Third-quarter results from some of Canada's biggest mining companies are have been popping up in our inbox. Most are sporting adjectives such as "record" "near-record". That's not surprising given the continuing high commodity prices for gold, iron ore and base metals through the end of September. Increasing volumes of production are boosting results for other commodity suppliers.
Here is a short list of some of the Q3 reports that have appeared in the past week.
Agnico-Eagle (US $) of Toronto boasts record quarterly cash generation ($198.6 million, nine-month gold production (757,668 oz) and record production at Pinos Altos (52,739 oz at $295 total cash costs per ounce). The company credits the excellent cash generation to a 39% higher realized gold price and by-product metal revenues.
Unfortunately, Agnico has a quarterly net loss of $81.6 million because of the $161.1 write-down of the Goldex mine in Quebec. Work at Goldex has been suspended indefinitely due to uncontrolled flooding.
Toronto's Barrick Gold (US $) is sharing some of its record $1.37 billion net earnings in Q3 by boosting its dividend to $0.15 from $0.10 per share. Higher gold prices and larger copper sales volumes are the reason. Gold production in the quarter was 1.93 million oz at net cash costs of $328/oz, putting the company on track to meet its 2011 target of 7.6 million to 7.8 million oz. Copper production is estimated to be 450 million to 460 million lb.
Barrick is aiming for 9.0 million oz/year when the Pueblo Vieja mine in the Dominican Republic and the Pascua-Lama mine on the Chile-Argentina border come on stream in the next five years.
Adjusted net earnings at Goldcorp (US $) of Toronto set a quarterly record at $459 million on revenues of $1.3 billion. The company sold 571,500 oz of gold in Q3, and the average realized price went up significantly to $1,718/oz. Total cash costs were $258/oz on a by-product basis. The company's new Penasquito gold mine in Mexico achieved a record average throughput of 102,000 t/d in September.
The feasibility study for Goldcorp's El Morro project in Chile indicates that production from the $3.9 billion project could begin five or six years after it gets approval.
Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan (US $) recorded its second-highest third-quarter earnings ever - $826 million - thanks to strong demand and higher prices for potash, phosphate and nitrogen. The company also had record third-quarter potash production of 1.9 million tonnes, contributing $700 million to the Q3 gross margin of $1.1 billion, double the margin for the same quarter last year.
Sherritt International (C $) saw Q3 revenue increase to $466.4 million in 2011, compared to $412.7 million a year earlier. That gave the company net earnings of $45.6 million, more than double 2010, and left it with working capital of $1.03 billion. Nickel sales volume was down marginally to 1.05 million lb during the latest quarter.
Halfway around the world, Sherritt is moving the Ambatovy nickel project in which it has a 40% stake, toward first metal production in Q1 2010. Total cost of the project is US$5.5 billion.
Vancouver-based Teck Resources (C $) had record revenues of $3.4 billion in the third quarter, up 40% from the same period in 2010. Records were also set for gross profit ($1.8 billion) and cash flow from operations ($1.4 billion). This has allowed dividends to rise 33% to $0.40 per share. The company also has cash and short-term investments worth $4.5 billion.
The record gross profit of $1.8 billion recorded by Teck was due to higher copper and metallurgical coal prices as well as increased sales volumes of both commodities.
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