AngloGold Ashanti production and earnings fell in the second quarter of 2015, it said in a release on Monday.
Output dropped to 1,007 million ounces, ahead of guidance but lower than last year’s 1,098 million, in the second quarter of 2015.
The company attributed the drop in production to the sale of Navachab in June 2014, Obuasi’s move to limited operations phase and continued safety-related interruptions in South Africa.
But while production from South Africa was lower year-on-year, the mines improved their performance from the first quarter with a nine percent increase in production, it added.
It sees third-quarter gold output at 900,000 ounces to 950,000 ounces.
As well, the company’s second-quarter adjusted headline earnings fell to $26 million, from $35 million in the previous quarter.
“Cost management will continue to be a key driver for us,” Srinivasan Venkatakrishnan, chief executive officer of AngloGold Ashanti, said.
“Whilst we’ve greatly improved the balance sheet following the sale of Cripple Creek & Victor (CC&V), this will not diminish our focus on improving free cash flow and returns through active portfolio management, capital discipline, and unrelenting focus on our operations.”
The company has responded to lower gold prices by cutting overhead expenditure by more than two-thirds since the end of 2013, it said.
The gold price has come under considerable pressure, in July this year it fell to a five year low of just $1,077 per ounce.
AngloGold is now intensifying efficiency efforts to complement the cost benefit it receives from weakening local currencies and plummeting oil prices.
(Editing by Kathleen Retourne)
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