A tailings spill last March at the Marcopper mine in the Philippines resulted in an US$8-million consolidated loss (or US3 cents per share) for Placer Dome (PDG-T) in the first nine months of fiscal 1996.
In the same period last year, the major posted earnings of US$36 million (or US15 cents per share).
Third-quarter earnings in 1996 were US$16 million (US7 cents per share), compared with earnings of US$24 million (US10 cents per share) a year ago.
Placer took a US$43-million after-tax charge against earnings in the second quarter, including US$15 million for repairs and environmental mitigation at Marcopper.
Gold operating earnings for the first nine months of 1996 were US$162 million, compared with US$175 million in 1995. Sales revenue amounted to US$845 million, compared with US$735 million.
The company reported higher gold production at its Granny Smith mine in Australia, the Dome mine near Timmins, Ont., the Cortez mine in Nevada and the Golden Sunlight mine in Montana.
Operating earnings from copper for the 9-month period were US$17 million. At the Zaldivar mine in Chile, Placer’s share of production was 27,520 tonnes of cathode copper; at the Osborne mine in Australia, 31,415 tonnes.
Meanwhile, at the Cortez mine in Nevada (a joint venture, with Kennecott holding a 40% interest), construction of the Pipeline project is well under way, with startup scheduled for April 1997. The mine is expected to produce an average of 440,000 oz. per year over its 12-year life at a cash production cost of US$152 per oz.
In northern Ontario, construction of Placer’s 68%-owned Musselwhite gold project is proceeding ahead of schedule. Startup is scheduled for the second quarter of 1997 at a planned rate of 200,000 oz. per year.
The project is a joint venture, with TVX Gold (TVX-T) holding a 32% interest.
Placer’s share of annual production will be 135,000 oz. at an average cash production cost of US$200 per oz.
The US$11 million Placer gained from the sale of its 30.8% interest in Gibraltar Mines to Westmin Resources (WMI-T) will be recorded in the fourth quarter.
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