Sandfire Resources shares tick up despite Q2 production miss
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The news: Sandfire Resources shares were higher in afternoon trade after the miner reiterated its FY26 production guidance but revealed softer-than-expected copper output for the second quarter as scheduled maintenance was brought forward.
The numbers: At 3:21pm AEDT, shares in Sandfire Resources had lifted 0.5% to $18.75 and are up 98% over the last 12 months.
Group copper production came in 10% lower than consensus expectations, according to RBC Capital Markets analyst Kaan Peker. He also flagged that silver and lead production were 24% and 8% misses to expectations respectively.
Second-quarter production of zinc beat expectations by 8% but first-quarter production was below guidance. Sandfire has shifted its group second-half production skew from 48:52 to 46:54.
The context: Scheduled maintenance at the Motheo copper project in Botswana following premature failure of faulty equipment at its semi-autonomous grinding mill in the second quarter.
Transition to higher grade ore at Motheo’s T3 open mining pit was also delayed due to “lower than expected mobile fleet availability”.
Sandfire did not provide a cost guidance update but Peker expects “mine development and deferred waste stripping capex guidance to increase for Motheo”.
What they said: “A mixed but manageable outcome. H1 execution noise has pushed production into H2, raising near-term delivery risk, but FY26 guidance remains intact and issues at Motheo appear timing-related and operationally fixable,” Peker said.
The sources: ASX, RBC Capital Markets research
