate, resulted in gold production volume of 43,748 ounces, 45 percent higher compared [with] 30,189 ounces produced in the same period a year ago,” said Apex Mining.
Sangilo mine, meanwhile, produced a total of 3,836 gold ounces.
Maco mine’s milling throughput, or the quantity of raw material processed in a given period, rose by 19 percent to 392,146 tons. In Sangilo mine, milling throughput stood at 53,092 tons.
The company saw its consolidated cost of production increase to P2.4 billion mainly due to higher tonnage processed.
“We consistently look at maximizing revenue through increased production output and minimizing cost through prudent spending,” Sarmiento said.