Galiano Gold Inc has officially announced its second quarter 2024 production and financial results, as well as a significant increase to the Abore deposit Mineral Reserve estimate (effective June 30, 2024). According to certain reports, during Q2, the company was able to produce 26,437 gold ounces at all-in sustaining costs of $1,759 per gold ounce sold, while simultaneously generating $9.2 million of operating cash flows. Furthermore, Galiano revealed that, following a successful infill drilling campaign in 2023 and early 2024, the Proven and Probable Mineral Reserves at the Abore deposit have increased to 11.8 million tonnes, and they have done so at a grade of 1.28 grams per ton gold. This represents an increase of 151,000 ounces (45%) to 485,000 ounces, Talk about the company’s production results on a slightly deeper level, they begin by revealing how there were no lost-time injuries, nor total recordable injuries during Q2. In fact, the 12–month rolling LTI and TRI frequency rates as of June 30, 2024 were 0.15 and 0.60 per million employee hours worked, respectively. Now, we referred to the quantities produced within the given timeframe, but we didn’t mention was how the gold production was impacted by challenging ground conditions in the upper portion of the Abore pit and heavy seasonal rainfall, factors that eventually hampered fresh ore delivery to the mill by such an extent that a greater proportion of lower grade stockpiles were processed than originally planned. Apart from it, lower throughput resulting from harder material processed also affected production levels.
Another detail worth a mention here is rooted in Galiano’s milling performance. You see, the company achieved mill throughput of 1.3 Mt of ore at a grade of 0.7 g/t during Q2, with metallurgical recovery averaging 82%. Despite that being the case, though, mill throughput during Q2 was 9% lower than the first quarter of 2024 due to processing harder ore both mined from Abore and stockpiled material which was previously mined from Nkran. As for engineering and early earthwork for the installation of a permanent secondary crusher, it continued during the quarter and is expected to be completed in the first half of 2025. This particular circuit upgrade will maintain plant throughout at 5.8 Mtpa when treating harder ore. Moving on, Galiano also took this opportunity to revise its 2024 production guidance from between 140,000 and 160,000 ounces to between 120,000 and 130,000 ounces. Furthermore, operating costs are estimated to be in line with previous expectations, but on the other hand, AISC1 guidance per gold ounce sold for 2024 is being revised from between $1,600/oz and $1,750/oz to between $1,975/oz and $2,075/oz. The stated increase is understood to be because of lower expected gold production coupled with investments made towards stripping at Abore. Alongside production performance, Galiano also reported total cash costs of $1,271/oz and AISC of $1,759/oz for the three months ended June 30, 2024. Further detailing the company’s financial perform was a piece of data, which said that it generated positive cash flow of $9.2 million, with Free Cash Flow negative at $4.5 million during Q2 due to again investments in waste stripping at the Abore deposit. On top of that, the company also generated gold revenue of around $63.8 million from 27,830 gold ounces sold at an average realized price of $2,292/oz during Q2, while simultaneously realizing net income of $13.9 million and Adjusted EBITDA1 of $19.3 million during Q2.
“The second quarter of 2024 marked significant progress in advancing mining operations at the Abore deposit, while the Company remained fully funded by operating cash flow,” said Matt Badylak, President and Chief Executive Officer at Galiano Gold Inc. “In addition, the 45% increase in Abore’s Mineral Reserves highlights the value that we are beginning to realize beyond the 2023 Technical Report, as well as the prospectivity of our tenements.”
