US markets mixed, April 29-May 3: Pretium, Cleveland Cliffs

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.15% to 26,504.95 and the S&P 500 Index rose 0.20% to 2,945.64. Spot gold lost US$7.40 per oz., or 0.60%, to finish at US$1,278.50 per oz.

Shares of Pretium Resources climbed US46¢ to US$8.07 on first-quarter results. Revenues in the three months ended March 31 reached US$103.1 million on 81,434 oz. gold sold for net earnings of US$4.2 million (US22¢ per share), and adjusted earnings of US$16.5 million (US9¢ per share). The Brucejack mine produced 79,180 oz. gold in the quarter at all-in sustaining costs (AISCs) of US$868 per oz. gold sold (down from AISCs of US$1,009 per oz. in the first quarter of 2018), generating US$39.9 million in cash from operating activities. The company paid down US$20 million of debt ahead of schedule and ended the quarter with cash and equivalents of US$50.9 million. Pretium said it expects to achieve its planned production ramp-up from 2,700 tonnes per day to 3,800 tonnes per day over the course of the year, and reach its production guidance of 390,000 to 420,000 oz. gold in 2019. AISCs for the year could range from US$775 per oz. gold sold to US$875 per oz. gold sold. The company also reported that grade and tonnes would be higher in the second half of the year. The gold grade in the first quarter was 8.7 grams per tonne, and could average 10.4 grams per tonne over the course of 2019. Separately, the company announced that executive chairman and founding shareholder, Robert Quartermain, will retire at the end of the year. Quartermain took Brucejack from an exploration project to a gold producer in just over nine years.

Cleveland-Cliffs advanced US21¢ to US$10.30 per share. The company announced an offering of US$750-million, senior-unsecured guaranteed notes due 2027, and intends to use the net proceeds to redeem all of its outstanding 4.875% senior notes due 2021, to fund the US$600-million tender offer for its 5.75% senior guaranteed notes due 2025, and for general corporate purposes. It reported a first-quarter loss of US$22 million, or US8¢ per diluted share, compared to a loss of US$84 million, or US29¢ per share in the prior year’s first quarter. The company also repurchased 11.5 million common shares at a cost of US$124 million in the three months ended March 31.