Adding MATSA to existing production from DeGrussa in Western Australia saw copper production rise to 28,774 tonnes from 18,675t in the previous quarter.
DeGrussa also produced 6956 ounces of gold, while MATSA also contributed 16,027t of zinc, 1901t of lead and 620,000 ounces of silver.
MATSA performed in line with expectations with optimisation to 4.7 million tonnes per annum underway.
The operation set a new monthly mine record of 398,595t in March, equating to an annualised run-rate of 4.9Mtpa.
Chief operating officer Jason Grace said the positive performance had started under the previous owner Trafigura.
“I give you every assurance we’re not high-grading the place and we’re not taking easy tonnes,” he said.
The company remains on track to meet strengthened group full-year guidance of 92,000-95,000t of copper, previously 90,000-95,000t, 38,000t of zinc, previously 37,000t, 3000t of lead, previously 1000t, 30,000-34,000oz of gold and 1.4 million ounces of silver, previously 820,000oz.
Group C1 costs for the quarter were US$1.17 per pound.
Full-year C1 cost guidance was lifted slightly to $1.19/lb due to global inflationary pressures.
Quarterly sales revenue was US$343.1 million, while group EBITDA was $186.9 million.
Sandfire managing director Karl Simich said that at current commodity prices, annual EBITDA margin would be $600-800 million.
“And if one was to take $700 million, as a number, and multiply that by peer comparisons and the range of between 4-8, as a multiplier of EBITDA, it would give you a value proposition range for this
company today between A$8 and $16 and a midpoint of $12,” he said.
“We’re almost half price, as I see this morning, we’re trading at somewhere around the $6 mark.”
On the growth front, Sandfire should be producing 110,000-120,000t per annum of copper equivalent in FY23, increasing to 160,000tpa from FY24 when the Motheo mine in Botswana starts production.
The US$366 million project remains on budget and on schedule for first production in the June 2023 quarter.
Read more at https://www.miningnews.net/copper-news/news/1431049/sandfire-shares-jump-on-matsa-performance
