Originally posted by danhoff
Seems OK to me. If AISC fell 3% - against a backdrop of increasing gold price, that is good.
I did not look at any fine detail. Where there was a problem it was 'explained' as slow or a one off.
I think the exploration hits recently do not get the right attention because it is just 'noise'. With so many balls in the air Juggler Cookie confuses the market. Hence, if I see 3% reduction in AISC (and many things ramping UP) it makes me happy to be a holder. I would assume, without any bad negatives to see, the AISC will fall bit by bit, the production will rise bit by bit, and the POG in my opinon will rise in AUD bit by bit.
So I hope the share rises bit by bit by bit by bit by bit by bit.
Agreed as to the number of balls in the air. The AISC of the various mines is somewhat high with an overall value of $1325/oz going forward (as provided by WGX). The AISC is not alarming but we cannot expect WGX to respond to the increase in the Au price as much as those with lower AISCs, or with lesser forward sales..
WGX continues to develop mines on a large front and this is consuming plenty of cash and although it currently has a positive cash balance, I think the market is distrustful of the company because of its development demands. Recent sell off of Li royalties, forward sale of some production and a cash raising demonstrate the cash demands.
There are a number of measures that indicate that WGX is good value at present. The EV/Production is $1,118/oz with total predicted production of 310 Moz; reserves are 3Moz with an overall LOM of 9.7 years; resources are in excess of 11Moz.giving an overall EV/Resources of $31/oz. Even with its higher AISC, I find that the operational yield (operational profit based on AISC divided by SP) is 3.26 which puts it well towards the bottom of Aussie gold producers.
The company had cash and bullion of $44.M at 31/12/18 without any debt other than forward gold commitments of 150,000 oz at $1776.1/oz over the next 15 months for a commitment of $266M. The forward sales are less than 50% of expected production.
I think it is time the company consolidated on its existing activity to concentrate on maximising output from its various mines at the best possible AISC. Nevertheless, it has continued to invest in new mines such as Andy Well+Gnaweeda from Doray (DRM) which are demanding for a profitable outcome to be obtained.
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