JSE- and NYSE-listed Harmony Gold produced 361 085 oz of gold in the quarter ended September 30 – the first quarter of its 2020 financial year.
This was lower than the 378 510 oz produced in the quarter ended September 30, 2018, but 2% higher than the 355 620 oz produced in the quarter ended June 30.
Harmony received an average gold price of $1 449/oz in the quarter ended September 30, compared with $1 263/oz received in the quarter ended September 2018, and the $1 315/oz received in the June quarter.
The underground recovered grade at the miner’s South African operations reduced by 5.4% year-on-year to 5.26 g/t gold.
The company is expecting lower grades at Joel, in South Africa’s Free State province, and Hidden Valley, in Papua New Guinea in the short term, as well as at the Bambanani, Masimong and Unisel mines in South Africa, which were nearing the end of their lives.
The Joel and Hidden Valley mines should report higher grades as the company transitioned from Stage 5 to Stage 6 cutbacks towards the fourth quarter of the calendar year.
Harmony reported a production profit of R2.4-billion for the quarter under review, compared with a production profit of R1.7-billion in the June quarter and R1.6-billion in the September 2018 quarter.
The company’s guidance remains unchanged at 1.46-million ounces for the 2020 financial year ending on June 30, 2020.