PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Copper miner Oz Minerals has reported another solid financial year in the 12 months to December, with net profits after tax reaching A$222.4-million, compared with the A$231.1-million in the previous financial year.

Underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization increased from A$539.4-million to A$540.4-million, with revenues up from A$1.02-billion to A$1.11-billion.

“Operating cash flows of A$450-million were up 31% on the prior year and with a cash balance of A$505-million, the financial position of the company remains robust. With strong future cash generation expected from Prominent Hill, the board has declared a final fully franked dividend of 15c a share, again demonstrating our ability to invest in growth and consistently reward shareholders,” said Oz Minerals CEO Andrew Cole.

“2018 marked a step-change for Oz Minerals as the consistent performance of Prominent Hill supported the development of our asset base. The Carrapateena copper/gold project, in South Australia, is now in peak construction, the West Musgrave copper/nickel project in Western Australia is advancing through its prefeasibility study, new copper and gold assets were acquired in Brazil, and we grew our exploration pipeline.

“Prominent Hill exceeded copper and gold production guidance with bottom quartile operating costs below their guided ranges. Mine life was further extended to 2030 with a 50% increase in proved underground ore reserves and underground expansion options are being reviewed. The Mt Woods crowd sourcing exploration challenge was also launched for the province.”

The Carrapateena project is on schedule to deliver its first concentrate in the fourth quarter of this year.

“Our focus in 2019 will be on the safe ramp-up of the Prominent Hill underground to 3.7-million to 4-million tonnes, and advancing our knowledge of underground expansion optionality,” said Cole.

“The Carrapateena team will complete construction on site and ensure we are operationally ready for commissioning in the fourth quarter. West Musgrave will continue to explore options for an innovative mining province through completion of the prefeasibility study as our knowledge of the regional ore bodies advances and we address the remote supporting infrastructure requirements.

“Projects will continue to be optimised and prioritized in the Carajas and Gurupi provinces and we will be expanding our exploration programme to leverage multiple growth opportunities across these region.”

Cole said that 2019 would also see an increased spend in exploration, project studies and drilling commitments as Oz Minerals continued to advance its pipeline of opportunities to build value accretive optionality.