Revenues jump, losses widen at Scotgold

21st Dec 2022 09:27

(Sharecast News) - Full-year losses at Scotgold Resources doubled, the gold miner said on Wednesday, hit by higher costs as production ramped up.

The AIM-listed firm, which was founded in Australia in 2007 and listed in London in 2010, said revenues in the year to 30 June were A$17.8m, compared to A$299,807 a year previously, following "significant progress" at it core asset, the Cononish gold and silver mine in Scotland.

But pre-tax losses widened significantly, to A$10.8m from $5m, because of higher costs as well as the depreciation and loss on the disposal of non-current assets.

As at 1130 GMT, shares in the firm were down 11% at 52.33p.

Commercial production at Cononish commenced during the year, and the firm is targeting production of around 23,500 ounces per annum run rate of gold in 2023. Production guidance for the last three months of 2022 was cut because of adverse weather and short-term changes to the mining schedule, to 2,000 ounces of gold from 3,000-3,500 ounces.

Phil Day, chief executive, said: "It has been a year of transformative progress as we continue to ramp up production at our Cononish gold mine towards phase 2 mining.

"When developing an underground mine to achieve full production, there are sometimes short-term variations in ounces produced. This is normal and expected.

"2023 is shaping up to be an exciting year in terms of mine development and gold development."