JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) ­– Although DRDGOLD’s volume throughput target was missed by 17% owing to a delay in the commissioning of new reclamation sites at Ergo, a steady performance from Far West Gold Recoveries (FWGR) together with higher grades from several clean-up sites helped to soften the impact and 93% of planned gold output was achieved, the surface gold mining company stated in its annual integrated report on Monday.

As an unhedged producer, DRDGOLD also enjoyed the full benefit of the higher gold price of R1 248 679/kg, received over the year, which increased year-on-year revenue by 14% to R6 239.7-million.

In addition, the Johannesburg- and New-York-listed company, led by chairperson Tim Cumming and CEO Niël Pretorius, ended the year with a positive cash balance of R521.5-million amid paying final and interim dividends totalling R731.7-million, income tax of R72.5-million, and re-investing R2 985.7-million in capital projects.

“We believe that the embedding of sustainable development in our operating and financial construct is a compelling differentiator for DRDGOLD in an industry where the sustainability of ESG is being questioned ever more by the investor market for weighing down the financial bottom line,” the DRDGOLD leadership commented. 

Highlighted is sustainable value creation against financial, operational, growth, people, environmental and societal criteria:

• Operating profit of R2 081.3-million, and free cash outflow of R1 197.4-million, considering the capital investment of R2 985.7-million.
• 17 uninterrupted years of paying a dividend.
• Gold production of 5 002 kg from 22.3 million tonnes at an average yield of 0.225 g/t.
• R40.8-million spent on environmental management with 41 ha of land clearance applications submitted to the National Nuclear Regulator for approval.
• R51.3-million invested in social and economic development.
• One fatality (the first in five years), a lost-time injury frequency rate and reportable injury frequency rate of 1.15 and 0.46 respectively.
• The 60 MW solar power plant at Ergo has been substantially completed, with the integration of the 160 MWh battery energy storage system underway
• Construction of the regional tailings storage facility at FWGR is underway.

Capital projects, which are central to DRDGOLD’s Vision 2028, are designed to establish the infrastructure required to increase the combined throughput capacity of its Ergo and FWGR operations to three-million tonnes a month, up from the current 2.15-million tonnes, and to increase the technical capacity to produce six tonnes of gold a year, up from the current planned output of five tonnes.

The total capital investment required to deliver Vision 2028 is estimated at R10-billion spread over the next four years.