By Alex MacDonald
LONDON--African gold producer Goldplat PLC (GDP.LN) said Friday
that it remains on track to report an operating profit for its 2015
financial year ending June 30 2015.
The U.K.-listed miner, which operates gold recovery businesses
in South Africa and Ghana and has a gold project in Kenya, said its
South African operations generated an operating profit during the
first financial quarter ended Sept. 30 following initiatives
announced in its previous financial year.
Goldplat said it's increasing its focus on processing platinum
group metals in South Africa with trials to be held by end of this
calendar year. This should require no material increase in capital
expenditure, the company said.
Goldplat also said its Ghana operations were unable to deliver
gold concentrate in the first financial quarter due to a temporary
strike by refiners. The strike, however, isn't expected to
negatively impact the company's financial results from Ghana during
the first financial half of this year since the company is seeking
to remedy future delays at the refinery in order to rapidly
increase cash balances.
Lastly, Goldplat is accelerating discussions with potential
joint venture partners at its Kilimapesa Gold Project in Kenya with
a view to identifying a joint venture partner before the end of the
calendar year. The project didn't need any additional funding
during the first financial quarter since an increase in gold output
helped sustain the project's cash balance.
Goldplat shares are down 40% since the beginning of the year at
3.9 pence a share, resulting in a market capitalization of 6.5
million pounds ($10.4 million).
Write to Alex MacDonald at alex.macdonald@wsj.com