Pan African Resources Plc - Operational Update for the year ended 30 June 2024 and Board Change
Pan African Resources PLC
Pan African Resources Funding Company
Limited
(Incorporated and registered in England
and Wales Incorporated in the Republic of South
Africa
under Companies Act 1985 with registered
with limited liability
number 3937466 on 25 February 2000 )
Registration number: 2012/021237/06
Share code on AIM: PAF
Alpha code: PARI
Share code on JSE: PAN
ISIN: GB0004300496
ADR code: PAFRY
(“Pan African” or “the Company” or “the
Group”)
OPERATIONAL UPDATE FOR THE YEAR ENDED
Pan African is pleased to provide its shareholders and noteholders with a preliminary operational update for the financial year ended
KEY FEATURES
-- Significant improvement in the Group’s already industry leading safety
statistics across all operations, as follows:
o the total reportable injury frequency rate reduced to 5.47 per million
man hours (FY2023: 8.13)
o the lost time injury frequency rate improved to 1.62 per million man
hours (FY2023: 2.54)
o the reportable injury frequency rate improved to 0.70 per million man
hours (FY2023: 1.29)
-- Gold production increased by 6.2% to 186,039oz (FY2023: 175,209oz), in
line with the revised guidance previously announced, with operations
performing consistent with expectations: (FY2023 figures in brackets)
o Barberton Mines: 71,470oz (64,586oz) oEvander Mines underground: 40,869oz (40,175oz) o Elikhulu: 54,812oz (50,573oz) o Barberton Tailings Retreatment Plant (BTRP): 18,888oz (19,875oz)
-- The Group’s all-in sustaining costs (AISC) for the Reporting Period is
expected to be approximately US$1,350 /oz, at an average exchange rate of
US$/ZAR: 18.71
-- A delay in commissioning the ventilation shaft for hoisting at Evander 8
underground operations adversely impacted production in the last two
months of the Reporting Period, resulting in the Group not achieving the
higher end of production guidance and also negatively impacted unit
costs. Work is now scheduled to be completed in the coming weeks, after
which the full benefits of the improved ore flow will achieve the
planned increased production profile
-- Exceptional progress has been made with the MTR Project’s construction,
which is nearing its final stages. Plant commissioning and first gold
production is anticipated ahead of schedule in October 2024 , with steady
state production expected during December 2024 . Furthermore, the project
is expected to be completed below budget
o Including the Soweto Cluster Mineral Resources, as per the internal
pre-feasibility study outcomes reported in May 2024 , MTR is expected
to produce approximately 60koz/year over a 21-year life of mine, at a
forecast AISC of less than US$900 /oz
-- Previously announced FY2025 production guidance reiterated at between
215,000oz and 225,000oz
-- Net debt at the end of the Reporting Period increased to US$106.4
million (FY2023: US$22.0 million ), mainly attributable to construction
costs at the MTR Project (US$71.5 million for the year), expansion
capital expenditure in respect of Evander 8 Shaft 25-26 Level
development and Elikhulu’s new tailings storage facility extension
(US$23.8 million ) and Fairview solar plant expenditure (US$9.9 million )
-- Construction of the Fairview Mine’s 8.75MW solar photovoltaic plant has
been completed, with final commissioning in the coming weeks
BOARD CHANGE
The Group’s financial director,
PROGRESS WITH RENEWABLE ENERGY PROJECTS AND FUNDING
Construction and mechanical assembly, including installation of the solar trackers, for Fairview Mine’s 8.75MW solar photovoltaic generating plant was completed at the end of
This solar plant is expected to provide 15% of Barberton Mines’ energy requirements, with annual electricity cost savings of approximately
Independent feasibility studies are in progress to expand Evander Mines’ current 9.975MW solar facility and also for a new solar plant at the Mogale Tailings Retreatment operation. These studies are anticipated to be completed in the third quarter of the 2024 calendar year.
Evander Mines’ and Barberton Mines’ solar photovoltaic generating plants are now funded by means of a
*ZAR amounts converted at an exchange rate of US$/ZAR18:00
Pan African CEO
“We are pleased that the Group has again delivered into its production guidance, while further improving safety rates and maintaining its industry leading safety performance during the 2024 financial year.
The surface tailings retreatment operations at Elikhulu and the BTRP performed exceptionally well, with some of the lowest all-in sustaining production costs in
Barberton Mines has seen a steady improvement in gold production, with planned optimisation initiatives to increase ore tonnages expected to further bolster gold production in the next financial year. Commissioning of the ventilation shaft hoisting system at Evander underground during the start of the 2025 financial year, will substantially improve efficiencies and reduce reliance on the cumbersome conveyor system currently in use, vastly improving this operation’s production profile and facilitate the 25-26 Level project’s development.
We would like to thank Deon for his commitment and the significant contribution he has made to the Group over the years. We wish him all the best in his retirement and look forward to continue working with him on various projects. We would like to extend our congratulations to
We look forward to presenting our 2024 year-end financial results in September, and to provide further details on developments at our operations and exciting pipeline of growth projects that will significantly increase the Group’s total annual gold production in FY2025.”
FINANCIAL RESULTS PRESENTATION, OPERATIONAL AND GROWTH PROJECTS UPDATE
A detailed update on the Group’s operations and production growth projects will be included in the Company’s annual final results presentation and 2024 financial year annual reporting suite, scheduled to be released on
The information contained in this update is the responsibility of Pan African’s board of directors and has not been reviewed or reported on by the Group’s external auditors.
Certain information communicated in this announcement was, prior to its publication, inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation 596/2014.
Rosebank
For further information on
___________________________________________________________________________ |Corporate information | |___________________________________________________________________________| |Corporate Office |Registered Office | | | | |The Firs Building |2nd Floor | | | | |2nd Floor, Office 204 |107 Cheapside | | | | |Cnr. Cradock and Biermann Avenues |London | | | | |Rosebank, Johannesburg |EC2V 6DN | | | | |South Africa |United Kingdom | | | | |Office: + 27 (0)11 243 2900 |Office: + 44 (0)20 3869 0706 | | | | |info@paf.co.za|info@paf.co.za | |______________________________________|____________________________________| |Chief Executive Officer |Financial Director | | | | |Cobus Loots |Deon Louw | | | | |Office: + 27 (0)11 243 2900 |Office: + 27 (0)11 243 2900 | |______________________________________|____________________________________| |Head: Investor Relations | | | | | |Hethen Hira |Website: www.panafricanresources.com| |Tel: + 27 (0)11 243 2900 | | |E-mail: hhira@paf.co.za | | |______________________________________|____________________________________| |Company Secretary |Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker | | | | |Jane Kirton |Ross Allister/Georgia Langoulant | | | | |St James's Corporate Services Limited |Peel Hunt LLP | | | | |Office: + 44 (0)20 3869 0706 |Office: +44 (0)20 7418 8900 | |______________________________________|____________________________________| |JSE Sponsor |Joint Broker | | | | |Ciska Kloppers |Thomas Rider/Nick Macann | | | | |Questco Corporate Advisory Proprietary|BMO Capital Markets Limited | |Limited | | | |Office: +44 (0)20 7236 1010 | |Office: + 27 (0)11 011 9200 | | |______________________________________|____________________________________| | |Joint Broker | | | | | |Matthew Armitt/Jennifer Lee | | | | | |Joh. Berenberg, Gossler & Co KG | | |(Berenberg) | | | | | |Office: +44 (0)20 3207 7800 | |______________________________________|____________________________________|
