Image source: Roman Bodnarchuk

Highlights

  • Perseus Mining is an Australian mining firm which operates three gold mines in Africa
  • The company has increased interest in OreCorp to19.9%
  • Van Eck Associates Corporation has the highest stake in the firm with a shareholding of ~9.89%

Perseus Mining Limited (ASX: PRU) is an ASX-listed mining firm, which was established in 2004. The company is focused on identifying, acquiring and developing a portfolio of producing assets in Africa and manages three mines in West Africa. The multi-mine, multi-jurisdictional gold-focused company is also focused on mineral evaluation and exploration activities in the region.

The AUD 2.41 million market cap company registered a revenue growth of 27% YoY in the financial year 2023 (FY23) to 1,426.4 million, while the profit after tax surged by 70% YoY to AUD 476.7 million. During the reported period, production from the three gold mines in West Africa was above the targeted rate. Moreover, higher gold prices, sustained performance from Yaoure and increased production at Edikan drove the yearly performance.

Yaoure contributed 535,281 ounces in the annual gold production, which is more than half of the total production of FY23.

Top 10 shareholders of PRU

The top 10 shareholders of PRU have nearly 37.76% of the shareholding in PRU, while the top four have around 24.71% shareholding. The highest stakes are held by Van Eck Associates Corporation and Dimensional Fund Advisors, L.P. with a shareholding of ~9.89% and ~4.99%, respectively.

Recent business update

Recently (27 November 2023), the company informed about the acquisition of 19.9% interest in OreCorp Limited’s shares. It is an African mining company which is listed on ASX under the ticker code ORR.

OreCorp owns Tanzania-based Nyanzaga Gold project. The reported probable ore reserve of the project is 40.08 Mt at 2.02 g/t gold for 2.60 million ounces of gold.

On 24 October 2024, the company released its quarterly update for the quarter ended 30 September 2023. During the latest quarter, gold production was 132,804 ounces at an AISC of USD 937 per ounces, and the gold sales stood at 115,954 ounces.

Outlook

In 1HFY24, the company expects to achieve gold production of 242,500 to 272,500 ounces at an AISC of USD 1,080 to 1,190 per ounce. The company informed that it is committed to tapping opportunities that complement its asset portfolio and its organic growth campaign.

Furthermore, the company is focused on progressing development and exploration operations across its three West African mines.

Share performance of PRU

PRU shares closed 2.85% higher at AUD 1.805 apiece on 28 November 2023. Including this gain, PRU’s share price has declined by 18.32% in the last one year and has increased by 3.44% in past one month.

The 52-week high of PRU is AUD 2.51, recorded on 14 April 2023, while the 52-week low is AUD 1.5, recorded on 6 October 2023.

 

Note 1: Past performance is neither an Indicator nor a guarantee of future performance.

 

Note 2: The reference date for all price data, currency, is 28 November 2023. The reference data in this report has been partly sourced from REFINITIV.