Dundee Precious Metals shares up on Q3 results
Dundee Precious Metals Inc. [DPM-TSX] on Friday October 9 released preliminary third quarter production results and said it remains on track to meet its previously issued guidance for 2020 at each of its operations. The company also said it is tracking the higher end of its 2020 guidance for gold production which stands at between 257,000 and 299,000 ounces.
Dundee is also expecting to produce 35-40 million pounds of copper in this year.
“Our operations continue to perform extremely well and delivered another strong quarter of production in the third quarter,” said David Rae, President and CEO.
Dundee advanced on the news, rising 7.7% or $0.75 to $10.47 on volume of 989,209 shares traded. The shares are currently trading in a 52-week range of $10.73 and $3.20.
Dundee is a Canadian international mining company with operations in Namibia and Bulgaria. It also has exploration projects in Armenia, Bulgaria and Serbia. Its asset portfolio includes a 10.3% stake in Sabina Gold & Silver Corp. [SBB-TSX] which is developing the 100%-owned Back River gold project in Nunavut.
Dundee’s operating assets include the Chelopech and Ada Tepe mines in Bulgaria and Tsumeb specialty smelter in Namibia, as well as the development stage Timok gold project in Serbia.
Formerly known as Krumovgrad, Ada Tepe (as it is known locally) produced 30,000 ounces of gold in the third quarter of 2020. Production was higher than planned as a result of higher gold grades and a higher volume of ore treated.
Ada Tepe is expected to produce a life-of-mine average (currently eight years) of 85,000 ounces at a US$404/oz cash cost, according to a NI 43-101 technical report filed in November, 2017.
The Ada Tepe Mine achieved a major milestone in the second quarter of 2019 by reaching the commercial production stage. It was a move that helped to establish Dundee as a mid-tier gold producer with targeted annual production of 350,000 gold equivalent ounces. The operation is a high-grade open pit with 800,000 ounces of gold reserves. The mine is expected to provide employment for roughly 230 people.
Dundee’s other operating asset – the Chelopech Mine - is located in central-western Bulgaria approximately 70 km east of Sofia, the national capital on the southern flank of the Balkan Range.
Chelopech produced approximately 49,800 ounces of gold and 9.2 million pounds of copper in the third quarter of 2020. Chelopech Mine concentrates are shipped to the Tsumeb smelter in Namibia because the Bulgarian government decreed that concentrates could no longer be treated at the nearby MDK-Pirdop copper smelter. This was due to the high arsenic content.
The Tsumeb smelter processed 55,900 tonnes of complex concentrate smelted in the third quarter of 2020.