ROAD TOWN, British Virgin Islands, Nov. 04, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aura Minerals Inc. (TSX: ORA) (B3: AURA33) (OTCQX: ORAAF) ("Aura" or the "Company") announces that it has filed its unaudited consolidated financial statements and management discussion and analysis (together, "Financial and Operational Results") for the period ended September 30, 2024 ("Q3 2024"). The full version of the Financial and Operational Results can be viewed on the Company's website at www.auraminerals.com or on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca. All amounts are in thousands of U.S. dollars unless stated otherwise.
Rodrigo Barbosa, President, and CEO of Aura, commented, "We are pleased to report that we entered the first nine months of 2024 on a robust growth trajectory, achieving our fifth consecutive increase in LTM production and reaching a record-high EBITDA of US$187 million. In Q3 2024, with an average gold price of US$2,507 / Oz, we achieved record-high Adjusted EBITDA for a single quarter, at $78.1 million, over 39% higher than Q2 2024. In addition to higher production and higher gold prices, we also managed to have a 3% reduction in our AISC per GEO, keeping us on track to achieve our production and cash cost Guidance for the year. Moreover, the construction of Borborema is now 54% complete and remains on schedule, with ramp-up start anticipated for Q1 2025, setting the stage for a strong year ahead."
Q3 2024 Financial and Operational Highlights:
(US$ thousand):
For the three months ended September 30, 2024 | For the three months ended September 30, 2023 | For the nine months ended September 30, 2024 | For the nine months ended September 30, 2023 | |||||||||
Total Production¹ (GEO) | 68,246 | 64,875 | 200,758 | 166,662 | ||||||||
Sales² (GEO) | 68,172 | 63,516 | 200,517 | 165,352 | ||||||||
Net Revenue | 156,157 | 110,635 | 422,646 | 292,572 | ||||||||
Adjusted EBITDA | 78,073 | 30,020 | 187,449 | 93,214 | ||||||||
AISC per GEO sold | 1,292 | 1,436 | 1,302 | 1,329 | ||||||||
Ending Cash balance | 195,979 | 178,989 | 195,979 | 178,989 | ||||||||
Net Debt | 144,366 | 112,110 | 144,366 | 112,110 | ||||||||
Income/(Loss) for the period | (11,923 | ) | 7,759 | (46,915 | ) | 37,788 | ||||||
Adjusted Net Income | 43,386 | 7,621 | 54,894 | 37,835 | ||||||||
(1) Considers capitalized production | ||||||||||||
(2) Does not consider capitalized production | ||||||||||||
Guidance:
________________________________________
¹ AISC is a non-GAAP financial measure with no standardized meaning under IFRS, and therefore may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers. For further information and detailed reconciliations to the most directly comparable IFRS measures, see Section 18 in the MD&A: Non-GAAP Performance Measures in this MD&A.
The Company is on track to meet its guidance for the current fiscal year, including production, cash cost, All-In Sustaining Cost (AISC), and capital expenditures, as demonstrated by the results of the first nine months.
Gold equivalent thousand ounces | ||||
('000 GEO) production ? 2024 | ||||
Low ? 2024 | High ? 2024 | 9M 2024 A | % | |
Minosa (San Andrés) | 60 | 75 | 59 | 79% ? 98% |
Apoena (EPP) | 46 | 56 | 30 | 53% ? 66% |
Aranzazu | 94 | 108 | 74 | 68% ? 79% |
Almas | 45 | 53 | 37 | 71% ? 84% |
Total | 244 | 292 | 201 | 69% ? 82% |
Cash Cost per equivalent ounce of | |||||
gold produced ? 2024 | |||||
Low ? 2024 | High ? 2024 | 9M 2024 A | ? Low | ? High | |
Minosa (San Andrés) | 1,120 | 1,288 | 1,090 | -3% | -15% |
Apoena (EPP) | 1,182 | 1,300 | 983 | -17% | -24% |
Aranzazu | 826 | 1,009 | 960 | 16% | -5% |
Almas | 932 | 1,025 | 1,065 | 14% | 4% |
Total | 984 | 1,140 | 1,022 | 4% | -10% |
AISC per equivalent ounce of gold | |||||
produced ? 2024 | |||||
Low ? 2024 | High ? 2024 | 9M 2024 A | ? Low | ? High | |
Minosa (San Andrés) | 1,216 | 1,398 | 1,176 | -3% | -16% |
Apoena (EPP) | 1,588 | 1,747 | 1,607 | 1% | -8% |
Aranzazu | 1,089 | 1,331 | 1,269 | 17% | -5% |
Almas | 1,179 | 1,297 | 1,330 | 13% | 3% |
Total | 1,290 | 1,459 | 1,302 | 1% | -11% |
Capex (US$ million) ? 2024 | ||||
Low ? 2024 | High ? 2024 | 9M 2024 A | % | |
Sustaining | 37 | 43 | 28 | 65% ? 75% |
Exploration | 7 | 8 | 7 | 90% ? 105% |
New projects + Expansion | 144 | 169 | 79 | 47% ? 55% |
Total | 188 | 219 | 114 | 52% ? 60% |
Q3 2024 Earnings Call
The Company will hold an earnings conference call on Tuesday, November 5, 2024, at 8:00 AM (Eastern Time). To register and participate, please click the link below.
Date: November 5, 2024
Time: 8:00 AM (New York and Toronto) | 10:00 AM (Brasília)
Access Link: Click here
Key Factors
The Company's future profitability, operating cash flows, and financial position will be closely related to the prevailing prices of gold and copper. Key factors influencing the price of gold and copper include, but are not limited to, the supply of and demand for gold and copper, the relative strength of currencies (particularly the United States dollar), and macroeconomic factors such as current and future expectations for inflation and interest rates. Management believes that the short-to-medium term economic environment is likely to remain relatively supportive for commodity prices but with continued volatility.
To decrease risks associated with commodity prices and currency volatility, the Company will continue to evaluate and implement available protection programs. For additional information on this, please refer to the AIF.
Other key factors influencing profitability and operating cash flows are production levels (impacted by grades, ore quantities, process recoveries, labor, country stability, plant, and equipment availabilities), production and processing costs (impacted by production levels, prices, and usage of key consumables, labor, inflation, and exchange rates), among other factors.
Non-GAAP Measures
In this press release, the Company has included Adjusted EBITDA, cash operating costs per gold equivalent ounce sold, AISC and net debt which are non-GAAP measures. These non-GAAP measures do not have any standardized meaning within IFRS and therefore may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies. The Company believes that these measures provide investors with additional information which is useful in evaluating the Company's performance and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with IFRS. The below tables provide a reconciliation of the non-GAAP measures presented:
Reconciliation from Income for the Quarter for EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA (US$ thousand):
For the three months ended September 30, 2024 | For the three months ended September 30, 2023 | For the nine months ended September 30, 2024 | For the nine months ended September 30, 2023 | |||||||||
Profit (loss) from continued and discontinued operation | (11,923 | ) | 7,759 | (46,915 | ) | 37,788 | ||||||
Income tax (expense) recovery | 11,833 | 6,758 | 36,588 | 17,200 | ||||||||
Deferred income tax (expense) recovery | (1,995 | ) | 1,095 | 5,738 | (6,323 | ) | ||||||
Finance costs | 62,691 | 5,477 | 141,888 | 12,505 | ||||||||
Other gains (losses) | 359 | (4,517 | ) | 952 | (5,736 | ) | ||||||
Depreciation | 17,108 | 13,449 | 49,198 | 37,781 | ||||||||
EBITDA | 78,073 | 30,020 | 187,449 | 93,214 | ||||||||
Impairment | - | - | - | - | ||||||||
ARO Change | - | - | - | - | ||||||||
Adjusted EBITDA | 78,073 | 30,020 | 187,449 | 93,214 | ||||||||
Reconciliation from the consolidated financial statements to cash operating costs per gold equivalent ounce sold (US$ thousand):
For the three months ended September 30, 2024 | For the three months ended September 30, 2023 | For the nine months ended September 30, 2024 | For the nine months ended September 30, 2023 | |||||||||
Cost of goods sold | (83,976 | ) | (84,097 | ) | (252,475 | ) | (206,691 | ) | ||||
Depreciation | 16,686 | 13,408 | 47,577 | 37,242 | ||||||||
COGS w/o Depreciation | (67,290 | ) | (70,689 | ) | (204,898 | ) | (169,449 | ) | ||||
Gold Equivalent Ounces sold | 68,172 | 63,516 | 200,517 | 165,352 | ||||||||
Cash costs per gold equivalent ounce sold | 987 | 1,113 | 1,022 | 1,025 | ||||||||
Reconciliation from the consolidated financial statements to all in sustaining costs per gold equivalent ounce sold (US$ thousand):
For the three months ended September 30, 2024 | For the three months ended September 30, 2023 | For the nine months ended September 30, 2024 | For the nine months ended September 30, 2023 | |||||||||
Cost of goods sold | (83,976 | ) | (84,097 | ) | (252,475 | ) | (206,691 | ) | ||||
Depreciation | 16,686 | 13,408 | 47,577 | 37,242 | ||||||||
COGS w/o Depreciation | (67,290 | ) | (70,689 | ) | (204,898 | ) | (169,449 | ) | ||||
Capex w/o Expansion | 13,535 | 13,734 | 34,725 | 34,082 | ||||||||
Site G&A | 2,444 | 2,828 | 7,900 | 6,661 | ||||||||
Lease Payments | 4,810 | 3,985 | 13,490 | 9,636 | ||||||||
Sub-Total | ||||||||||||
Gold Equivalent Ounces sold | 68,172 | 63,516 | 200,517 | 165,352 | ||||||||
All In Sustaining costs per ounce sold | 1,292 | 1,436 | 1,302 | 1,329 | ||||||||
Reconciliation Net Debt (US$ thousand):
For the three months ended September 30, 2024 | For the three months ended September 30, 2023 | |||||
Short Term Loans | 163,115 | 101,047 | ||||
Long-Term Loans | 177,444 | 197,714 | ||||
Plus / (Less): Derivative Financial Instrument for Debentures | (214 | ) | (7,662 | ) | ||
Less: Cash and Cash Equivalents | (195,979 | ) | (178,989 | ) | ||
Less: Restricted cash | - | - | ||||
Less: Short term investments | - | - | ||||
Net Debt | 144,366 | 112,110 | ||||
About Aura 360° Mining
Aura is focused on mining in complete terms ? thinking holistically about how its business impacts and benefits every one of our stakeholders: our company, our shareholders, our employees, and the countries and communities we serve. We call this 360° Mining.
Aura is a mid-tier gold and copper production company focused on operating and developing gold and base metal projects in the Americas. The Company has 4 operating mines including the Aranzazu copper-gold-silver mine in Mexico, the Apoena (EPP) and Almas gold mines in Brazil, and the Minosa (San Andres) gold mine in Honduras. The Company's development projects include Borborema and Matupá both in Brazil. Aura has unmatched exploration potential owning over 630,000 hectares of mineral rights and is currently advancing multiple near-mine and regional targets along with the Aura Carajas copper project in the prolific Carajás region of Brazil.
Forward-Looking Information
This press release contains "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements", as defined in applicable securities laws (collectively, "forward-looking statements") which may include, but is not limited to, statements with respect to the activities, events or developments that the Company expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words and phrases such as "plans," "expects," "is expected," "budget," "scheduled," "estimates," "forecasts," "intends," "anticipates," or "believes" or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases, or state that certain actions, events or results "may," "could," "would," "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved.
Known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are beyond the Company's ability to predict or control, could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Specific reference is made to the most recent Annual Information Form on file with certain Canadian provincial securities regulatory authorities for a discussion of some of the factors underlying forward-looking statements, which include, without limitation, volatility in the prices of gold, copper and certain other commodities, changes in debt and equity markets, the uncertainties involved in interpreting geological data, increases in costs, environmental compliance and changes in environmental legislation and regulation, interest rate and exchange rate fluctuations, general economic conditions and other risks involved in the mineral exploration and development industry. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect the forward-looking statements.
All forward-looking statements herein are qualified by this cautionary statement. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or otherwise revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information or future events or otherwise, except as may be required by law. If the Company does update one or more forward-looking statements, no inference should be drawn that it will make additional updates with respect to those or other forward-looking statements.
Financial Outlook and Future-Oriented Financial Information
To the extent any forward-looking statements in this press release constitute "financial outlooks" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation, such information is being provided as certain estimated financial metrics and the reader is cautioned that this information may not be appropriate for any other purpose and the reader should not place undue reliance on such financial outlooks. Such information was approved by the company's Board of Directors on November 4, 2024. Financial outlooks, as with forward-looking statements generally, are, without limitation, based on the assumptions and subject to various risks as set out herein. The Company's actual financial position and results of operations may differ materially from management's current expectations and, as a result, may differ materially from values provided in this press release.
These press releases may also interest you
|