Turnaround!
Homestake 1998 net loss US$218.33
mln
SYDNEY, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Homestake Mining Co reported on
Monday a net loss of US$218.33 million for calendar 1998 versus a loss of $230.60 million in
1997.
But the U.S.-based miner reported a swing to a net profit of $1.42 million in the fourth quarter of
1998 from a a loss of $58.44 million in the same period a year earlier.
Homestake is also listed on the Australian Stock Exchange.
The 1998 loss included write-downs and abnormal charges net of tax and minority interests of $195
million, or 91 cents a share, Homestake said.
The latest quarter's results included after-tax write-downs and abnormal charges of about $2.8
million, or one cent a share, relating mainly to the suspension of operations at the Pinson mine in
Nevada last year.
Homestake said it sold 2.6 million ounces gold equivalent at an average price of $312 an ounce in
1998 compared to sales of 2.5 million ounces in 1997 at an average price of $353 an ounce.
Average cash costs of producing gold in 1998 declined by $44 to $202 an ounce from $246 an
ounce in 1997, the company said.
Reduced cash costs help soften the impact of an average $41 an ounce decline in the gold price in
1998, Homestake said.
Major improvements in cash costs were recorded during the year at the Homestake, McLaughlin
and Eskay Creek mines in North America and the Kalgoorlie, Darlot and Lawlers lodes in Australia,
the company said.
About 43 percent, or $19 an ounce of the cash cost reduction in 1998 was due to a decline in the
Australian and Canadian dollar compared to the U.S. dollar, Homestake said.
Equivalent gold production in the fourth quarter declined to 614,600 ounces from 659,100 ounces in
the same period a year earlier, Homestake said.
Homestake attributed the decline to lower yields from the Homestake, David Bell Mt Morgans and
Kalgoorlie mines, partially offset by higher output from the Plutonic, Ruby Hill, Darlot and Lawlers
lodes.
Cash costs over the same period declined to $201 an ounce from $237 an ounce, it said. |
