Group full-year production was 98,367 tonnes of copper, 38,907t of zinc, 4102t of lead, 32,385 ounces of gold and 1.5 million ounces of silver, exceeding guidance.
C1 costs for FY22 were US$1.27 per pound of copper.
DeGrussa, in Western Australia, which will reach the end of its life this quarter, produced 67,740t of copper, 32,285oz of gold and 300,000oz of silver at $1.25/lb of copper.
The newly acquired MATSA asset in Spain beat guidance for its first five months under Sandfire ownership.
It produced 30,628t of copper, 38,907t of zinc, 4102t of lead and 1.2Moz of silver, beating guidance of 27,000t of copper, 38,000t of zinc, 3000t of lead and 1.1Moz of silver.
C1 costs for the five months were $1.45/lb of payable copper, above guidance of 98c/lb, which was a focus for analysts.
“Elevated energy costs in Spain remain a challenge and were reflected in C1 unit costs for MATSA of $1.81/lb for the quarter and $1.45/lb for FY2022,” Sandfire managing director Karl Simich said.
“We are progressing a number of responses to this situation, including the planned construction of new solar farms, engaging with electricity suppliers for new contracts and investigation of other pricing structures.”
Sandfire also released an updated proven and probable ore reserve for MATSA of 37.1 million tonnes at 1.6% copper, 2.6% zinc, 0.8% lead and 36.1 grams per tonne silver for 593,000t of copper, 975,000t of zinc, 286,000t of lead and 43 million ounces of silver with an estimated net smelter return of $116 per tonne.
Contained ore tonnes were up 3% with contained copper down 8% and contained zinc up 5%, replacing mining depletion for the past two years.
Proven reserves rose 41% to 26.2Mt at 1.7% copper and 2.7% zinc.
The reserve estimate was based on Sandfire’s initial MATSA resource of 147.2Mt at 1.4% copper, 3% zinc, 1% lead and 39.6gpt silver for 2.1Mt of contained copper, 4.4Mt of zinc, 1.5Mt of lead and 187.6Moz of silver, reported last month.
Sandfire said the reserve would pave the way for the next phase of optimisation, growth and development.
There’s been little drilling at MATSA in the past two years but Sandfire is planning for more than 100,000m of drilling in FY23.
Full-year sales revenue was an unaudited $922.7 million while group EBITDA was $448 million.
“This should provide investors with a clear insight into the strong cashflow generating capability of our expanded global business, with the MATSA operations generating an EBITDA margin of 51% for FY2022 – a very strong result by any measure,” Simich said.
‘In terms of capital management, the strong cashflows generated during the quarter saw us finish the year with cash holdings of $463.1 million and net debt of $324.7 million.
“We remain well placed to make the first repayment due under the MATSA facility of $118 million at the end of September, together with repayment of our circa $138 million (A$200 million) ANZ corporate facility in Australia.
‘This puts us in a strong position to continue to execute our growth strategy and maintain our strong commitment to global exploration across the world-class mineral provinces where we have dominant strategic positions.”
Group guidance for FY23 has been set at 81,000-89,000t of copper, 78,000-83,000t of zinc, 6000-10,000t of lead, 10,000-12,000oz of gold and 2.2-3.2Moz of silver at unit costs of $1.57/lb.
MATSA is set to produce 60,000-65,000t of copper at $1.63/lb.
The guidance also includes four months of DeGrussa production and the initial commissioning of the Motheo mine in Botswana.
Capital expenditure is forecast at $300-335 million, including $180-190 million for the completion of Motheo.
