Shares of Kinross Gold (TSX: K, NYSE: KGC) were trading more than 3.5% higher in the early hours of Thursday after the Canadian miner reported strong third-quarter earnings.
The company’s Q3 results, released on Wednesday, showed net income of C$109.7 million, or C$0.09 per share, compared to C$65.9 million, or C$0.05 per share, in the same quarter last year. This represents an increase in net earnings of over 66% or approximately 80% on a per share basis.
At the end of the quarter, Kinross had cash and cash equivalents of C$464.9 million, with total liquidity of approximately C$2 billion.
The financials were underpinned by solid production from the company’s precious metals operations around the world, notably Tasiast in Mauritania, which produced a record 171,140 ounces of gold equivalent, well above the previous record. The Paracatu mine in Brazil also delivered higher production, as did La Coipa in Chile.
The US operations also reported higher production, with more ounces recovered from the heap leach pads at Fort Knox. During the quarter, the company also approved mining of the optimised Phase S open pit at Round Mountain, which is expected to add 750,000 ounces to the life of mine production profile.
In total, Kinross’ six operating mines produced 585,449 ounces of gold equivalent, an increase of 11% over the prior year. Production costs for the quarter were C$520.6 million, approximately C$55 million or 12% higher than last year.
“Our production profile was solid and generated significant cash flow. We continue to reduce debt on our investment grade balance sheet and have completed our expansion projects at Tasiast and La Coipa,” Kinross CEO Paul Rollinson said in the Q3 release.
Based on the robust year-to-date results, Rollinson said his company is well positioned to meet its full-year guidance of 2.1 million ounces of gold equivalent.
As of 12:10 pm EDT on Thursday, Kinross shares were up 5.4% with a market capitalisation of C$9.4 billion.
