CNMC Goldmine Holdings profit falls 51.8% to $1.47m

Poor ore grades dragged its quarterly production.

CNMC Goldmine profits fall 51.8% YoY to $1.47m (USD1.08m) this Q3.

Revenue also fell steeply by 44.3% YoY to $6.4m (USD4.71m) due to lower gold output and decrease in average gold price.

According to its press release, CNMC aims to respond to the decline in gold production with the construction of its carbon-in-leach (CIL) plant last May.

The CIL facility kick which started initial trial production last November enables CNMC to extract higher quality ore in Sokor gold field in Kelantan upon completion of its trial production. Its construction caused a massive dent in expenses as all-in production costs soared by a whooping 112.4% from $989.86 (USD728) per ounce to $2102.1 (USD1546) per ounce of gold due to higher capital expenditure.

“We spent the last few months putting together this new plant with the goal of turning around the decline in production since the fourth quarter of 2016. We believe output at the Sokor gold field will increase once the plant goes into commercial production,” said CNMC CEO Mr Chris Lim.