DRDGold Ltd. / DRD (NYSE, JNB) und die Derivate

    Schweinchen Schlau zu den Quartals-Produktionsergebnissen und den unverschämten Forderungen von Anglo


    Mark Wellesley-Wood, chief executive DRDGOLD
    By: Alec Hogg
    Posted: '22-APR-05 08:00' GMT © Mineweb 1997-2004


    MINEWEB: Well Gareth Tredway, to hear Goldfields are sponsoring this lot I suppose is not unusual, but for a change we aren’t talking about Goldfields and Harmony, we’re talking about one of the other stocks listed in the JSE and the gold sector – DRD Gold. They have been in the news a lot.


    GARETH TREDWAY: I was just about to say, DRD have been highlighted in the news but I should say lowlighted over the last few months. They voluntarily liquidated their North West mines after they continued to make losses and suffered an underground quake earlier this year. Today they released their quarterly operational results for the entire group to the end of March. Total group production for the quarter was down by 16% for the three months, mainly due to a drop at Porgera in Papua New Guinea, where DRD owns 20% of that mine, and disappointing results at Emperor and Fiji. Funnily enough, it seems the South African operations were the source of good news this time around, as the Blyvoor mine west of Johannesburg, actually showed a nice improvement in costs and increased the gold it produced after undergoing a restructuring exercise.


    MINEWEB: Mark Wellesley-Wood joins us from London. That is disappointing, Mark, because up until now the international operations seemed to be the ones that were pulling the DRD wagon through, while you were suffering in South Africa. I suppose that’s the vagaries of the market?


    MARK WELLESLEY-WOOD: Sure, I think Porgera specifically had a slump in the pit which was obviously unplanned, heavy rainfall, a bit of a slide, they’ve got to move some materials – so it’s a short-term issue. The good news on Porgera is extension of reserve life. Reserves amount to 7.5m ounces. They replaced last year’s production and added another 100,000 ounces. So it’s bad news this quarter, but not bad news for the future. But, as you rightly say, the cash flow is still coming from offshore. I mean our average operating costs at Tolukuma were R321m, Porgera was R191m and the group as a whole from the continuing operations was R312 – and at today’s gold price I mean that’s a 30% margin for the group as a whole. So we have still got good cash generation offshore.


    MINEWEB: Is that still the strategy though, going abroad?


    MARK WELLESLEY-WOOD: I would say going abroad is not to say we’ve got a sort of one-way air ticket. It was diversification and, although it’s very regrettable after the incidents at North West to say we had to let it go, it’s not without putting R300m in there in the last 18 months. And if we hadn’t had the cash flow from offshore, North West would have closed much earlier. I know you can say, well, perhaps that was inevitable, but I think we had to give it the chance. The earthquake was a natural event, outside our hands. When you lose 20% of your gold production, given the high cost at North West, I think now when you look at that sort of cost at North West of $600-plus 8o
    , it certainly was not recoverable or sustainable. But Blyvoor did make the grade, and that’s the one that makes it worthwhile, and so does ERPM and Crown. As Gareth said, we are not quitting South Africa – we are trying to produce a well-balanced, profitable business.


    MINEWEB: But what about this whole thing with the pumping? It’s now going to the courts. You have walked away from the operations in that area, where you were responsible for the pumping of water. Harmony and AngloGold, not surprising, are not terribly happy about it. How are you going to get out of keeping those pumps going?


    MARK WELLESLEY-WOOD: Well, let me just say we weren’t responsible for the water. The water comes into the basin from outside.


    MINEWEB: No, you’ve been responsible for the pumping, though, up to this point in time.


    MARK WELLESLEY-WOOD: No, Stilfontein is making the water and that water spills down into Buffels and Harties. And when we were in production we were pumping it, because we were mining Harties and Buffels. Stilfontein closed a long time ago. So we had to keep our mine dry. In some ways you can reverse that and say we have been keeping Great Noligwa dry for free for a very long time. And now it looks as though there will not be economic mining going on at Buffels and Harties, and if that is the case then obviously those responsibilities will be shared by all the beneficiaries.


    MINEWEB: So that’s the way you look at it – you have in fact been subsidising the guys down the road?


    MARK WELLESLEY-WOOD: Absolutely. We have been pumping the entire basin for everybody, and one of the reasons that North West was such high cost and ultimately had to go into liquidation was the high pumping costs with high electricity charges. This shouldn’t be a surprise to any of our neighbours. They might act surprised, but in fact the negotiations on how this issue will be dealt with have been going on for four years, and nobody came to the party, nobody said, “Oh, by the way we’ll help you out”. Post hoc, everybody says, well, of course it’s all somebody else’s responsibility. But I think that the [indistinct] from the DME are showing great leadership in this. It’s an issue not just in Klerksdorp, it’s going to be an issue in every basin, where mines close. We have it in reverse at ERPM, where we are pumping the whole central Rand basin for all those historical producers. Fortunately we do have a government subsidy for that, and these sort of commercial arrangements and legal arrangements have to be sorted out for the future.


    MINEWEB: Mark, you have been successful in raising funds when you need it, from offshore shareholders. Are you finding in your interaction with your shareholders in the United States, that there’s still a lot of confidence about the gold price and indeed about DRD?


    MARK WELLESLEY-WOOD: Yes, there’s great positivism. I think we have got great support for the two legs to our strategy, offshore for cash flow and growth, and preserving what I call our rand optionality on our South African reserves, because the bulk of our gold reserves are in South Africa, so if the rand weakens, you know there’s great gearing there, particularly on Blyvoor and ERPM, whereas offshore that cash flow has to replace that lost production, to actually give the value proposition for growth – and that’s being done at exploration at Tolukuma and eventually we will get Emperor right.


    MINEWEB: Wayne McCurrie, is this a stock that you’ve ever invested in, DRD? Have you ever watched it?


    WAYNE McCURRIE: No, I don’t watch it. I haven’t invested in it and, I must admit, I haven’t watched it, but I did have a good look at their operating results and obviously the wonderful place to be in the gold mining industry now is to have your costs in dollars. And obviously DRD with their offshore operations have got that, because it’s the dollar price that’s gone up very high. And in South Africa I mean it’s very hard to stay in business because of the strong rand. But exactly as Mark said, if the rand weakens a little bit, the gearing effect is absolutely enormous, so it must be with great regret that they actually close a mine because this is a massive option on the rand price
    http://www.mineweb.net/sections/gold_weekly/434977.htm

    “The South African operations are now running at a breakeven situation meaning the option is ‘back in the money’,” said Mark Wellesley-Wood, CEO of DRDGOLD



    Das Undenkbare scheint möglich: Droopy könnte Gewinn machen. "Ganz plötzlich hat DRD eine nette Cashmarge":


    Stephen Roelofse, a fund manager for Sanlam Asset Managers.


    “All of a sudden, DRDGOLD has opened up a nice cash margin,” he said. “If they can maintain this profile, we could have earnings from them [Blockierte Grafik: http://www.smiliemania.de/smilie132/00000116.gif],” he said. Excluding the North West province mines, cash operating costs were R60,000/kg in the March quarter.


    Und schon denkt DRD daran, in SA Nachbarschächte zu erwerben und in Blyvoor Reserven zu erweitern.


    “There’s about 18 million ounces of gold resources at Blyvoor. We’re not saying it’s feasible yet, but we want our guys to do their homework,” Murray said. “Blyvoor represents the backbone of our South African gold production,” he said.


    “We’d also be interested in looking at neighbouring underground mines,” Murray said. Blyvoor backs on to AngloGold Ashanti’s Savuka, a mine DRDGOLD has tried to buy in the past, and Driefontein West, owned by Gold Fields. “You can draw your own conclusions,” Murray said.
    Aus:
    DRDGOLD considers reopening SA shaft
    http://www.miningmx.com/gold_silver/434645.htm


    Der Bus mit den besoffenen Kegelbrüdern kann wegbleiben. Passen nicht mehr zum DRD-Ambiente.

    Hang on Droopy


    Sloopy go on!



    [Blockierte Grafik: http://www.n24.de/php-bin/data/cgalerie/content/n24_boulevard_de_040224_rio_karneval_ii/02.jpg]


    In NordWest wurde der Bankrott für eine 100% GM-Tochter erklärt,


    weil die Produktionskosten derzeit zu hoch sind.


    Woanders in RSA turnt DRD so um break even.

    Da will DRD noch alte Schächte reaktivieren.


    Wenn da die Rechnung nicht ohne den Wirt gemacht wird.


    Da müßte DRD zuerst seinen Konzern-Sitz in London,

    -auf jeden Fall weit weg von RSA- nehmen.


    Nun gut, wir tanzen Samba, Samba ...................



    gogh

    DRD tells workers to relocate


    Apr 22 2005 05:27:39:903PM

    Johannesburg - Miners at DRDGold's North West operations have been told to start looking for new jobs, the trade union Solidarity said on Friday.
    "Workers were told to start looking for alternative employment, as provided for in terms of Section 38 of the Insolvency Act.


    "Job opportunities are at present available in Witbank and Rustenburg," Solidarity spokesperson Dirk Hermann said in a statement.


    Solidarity made the announcement to about 500 retrenched workers in Stilfontein on Friday.


    Provisional liquidators were appointed to Buffelsfontein Gold Mines Limited on March 30.


    DRDGold's North West operations are part of Buffelsfontein Gold Mines. The mining operations were placed in provisional liquidation on March 22.


    "The union still wants to exhaust all possible alternatives before the final liquidation, in an attempt to prevent the liquidation and keep the mine going so that the workers may keep their jobs.


    "There is great unhappiness about the (liquidation) process because it is taking so long," Hermann said.


    No income


    Problems facing the workers, such as the fact that their medical aid insurance had lapsed, were discussed at Friday's meeting.


    Since they had no income, the miners were also struggling to pay their water and electricity bills, Hermann said.


    Solidarity would announce an emergency rescue plan for Stilfontein in two weeks.


    The plan was being compiled by the trade union's economist, and would address social aid, fund raising, assistance with job placement, liaison with creditors, community involvement and financial advice, counselling and a call for efforts to prevent the closure of the mine.


    The trade union said it had also approached North West University for assistance in providing psychological counselling to workers.


    The Buffelsfontein mine recorded losses exceeding R270m in the six months to December 31.


    The company's Hartbeesfontein mine also recently suffered seismic activity and aftershocks that killed two miners and left parts of nearby Stilfontein damaged.


    The liquidators could not be reached for comment.

    Das was DRD dort bis jetzt im Rahmen des "Bankrotts" veranstaltet

    scheint total bekloppt.


    Es gibt 2 Möglichkeiten:

    1.
    Die sind bekloppt.

    2.
    Die sind nicht bekloppt und haben etwas vor.


    Wissen tu´ ich wie immer nichts.

    Und wie Ulfur weiß, mach ich ab und zu schonmal Totalverlust

    mit einer GM_Aktie.


    [Blockierte Grafik: http://www.kunstgeografie.nl/wodan_wagner_hrdlicka.jpg]



    Gruss


    Gogh

    "the company’s North West operations were put into liquidation"


    Zitat aus Artikel unten, nix von "selbständigem anderen Unternehmen" in Nordwest.


    Es sind nicht nur die Pumpkosten,
    da kommt als nächstes der "Konzernbetriebsrat"


    sowas vorher abzustreiten, meine ich mit "bekloppter Geschäftsleitung".


    Es sei denn man meint das nicht Ernst und hat ganz was anderes vor.


    Was abzuwarten ist.


    gogh




    aus Mineweb vom 21.04.05


    DRDGOLD’s Blyvoor restructuring shows results
    =======================================



    JOHANNESBURG (Mineweb.com) -- DRDGOLD, a South African and Australasian gold producer, has managed to lower the cash operating costs at its Blyvooruitzicht operations west of Johannesburg to R81,606/kg. Essentially, it means that during this year’s March quarter Blyvoor operated profitably at the prevailing rand gold price.


    In DRDGOLD’s interim results presentation back in February, management announced that the Blyvoor mine had been successfully restructured and was able to survive in the strong rand environment.


    The numbers, however, did not show it, as cash costs for the quarter to end-December were R87,520 per kilogram of gold produced, well in excess of the R82,000/kg that management had previously stated as a target.


    Total cash operating costs at Blyvoor only decreased by a little over R1 million in the March quarter, but more gold was produced this time around.


    Further west, towards the town of Klerksdorp, the company’s North West operations were put into liquidation last month even though management had earlier said the mines there would undergo a similar restructuring process as Blyvoor. Underground earthquakes ended up tolling the death knell, with an entire shaft collapsing after one set of seismic events. DRDGOLD had injected R200 million into the North West mines for no return, and decided enough was enough.



    The main driver behind the lower costs at Blyvoor was the decrease of


    the more-expensive underground operations.



    Production from the


    cheaper reprocessing of low-grade, gold-bearing increased marginally,


    and the overall result was the lower average cost per kilo of gold.





    In March last year, underground operations were contributing 209,000 tons to the total ore milled of 959,000 tons. In the three months to March 2005, only 140,000 tons were mined at a grade of 7.36g/t compared to 7.49g/t previously.


    Management says it managed to increase the total tonnage processed from underground and surface sources to 920,000 tons in the March quarter from the 897,000 tons of the December quarter. This resulted in an increase in the quarter’s combined gold production from underground and surface to 39,995 ounces from 37,680 ounces in December.


    Ilja Graulich, a DRD spokesman, says there are still seven years left of above-ground reserves at Blyvoor, while underground ore still holds 26 million ounces of gold. Whether all of the underground gold will be extracted remains to be seen and will depend largely on the rand gold price.


    Management says other measures are being taken to improve underground productivity further. These include improved temperature control from the installation of spray chambers and a campaign to increase face advance per blast.


    “A mine call factor strategy applied underground during the quarter involved tighter water management, the upgrading of mud settlers, and increased sweeping and vamping, with consequent improvements in efficiencies,” said a company release.


    Management is also looking at re-establishing mining operations at


    Blyvoor’s number 2 shaft for R50 million and increasing throughput on


    surface by 33% at a capital cost of R7 million.



    Graulich says that, previously, money was being spent on Northwest with no result, but now funds could be allocated to local and foreign operations where they can be put to better use.


    Market watchers are withholding judgement on whether these lower


    costs are sustainable especially after the North West incident. The share


    price has reflected this loss of confidence making it South Africa’s worst-


    performing gold share over the last year currently trading 75% lower than


    its 52-week high of R20.40 a share.


    The shares remained unchanged at R5 by lunchtime (SA time) on Thursday

    "The main driver behind the lower costs at Blyvoor was the decrease of


    the more-expensive underground operations."


    Geht es darum in Nordwest, den "Abraum" von Jahrzehnten nochmal

    durch Heap Leach Becken laufen zu lassen?


    Dafür braucht man kaum Personal.


    Die Recoveries waren bis vor kurzem so um die 60-70%.


    Da ist noch genug Grade in den halden.



    gogh

    Posted to the web on: 25 April 2005
    Kebble close to deciding on DRDGOLD
    John Fraser


    MINING veteran Roger Kebble is expected to announce this week whether he will bid for all or part of the two DRDGOLD mines that were placed in provisional liquidation last month, threatening 6500 jobs.


    Kebble said at the weekend that he was completing due diligence exercises on the DRDGOLD mines, which at one time he operated, and was hoping to be ready this week with a decision on whether or not to make a bid.


    He said there was “always potential” to reopen the mines, which were closed due to pressures from the strong rand. The final straw came with damage caused by earth tremors at the beginning of last month.


    Kebble said the issue of who would pay for pumping costs, believed to be about R85m a year, at the two mines had to be resolved.


    If he does take over the mines, which are near Klerksdorp, Kebble would make an offer through Simmer & Jack, a listed company of which he is chairman. He has said in the past he would also be keen to bid for DRDGOLD’s other South African assets.


    However, DRDGOLD CE Mark Wellesley-Wood said last week that restructuring of the other local operations had been completed and the company intended to retain operations in SA.


    The liquidators of the two mines have invited offers for the purchase of the mine’s assets as a going concern.


    Gavin Klein of Westrust, which is one of three liquidators, said the liquidators “are very keen to engage with any interested party”.


    He said that one company other than Simmer & Jack was engaged in due diligence. He would not name the company.


    Harmony CE Bernard Swanepoel said recently that he had decided to take a look at the liquidated mines, following an approach from the unions.


    “The main aim is to save as many jobs as possible and to renew production as soon as possible,” said Klein.


    He said the liquidators would want to see whether any potential purchaser would be interested in taking over the mines as a going concern or whether they would just want to cherry-pick assets.


    He said the liquidators had ensured that all essential services such as the hospital, the feeding of workers, fire and security, and pumping were continuing.



    Trade union Solidarity said on Friday that it had held a meeting with workers in Stilfontein on the liquidation of DRDGOLD mines.


    “The biggest problem is the fact that workers’ medical aid has lapsed,” the union said.


    Solidarity also alleged that DRDGOLD owed its 268 members at the mine approximately R21m in severance packages.


    Solidarity spokesman Dirk Hermann said the union wanted to exhaust all alternatives before the final liquidation “in an attempt to prevent the liquidation and keep the mine going so that the workers may keep their jobs”.

    SACCARD hat heute, 25.04.05, bei W+O folgendes gepostet,
    ========
    unkommentiert hierher kopiert:



    "Endlich kann man Harmony und DRD vernünftig vergleichen:
    Harmony hat 3.6 mio Unzen Produktion, 395 mio Aktien und Kosten von 445 US$.


    DRD .56 mio Unzen, 317 mio Aktien und 310 US$ Kosten.


    Gehen wir mal von einem Goldpreis von 530 US$ aus (womit die Berechnung massivst in Richtung Harmony verschoben wird).


    DRD damit price cash flow von:
    (317*.78 ) / (.56 * (530-310)) = 2


    Harmony:
    (395 * 6.53) / (3.6 * (530-445)) = 8.43


    Sollte der Goldpreis kurzfristig auf 530 steigen, dürfte Harmony so zwischen 6.50 und 10 US$ rangieren und Durban so zwischen 3.20 und 4.80 US$..


    Mittelfristig gehe ich aber von 10 bis 20% weiterer Kostensteigerung in SA aus, so daß DRDs Kosten sich zwischen 330 und 350 einpendeln dürften (weniger als die Hälfte aus Südafrika..) und Harmony bei 490 bis 530 liegen dürfte..


    Längerfristig dürfte die Produktion bei Durban somit bei jetzigen Goldpreisen zwischen 500 und 600000 liegen udn Harmony auf ca. 2 mio Unzen absinken bei gleichbleibnden Kosten.


    30 cent für DRD entspricht cash flow bereinigt 1.55 US$ je Harmony Aktie. Bei jetzigem Goldpreis macht Harmony gar keine Gewinne, so daß man nur nach Reserven bewerten kann, entspräche 1.20 US$.


    Der jetzige Kurs von DRD, 78 cent, ist sehr sehr günstig. Harmony ist ebenfalls ein Kauf auf vergleichbarem Niveau, also zwischen 2.50 US$ und 3 US$ aktuell..


    Gruß
    S."

    DRDGold claims it will rise from mine-liquidation ashes
    ...


    As a result of the shutdown of the North West Operations, Wellesley-Wood pointed out that more than 50% of the group's production now comes from the Australasian region – some 319 000 oz/y, opposed to 259 000/y from its South African assets.


    However, the majority of DRDGold's reserves and resources remain in South Africa, a fact that demonstrates the group's commitment to the country, Wellesley-Wood added.


    Meanwhile, DRDGold will also focus on expanding its reserve base offshore, in a bid to replace mined ounces to beyond 2010.
    ...
    http://www.miningweekly.co.za/min/news/today/?show=66209
    ---------------


    "Harmony ist ebenfalls ein Kauf auf vergleichbarem Niveau, also zwischen 2.50 US$ und 3 US$ aktuell.."


    Da hat HAR ja noch etwas Luft nach unten. :D

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