APEX MINING NETS P 645.5-M Q1 INCOME

Listed Apex Mining Co. Inc. reported a 131.6-percent increase in its first-quarter bottom line as higher sales volume and better selling prices improved earnings.

In a disclosure, Apex Mining said net income during the quarter surged to P645.5 million from P278.7 million year-on-year.

Revenues for the January-March period grew by 44 percent to P2.2 billion from P1.5 billion, of which, gold revenues reached P2.1 billion while silver revenues hit P117.4 million.

The average realized gold price increased by 6.8 percent to $1,872 per ounce from $1,752 per ounce, boosting the firm’s revenues.

Milling throughput, or the quantity of raw material processed in a given period, of Apex Mining’s Maco mine site in Davao de Oro increased by 23 percent to 194,255 tons, averaging at 2,300 tons per day.

Its subsidiary Itogon-Suyoc Resources Inc., on the other hand, milled a total of 25,887 tons.

“The ramp up in production volume is part of the planned increase from 2,000 tons per day (tpd) to 3,000 tpd. The mine and mill operation is ahead of budget production rate of 2,250 tpd for the year and has encountered better grades than expected,” the company said.

Ore gold grades averaged at 3.76 grams per ton, up by 19.7 percent from 3.14 grams of gold per ton.

Meanwhile, cost of production rose to P1.2 billion from P1.1 billion “mainly due to higher tonnage processed during the period.”

Apex Mining is controlled by Prime Strategic Holdings Inc., a company led by billionaire Enrique Razon Jr., as the latter completed in March the mandatory tender offer in the mining company.

The transaction increased Prime Strategic Holdings’ ownership to 54.75 percent from 40.32 percent as it now directly and indirectly owns 3.4 million common shares of Apex Mining.