10th Feb 2016 16:18
LONDON (Alliance News) - ASA Resource Group PLC said on Wednesday sales were up for gold and nickel in its third quarter, but its diamond sales had almost halved, as commodity prices continued to fall.
The mining and development company, which is active in Zimbabwe, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Africa and Angola, said gold sales were up 2.4% to 18,506 ounces in the quarter ended December 31 on the previous three-month period, thanks to improvements in feed grade and recoveries. The average realised gold sale price for the quarter of USD1,096 per ounce.
ASA Resource said it will be replacing current transformers at the mine in Zimbabwe in February and expect the new transformers to improve power supply continuity to the operation.
The company also reported strong nickel sales for the quarter, 5.6% higher than the previous three months, at 1,577 tones, which came after it mined more of the higher grade ore reserves. There was a 10% increase in production of nickel in concentrate to 1,584 tonnes, with an averaged net realised nickel in concentrate sale price for the quarter of USD6,121 per tonne.
However, diamond sales fell by 43% quarter-on-quarter to 19,398 carats, after the diamonds recovered decreased due to intermediate tailings material. That said, the grade has already increased again in January 2016, the company added. The average realised fine diamonds sale price for the quarter was USD18.18 per carat.
"Although the commodity prices continue to fall in this quarter, making the overall business environment even more challenging, with the ongoing improvements put in place by management, our businesses are slowly but surely showing good progress on all levels," Chief Executive Yat Hoi Ning said in a statement.
"Our cost control measures shall continue in order to optimise the performance of the mines. I remain confident that this pattern of steady improvement will persist until operating targets are reached," the chief executive added.
Shares in ASA were flat at 0.375 pence on Wednesday afternoon.
By Hannah Boland; [email protected]; @Hannaheboland
Copyright 2016 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Related Shares:
Asa Resources