Aim-listed Goldplat has reported a 267% year-on-year increase in operating profit, to £4.36-million, for the fourth quarter of its 2024 financial year.

The company says its Ghanaian operations experienced a strong quarter, achieving an operating profit of £3.74-million for the three months ended June 30, compared with a £438 000 operating profit in the June 2023 quarter, driven by strong supplies in Ghana and South America.

Meanwhile, the South African operation’s performance in the quarter continued to be impacted on by a reduction in supply from current mining operations, resulting in an operating profit of £620 000, compared with £750 000 in the prior comparable quarter.

“I am very pleased with the strong operating results achieved by the group during the fourth quarter, specifically in Ghana,” comments CEO Werner Klingenberg.

He adds that the group will continue to focus on the local beneficiation of material in Ghana, the processing of an old tailings storage facility (TSF) in South Africa, reviewing various cost elements and realigning its business in a declining gold market in South Africa.

OPERATIONAL REVIEW

At its operations in Ghana, Goldplat says the combined gravity and flotation circuit continued to perform well in the fourth quarter and will assist in extracting value from large volumes of lower-grade fine carbon material received.

The supply of material from South America and Ghana has remained steady and the company says it continues to have positive engagements with clients in South America and West Africa.

The company notes that, as per the announcement dated June 17, the focus and preference of the authorities in Ghana is on local beneficiation of concentrate.

Goldplat says the transition in process for Gold Recovery Ghana will result in a reduction in debtors, an increase of inventory value on site and additional working capital requirements until all processes are fully operational.

The company notes that the recovery of gold dore bars from some of the concentrate received during the transition period is going slower than expected, adding that the company is in the process of reviewing and improving its recovery processes.

Goldplat says it plans to invest about £900 000 to upgrade its facilities in Tema based on proposals submitted to authorities. The company is awaiting the final review and approval of the proposed investment from authorities.

Meanwhile, in South Africa, Goldplat says it continues to see a reduction in by-products received from current mining operations owing to changes in their production profile.

The company notes that the focus, therefore, remains on increasing its by-product market share in South Africa.

Continuous initiatives to improve recoveries and strict cost control have been implemented to conserve cash in the short term.

During the quarter, total capital of £800 000 was spent on the generators which were financed through a local South African bank.

The company estimates that it will require a further £500 000 to be spent on repairing and maintaining current operations and improving the environmental impacts of its current operations over the next 12 months.

Goldplat anticipates that this will be funded from internally generated cash flow.

Further, Goldplat says it continues to focus on the work required to begin the processing of its old TSF, which has a Joint Ore Reserve Committee- (Jorc-) compliant resource of 81 959 oz in 1.43-million metric tonnes at a DRDGOLD processing facility.

Since the completion of the Jorc-compliant resource, about 800 000 t of material have been added to the facility at grades of about 1.45 g/t – subject to confirmation.

The processing of the old TSF remains dependent on the approval of a water-use licence and third parties over certain areas for the installation of a pipeline to the DRDGOLD processing facility.

Goldplat’s cash balances in the group remained strong at £3.8-million at the end of the quarter.

The cash balances will mainly be used to reduce the requirement for trade finance in the medium-term, repayment of intercompany loan balances, repayment of debt and increased working capital requirements in Ghana and capital requirements.