Red 5 eyes top end of FY24 guidance after strong quarter
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The news: Red 5 said it is on track to meet the top end of its gold production guidance for the 2024 financial year, as the gold producer reduced its debt position for the March quarter.
The numbers: Red 5 produced 50,132 ounces of gold during the three months to March, its fourth consecutive quarter of production exceeding 50,000 ounces. Production for FY24 to date stands at 158,158 ounces, taking the company on course to meet the upper end of its full-year guidance of 195,000 to 215,000 ounces.
The Perth-based miner said that it had $58.3 million in cash and liquid assets at 31 March 2024, compared to $52.3 million by the end of the previous quarter. Bullion comprised $6.3 million of that total, compared to $4.8 million by 31 December 2023.
The company's net debt position reduced by $7.1 million for the quarter to $42.5 million.
The context: Red 5 noted that production at its King of the Hills gold project in Western Australia was impacted by the combination of a planned mill reline in March, and unplanned downtime in February relating to a mill lube system fault, reducing overall mill utilisation.
Mining and processing operations also experienced minor impacts from short outages due to both extreme heat and rainfall events during the quarter.
However, the company said that with no further major shutdowns planned for the rest of the financial year, it is forecasting higher production in the June quarter than achieved in the three months to March.
The source: ASX announcement
