26th Oct 2015 08:19
LONDON (Alliance News) -Rambler Metals and Mining PLC Monday said it swung to a pretax loss in the last financial year as copper production and prices fell but said it expects to return to profitability in the current financial year.
The miner swung to a CAD16.6 million pretax loss in the year ended July 31, from a CAD13.5 million profit as revenue dropped to CAD40.9 million from CAD62.1 million a year earlier.
The main cause for the full year loss alongside the steep drop in revenue was a CAD15.1 million impairment against the Ming mine in Canada due to lower copper prices. Rambler said it will reverse that impairment should copper prices improve in the future.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation fell to CAD2.1 million from CAD27.3 million.
Revenue dropped as a result of lower production rates and higher costs. The miner produced 17,309 dry metric tonnes of copper concentrate containing 4,733 tonnes of copper metal, 5,335 ounces of gold and 39,706 ounces of silver. That was down from 25,647 dry metric tonnes a year earlier.
Production fell because of lower head grades of 27.3% copper, 9.87 grammes of gold and 73.18 grammes of silver per tonne compared to 29.13% copper, 8.39 grammes of gold and 66.97 grammes of silver per tonne a year earlier. Milling recoveries also fell to 96.9% for copper and 69.8% for gold, compared to 96.4% and 67.1% a year earlier, respectively.
Production costs per tonne of ore milled dropped to CAD129 from CAD134, but its production cost per pound of copper rose to CAD2.16 from CAD1.47. The reduction in costs per tonne is mainly attributable to cost reductions introduced as a result of a revised mine plan introduced in January 2015. The increase in equivalent pounds of copper is mainly attributable to reduced copper grade during the year.
"Due to the weak global copper price, this has been a challenging year and all copper mining companies have suffered. I am pleased to say, however, that Rambler was able to achieve most of its operational guidance for the year, with the exception of metal tonnes produced," said Norman Williams, president and chief executive of the company.
"For fiscal 2016 the company will continue with its exploration efforts to increase available resources and reserves. Historically the company has been successful in replacing the massive sulphide tonnes mined during the previous year. This, along with a further emphasis on reducing operating costs, should see Rambler again being a profitable copper and gold producer," he added.
Rambler shares were down 6.0% to 4.35 pence per share on Monday morning.
By Joshua Warner; [email protected]; @JoshAlliance
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