Equinox Gold hits 2023 production target after strong Q4
Equinox Gold Corp. [EQX-TSXV, EQX-NYSE] recorded its strongest quarter of the year in Q4, 2023, when it produced 155,000 ounces of gold, enabling the company to achieved guidance with total production of 564,500 ounces in 2023. The company ended the year with approximately $192 million in cash and equivalents, $165 million available to draw on its revolving credit facility, plus another $100 million undrawn accordion feature.
“The strong fourth quarter results capped off a good year for Equinox Gold,’’ said Equinox President and CEO Greg Smith.
The company will provide additional discussion and analysis regarding its fully year and Q4 2023 production results when it reports its audited Q4 2023 and annual 2023 financial and operating results in late February (2024).
Equinox Gold edged up 0.82% or $0.05 to $6.15 in early trading Wednesday. The shares trade in a 52-week range of $7.89 and $4.60.
Equinox Gold operates entirely in the Americas. It has seven operating gold mines located in the U.S., Mexico and Brazil. The company is currently in the commissioning phase at its Greenstone Project near Geraldton, Ontario, approximately 275 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay. The project is held 60% by Equinox and 40% by Orion Mine Finance.
Installation activities were effectively complete at December 31, 2023 and commissioning is under way to pour gold in the first half of 2024, a move that will put the company on track to achieve more than one million ounces of annual gold production, via the advancement of a number of expansion projects.
They include four development and expansion projects that will add nearly 600,000 ounces of annual gold production.
A feasibility study at Greenstone has outlined the design of an open-pit mine that will produce over 5.0 million ounces of gold over an initial 14-year mine life
Gold production during the first five years is expected to average more than 400,000 ounces annually, with a life-of-mine production average of more than 360,000 ounces. The company previously said the project is on track for the first gold pour in the first half of 2024.
Equinox recently said the project remains on track for a total spend of $1.2 billion. As of September, 2023, $1.08 billion (89%) of the budget had been spent (100% basis). An update on Greenstone 2024 operating costs and production estimates will be reported in connection with the company’s annual production and cost guidance in the first quarter of 2024.
Back in September, 2023, the company issued $172.5 million of unsecured senior convertible notes on a bought deal private placement basis. The company said a group of purchasers pledged to buy US$150 million worth of 4.75% unsecured convertible senior notes due 2028. Under a deal with BMO Capital Markets, the purchasers were granted the option to buy up to an additional US$22.5 million worth of notes for 30 days.