K92 Mining Inc. (TSX: KNT) (OTCQX: KNTNF) reported a 39 per cent increase in revenue to US$51.8 million for Q2 this year, a financial success that can be partially attributed to its high rate of gold sales — which rose by 18.9 per cent year-over-year (YoY) at the end of the quarter.
On Thursday, the Papua New Guinea-focused mining company released its latest financial results for the quarter ending June 30. K92 is debt-free and observed a 7.8 per cent sequential increase in its cash balance to US$95.6 million at the end of the quarter.
The company produced 30,794 ounces of gold equivalent (AuEq), an 18 per cent increase YoY and 43 per cent sequential increase from Q1 this year. K92 says it was able to achieve its best rate of gold and copper recovery since 2021 during the quarter thanks to its plant expansion in May at 92.4 per cent and 92.8 per cent respectively.
The company sold 28,141 ounces of gold, 1.66 million pounds of copper and 36,253 ounces of silver. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization for the quarter totalled US$21.6 million.
K92 saw a 27 per cent sequential drop in its gold concentrate and doré inventory at the end of Q2 to 2,398 ounces. The company also observed a 59 per cent rise in its earnings from mining operations year-over-year (YoY) to US$22.6 million.
Read more: Calibre Mining expands resources from open pit at Nevada’s Pan Gold Mine
Read more: Calibre Mining reports high-grade discoveries at untapped regions in Panteon VTEM corridor
K92 made significant progress with mine and plant development in Q2
A significant achievement made by K92 during the quarter was the completion of the rougher flotation expansion’s commissioning during the Stage 2A expansion of the processing plant, bringing its capacity to 500,000 tonnes per annum.
“Since the end of 2019, the plant’s quarterly throughput has more than tripled, with two expansions, Stage 2 and Stage 2A, completed largely during the pandemic environment,” said K92’s CEO and Director John Lewins.
K92 also completed a total of 2,173 metres of mine development during Q2 with significant progress made on the twin incline.
Lewins says the twin incline will be used to target the Kora Deeps down dip extension at Kainantu which K92 sees as a high-potential target area. K92 plans to mine Kora’s first ore at depth in Q4 this year.
The company reported two fatalities in May resulting from a vehicle accident outside of its mining lease area and another two deaths attributed to an incident involving a vehicle on its underground main incline at the Kainantu mine at the end of June.
Last month, the company hired the Australian engineering firm GR Engineering Services Limited to build a new processing plant in Papua New Guinea for $81 million. The new plant is expected to have a processing capacity of 1.2 million tonnes annually.
K92 shares dropped by 3.25 per cent Thursday to $5.65 on the Toronto Stock Exchange and have declined by over 30 per cent since the beginning of this year.
rowan@mugglehead.com
