SINGAPORE (May 14): CNMC Goldmine Holdings posted earnings of US$1.4 million ($1.9 million) for 1Q19, the group’s highest quarterly profit attributable to shareholders since 3Q16, and nearly triple of its earnings of US$0.5 million a year ago.  

The bottomline growth was largely attributed to a rise in gold output as the group’s flagship Sokor project in Kelantan, Malaysia, generated economies of scale.

Revenue for 1Q grew 70.2% y-o-y to US$10.4 million from US$6.1 million in 1Q18, as CNMC produced and sold 8,023.38 ounces of fine gold over the latest quarter compared to 4,518.5 ounces in the previous year.

The higher production and sales volumes helped to offset lower selling prices in 1Q19, during which the average realised gold price was US$1.293.28 per ounce – down from US$1,348.96 in 1Q2018.

All-in production costs – which includes mining production, maintenance costs, royalties and operating costs – was notably reduced over 1Q19 to US$923 per ounce of gold from US$1,156 in 1Q18, which CNMC says is due to higher gold output at the flagship Sokor project as it generated economies of scale.

Included in the latest all-in cost per ounce was a capital expenditure of US$82 for the construction of an underground mining facility, as well as production expansion infrastructure.

On this, CNMC reiterates its intentions to commence underground mining at Sokor this year, and says it is studying the possibility of doubling the production capacity of its carbon-in-leach (CIL) plant as part of its efforts to increase gold output going forward.

“We expect the growth momentum to continue as the various initiatives we announced last year to boost production unfold in 2019 and 2020. Overall, we believe our full year revenue this year will exceed the record US$39.55 million generated in 2018, barring any unforeseen circumstances,” says Chris Lim, CEO of CNMC.  

Shares in the group closed 1 cent higher at 21 cents on Tuesday.