Turquoise Hill announces financial results and review of operations for the first quarter of 2021

Alleen voor leden beschikbaar, wordt daarom gratis lid!

Overig advies 13/05/2021 06:43
Turquoise Hill announces financial results and review of operations for the first quarter of 2021.

Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd. (“Turquoise Hill” or the “Company”) today announced its financial results for the
period ended March 31, 2021. All figures are in U.S. dollars unless otherwise stated.
“Oyu Tolgoi had an exceptionally strong first quarter with production of 45,449 tonnes of copper and 145,656 ounces of gold. Our strong operational performance combined with rising copper and gold prices generated revenue of $526.5 million, a 303% increase over the same quarter last year.” stated Steve Thibault, Interim Chief Executive Officer of Turquoise Hill Resources.
“However, as we previously cautioned and are now able to confirm, the pit wall failure experienced in the fourth quarter of 2020, combined with the cumulative effects of COVID mitigation measures, have resulted in a downward revision in gold production guidance for 2021, from 500,000 – 550,000 ounces to 400,000 to
480,000 ounces, while the copper guidance range has expanded from 160,000 – 180,000 tonnes to 150,000
– 180,000 tonnes. The recent surge of COVID-19 cases in Mongolia has resulted in increased precautionary measures that we expect will continue to impact open pit operations and the underground development through
the second quarter, while the vaccination campaign in Mongolia and Oyu Tolgoi rolls out. Safety is our priority and we will continue to work with the Mongolian authorities to monitor and prevent the spread of COVID-19.”

FINANCIAL AND OPERATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
• Oyu Tolgoi open pit and underground workforce posted an All Injury Frequency Rate (AIFR) of 0.20 per 200,000 hours worked for the three months ended March 31, 2021.
• In Q1’21, Oyu Tolgoi produced 45,449 tonnes of copper and 145,656 ounces of gold.
• Access to higher copper and gold grades in Q1’21 is expected to continue through the remainder of the year.
• Mill throughput in Q1’21 was 10% lower than Q1’20 due to higher overall feed hardness and 2% higher than Q4’20 due to the impact of scheduled mill maintenance in Q4 2020.
• Turquoise Hill’s current estimate of its base case incremental funding requirement remains $2.3 billion.
• As at March 31, 2021, Turquoise Hill has $0.7 billion of available liquidity, which under current projections is expected to meet the Company’s requirements, including the funding of underground capital expenditure, into Q3’22.

• Revenue of $526.5 million in Q1’21 increased 302.8% from $130.7 million in Q1’20, reflecting increases
of $236.8 million and $156.6 million in revenue from copper and gold, respectively, driven by improved average commodity prices and increases in both copper and gold production. Copper production increased
29.0% whilst gold production increased 461.5% from Q1’20, reflecting the scheduled move to the higher grade gold areas of Phase 4B.
• Income for the period was $332.1 million in Q1’21 compared with $19.0 million in Q1’20, primarily reflecting the impact of increased revenue partly offset by the impact of lower deferred tax assets recognised in
Q1’21 versus Q1’20 and higher operating cash costs1 driven mainly by higher royalty costs due to the increased revenue. Income attributable to owners of Turquoise Hill in Q1’21 was $236.7 million, or $1.18
per share, compared to $45.2 million, or $0.22 per share in Q1’20.
• Cost of sales was $1.81 per pound of copper sold and C1 cash costs1 were $0.08 per pound of copper produced. All-in sustaining costs1 were $0.49 per pound of copper produced.
• Total operating cash costs1 of $201.2 million increased 7.0% from $188.1 million in Q1’20, due principally to higher royalty costs driven by higher sales revenue as well as additional COVID-19 related costs. These
increases were partly offset by lower power study costs.
• Underground capital spend in Q1’21 was $242.0 million, including $60.9 million of underground sustaining capital. Total underground capital spend since January 1, 2016 is now approximately $4.7 billion, including
$0.2 billion of underground sustaining capital.
• Cash used in operating activities was $133.2 million in Q1’21, compared to $24.4 million in Q1’20. The difference was due to the impact of the $356 million in tax payments made by Oyu Tolgoi in Q1’21 partly
offset by a $246.7 million improvement in cash from operating activities before interest and tax, which was primarily due to the $395.8 million higher sales revenue partly offset by the impact of unfavourable
movements in working capital1 and deferred revenue resulting from the impact of the force majeure that was announced in March 2021.
• Following the declaration of force majeure announced by the Company in March 2021, concentrate shipments to Chinese customers have recommenced and have begun to ramp-up from April 15, 2021 with the transport team continually adapting to the increased precautionary measures against COVID-19
transmission risks.
• During Q1’21 the open pit mine, concentrator plant and bagging plant continued to operate uninterrupted, however, additional COVID-19 related restrictions, including relating to travel from Ulaanbaatar to site,
were implemented in Q1’21 and continue, significantly impacting the number of workers that remain at site to continue operations and underground development. We expect the impact of these increasing restrictions will affect operational performance of the open pit mine and concentrator in Q2’21 as well as
have a continued impact on underground construction and development. The Company is currently assessing the significance and extent of the impacts resulting from the COVID-19 pressures.
• Although the recent rapid escalation of the COVID-19 situation has periodically paused construction work, the technical criteria remain on track to support commencement of the undercut mid-year but are under
pressure due to the rapidly evolving COVID-19 situation. Some non-technical criteria are still pending and are critical elements for consideration to proceed with the decision to commence the undercut. We are
working with Oyu Tolgoi and other stakeholders to ensure that important supporting aspects for a successful project are met prior to commencing the undercut.


1 Please refer to Section – NON-GAAP MEASURES – on page 19 of this press release for further information.

OPERATIONAL OUTLOOK FOR 2021
Oyu Tolgoi has updated its operational outlook for 2021 and is now expected to produce 150,000 to 180,000 tonnes of copper and 400,000 to 480,000 ounces of gold. The reduction from previous guidance reflects both
the modification of the mine design in Phase 4B to resolve geotechnical concerns related to a multi-bench failure in December 2020 and the impact on productivity and increased uncertainty resulting from COVID-19
related controls now in place at site. The increase in gold production in 2021 compared with 2020 is the result of transitioning lower into the higher grade areas of Phase 4B. Operations continue to be impacted by
precautionary COVID-19 control measures including reduced numbers on shift due to extended quarantine periods, longer rosters and movement restrictions.
Operating cash costs2 for 2021 are expected to be $800 million to $850 million.
Capital expenditure for 2021 on a cash-basis is expected to be $105 million to $125 million for the open-pit and at the low end of a revised range of $0.9 billion to $1.0 billion for the underground, including underground
sustaining capital expenditure but excluding any power-related expenditure. The reduction in underground capital from the previous range of $1.1 billion to $1.2 billion is due to the slowdown in spend arising from
COVID-19 restrictions and controls. The reduction in open pit capital from the previous range of $110 million to $140 million is due to a re-prioritization of spend in response to the impact of COVID-19 restrictions and the
force majeure.
Open-pit capital is mainly comprised of deferred stripping, equipment purchases, tailings storage facility construction and maintenance componentization. Underground capital is inclusive of VAT.
2021 C1 cash costs2 are expected to be in the range of negative $0.20 to $0.20 per pound of copper produced which has been updated from the previous range of negative $0.50 to negative $0.80 due to the reduction in the gold production range and a revised gold price estimate for 2021. Unit cost guidance assumes the midpoint of the expected 2021 copper and gold production ranges and a gold price of $1,804 per ounce.

OUR BUSINESS
Turquoise Hill is an international mining company focused on the operation and continued development of the
Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mine in Mongolia, which is the Company’s principal and only material mineral resource
property. The Company’s ownership of the Oyu Tolgoi mine is held through a 66% interest in Oyu Tolgoi LLC;
the remaining 34% interest is held by Erdenes Oyu Tolgoi LLC (Erdenes), a Mongolian state-owned entity.
The Oyu Tolgoi property is located approximately 550 kilometres south of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia’s capital city,
and 80 kilometres north of the Mongolia-China border. The property is cut by the Oyu Tolgoi trend, a 12
kilometres north-south orientated corridor which is host to the known deposits, Hugo North, Hugo South, Oyut and Heruga. Open pit mining operations commenced at Oyut in 2013. The Hugo North deposit (Lift 1) is currently being developed as an underground operation.


2 Please refer to Section – NON-GAAP MEASURES – on page 19 of thispress release for further information

The copper concentrator plant, with related facilities and necessary infrastructure, was originally designed to
process approximately 100,000 tonnes of ore per day from the Oyut open pit. However, since 2014, the
concentrator has consistently achieved a throughput of over 105,000 tonnes per day due to improvements in
operating practices. Concentrator throughput for 2021 is targeted at over 110,000 tonnes per day and expected
to be approximately 40 million tonnes for the year due to improvements in concentrator performance and more
favourable ore characteristics.
At the end of Q1’21, Oyu Tolgoi had a total workforce (employees and contractors), including for underground
project construction, of 13,186 workers, of which over 96% were Mongolians.
SELECTED FINANCIAL METRICS (1)
(1) Any financial information in this press release should be reviewed in conjunction with the Company‘s consolidated financial statements or condensed
interim consolidated financial statements for the reporting periods indicated. (2) Please ref er to Section – NON-GAAP MEASURES – on page 19 of this press release for further information.

see & read more on
https://turquoisehill.com/site/assets/files/5275/q121_financialresultpressrelease_final.pdf



Beperkte weergave !
Leden hebben toegang tot meer informatie! Omdat u nog geen lid bent of niet staat ingelogd, ziet u nu een beperktere pagina. Wordt daarom GRATIS Lid of login met uw wachtwoord


Copyrights © 2000 by XEA.nl all rights reserved
Niets mag zonder toestemming van de redactie worden gekopieerd, linken naar deze pagina is wel toegestaan.


Copyrights © DEBELEGGERSADVISEUR.NL