Eldorado Gold shares fall on lower Lamaque reserves

Shares in Eldorado Gold (TSX: ELD; NYSE: EGO) fell on Wednesday after the company announced a 5% decrease this year in proven and probable gold reserves at specific assets within its Canadian portfolio.

The miner said its resources and reserves estimates as of Sept. 30 this year totalled 11.7 million oz. gold. This compares to 12.3 million oz. in the same period of 2022 at the Lamaque gold complex in Quebec, which includes the Triangle Mine (upper and lower), the Ormaque deposit, the Parallel deposit, the Plug #4 deposit, and the Sigma mill. 

Eldorado highlighted that exploration results from the Ormaque deposit showed continuous growth and resource expansion opportunities.

“Supporting our development strategy in Quebec, plans are being advanced to declare initial reserves for Ormaque in late 2024 with completion of a prefeasibility study, and exploration drilling will continue to test resource expansion opportunities,” president and chief executive George Burns said in a separate statement.

Eldorado shares dropped were down 1.2% to $16.06 in Toronto on the news, leaving the miner with a market capitalization of $3.3 billion. Shares were off 1.3% in early trading in New York to US$11.78 each.

Eyeing growth

After facing headwinds in Greece for years, Eldorado developed and kicked off production at its Lamaque gold mine in 2019.

In 2021, the miner completed key growth projects at two of its assets — the Lamaque mine in Val d’Or, Quebec, and Kışladağ gold mine in Turkey.

It was also able to settle an ongoing tussle with the Greek government and resumed construction its Skouries gold-copper project in the country’s north.

“Our mergers and acquisitions strategy is focused on jurisdictions where we currently operate,” Eldorado said at the time. “This includes developing our Skouries and Perama Hill projects in Greece, which will contribute to the longer-term growth of Eldorado, as well as identifying early-stage opportunities that provide long-term growth potential in our core jurisdictions.”

The Vancouver-based company, which also has two producing mines in Turkey, said it was encouraged by the results of its 2023 exploration program. The miner noted it was particularly optimistic with growth prospects at Lamaque’s Ormaque deposit.