MANILA, Philippines — Apex Mining Co. Inc. recorded a record-high income in the nine months to September as prices in the global market continue to skyrocket despite the pandemic.
In a regulatory filing, Apex reported a consolidated net income of P991 million, up four-fold from P227 million in the same period a year ago.
Revenue for the period was 27 percent higher at P4.6 billion.
Lower operating costs and expenses, mainly on account of the lower milling tonnage, also contributed to the higher earnings during the period.
Milling throughput decreased to 491,269 metric tons, averaging at 1,921 MT per day, as compared to 536,433 MT in 2019.
The lower production was due to the restriction on the movement of employees residing outside the Maco mine by the community quarantines and the strict health protocols implemented by the mine to keep it free from the coronavirus.
While tonnage milled was lower for the period, the recovery rate was established at 87.29 percent.
Year-on-year, the higher ore grades averaging 3.59 grams of gold contributed to better gold sales to 49,040 ounces this year from 47,835 ounces last year.
Silver sales, however, decreased five percent to 265,875 ounces from 279,728 ounces.
Cushioning the negative effect of lower metal outputs were the stronger global metal prices.
Metal prices averaged $1,902 per ounce for gold and $24 per ounce for silver.
This compares to the average prices of $1,634 and $17 per ounce for gold and silver, respectively, in 2019.
Meanwhile, the Sangilo mine of wholly owned subsidiary Itogon-Suyoc Resources Inc. in Benguet for a 200-MT per day operation has formally commenced operations.
Production from the mine, however, faces a challenge from the imposition of restrictions in the movement of supplies and manpower by the national and local governments to minimize the further spread of COVID-19.
The long-term program is for an installed capacity of 1,900 MT per day in five years’ time.
Sourced from the Paracale gold project, the mill will augment Sangilo mine’s existing mill as a backup and enable Apex to attain the mine’s long-term plan of operating at 3,000 MT daily.