Toronto’s Karora Resources Inc. (TSX: KRR) reported its best-ever rate of gold production and sales for the quarter ending June 30.
The company announced Wednesday that it produced a record 40,823 ounces from its Beta Hunt and Higginsville operations in Western Australia and sold 42,172 ounces. Karora’s cash balance also increased sequentially by $5 million in Q2 to $70.8 million.
The company beat its previous production record of 39,810 ounces in Q1 this year by 2.5 per cent, bringing the total production for H1 to 80,633 ounces.
“The strong first half of 2023 puts us in an excellent position to meet our full year 2023 gold production guidance range of 145,000-160,000 ounces,” said Karora’s Chairman and CEO Paul Andre Huet.
“We also added to our cash position in line with our budget as we continue the work at Beta Hunt on ventilation upgrades and capital items – all within our guided capital plan.”
Mineralized stone discovered at the Beta Hunt mine. Photo via Karora Resources
Read more: Calibre Mining’s reports high-grade discoveries at untapped regions in Panteon VTEM corridor
Read more: Calibre Mining reports 32% sequential cash balance increase to US$77M
Karora and Kalamazoo agreed to create lithium explorer in May
Karora announced in May that it had entered into a joint venture agreement with Kalamazoo Resources Limited (ASX: KZR) to create the lithium and critical metals producer Kali Metals Limited. The companies plan to list Kali on the Australian Securities Exchange in the near future.
Karora will own 45 per cent of the company and Kalamazoo will own 55 per cent. Upon listing, Kali will have access to 3,833 square kilometres of lithium and critical minerals tenure in Western Australia.
“The creation of a separate lithium-focused vehicle allows Karora’s management team to remain laser-focused on our existing gold and nickel production growth strategy while giving our shareholders near-term exposure to the lithium exploration potential on our Higginsville tenements in combination with Kalamazoo’s tremendous lithium projects in Western Australia, New South Wales and Victoria,” said Huet.
In February, Karora announced that its measured and indicated gold resources had increased by 20 per cent to 1.35 million ounces.
The company reported record gold production and sales for 2022 with 133,836 ounces produced and 132,047 sold.
However, Karora’s cash position decreased by 24.4 per cent year-over-year (YoY) at the end of 2022 to $68.8 million and its net earnings last year dropped substantially by 64 per cent YoY to $9.9 million.
Karora shares stayed flat Wednesday at $4.85 on the Toronto Stock Exchange and have risen by 72.6 per cent in the past year.
rowan@mugglehead.com
