Intrepid Closes Hedge Book
Intrepid closes hedge book
GOLD producer Intrepid Mines is now debt free and will have full exposure to the current high gold price after retiring its hedge book this week.
Intrepid said it has delivered the final ounces from its Paulsens gold mine in Western Australia to Westpac at $A627 per ounce under existing hedge arrangements.
Overnight, Comex gold was trading at $US836.50/oz ($A1250.40/oz), enhancing the mine's operating cash flow.
The hedge book was a requirement of the financing facility for construction of the Paulsens mine and infrastructure.
The debt associated with the facility was prepaid in June and Intrepid said it is now net debt free, and at 30 November had cash of $US12 million ($A17.9 million).
In the 11 months to November, a total of 43,971oz was delivered to Westpac under the hedge arrangements.
Total production from Paulsens in the 11 months to November was 72,500oz.
Paulsens produced 16,483oz of gold in the September quarter, generating revenue of $US10.4 million.
The mine has an initial five-year mine life, but the company is confident of extending it and will announce a resource upgrade soon.
Intrepid, dual-listed in Toronto and Australia, revealed late last month that extension drilling has proved the presence of mineralisation more than 400m below surface, 100m deeper than first thought.
Shares in Intrepid Mines jumped 21% or 3c to 17c this morning on the Australian Securities Exchange.
