US markets fall, March 7-11

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 670.61 points or 1.99% to finish the March 7-11 trading week at 32,944.19 and the S&P 500 dropped 124.56 points or 2.88% to 4,204.31. Spot gold fell US$2.25 per oz. or 0.11% to US$1,978.70 per ounce. 

Intrepid Potash topped the charts, climbing US$13.63 to US$84.19 per share. The company reported net income for the 2021 calendar year of US$249.8 million or US$18.66 per diluted share, adjusted net income of US$21.8 million or US$1.63 per diluted share, and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBIDTA) of US$67.6 million. Cash flow from operations totalled US$79.1 million. As of March 7, Intrepid had cash on hand of about US$60 million. The company also noted that its board of directors approved a US$35 million share repurchase program in February. Executive chairman and CEO Bob Jornayvaz credited the positive results on the “strong commodity environment and rising fertilizer prices,” and noted that “pricing and demand strength have continued into the first quarter of 2022 and we expect another quarter of increasing realized prices.”

Shares of Wheaton Precious Metals rose US$1.37 to US$48.10 per share. The company reported record adjusted net earnings for 2021 of US$592 million and record operating cash flow of US$845 million. The company reported cash on hand as of December 31 of about US$226 million. Attributable production for 2021 came in at 752,958 gold-equivalent ounces in line with guidance.  For 2022 Wheaton’s estimated attributable production is forecast to be about 700,000 to 760,000 GEOs. For the five-year period ending in 2026, the company estimates average production will amount to 850,000 gold-equivalent ounces.  

Endeavour Silver gained 17.8% to US$5.57. The company reported 2021 production of 4.87 million oz. of silver and 42,262 oz. of gold for 8.3 million silver-equivalent ounces. Endeavour posted net earnings for the year of US$14 million or US8¢ per share and EBITDA of US$54.9 million, an increase of 87% over 2020. The company ended the year with a cash position of US$103.3 million and working capital of US$121.2 million.

Shares of McEwen Mining advanced 10.8% to US89¢. The company provided production and cost guidance for 2022, estimating it will produce a total of 153,000 to 172,000 gold-equivalent ounces. All-in sustaining costs per gold-equivalent oz. sold from its 100%-owned mines, Gold Bar (Nevada) and Black Fox (Canada), are expected to be in the range of US$1,570 to US$1,690 per GEO sold, and at its 49%-owned San Jose mine (Argentina) US$1,330 to US$1,370 per GEO sold.

Barrick Gold increased US15¢ per share to US$24.35. The gold major announced that following a bought deal private placement completed by Reunion Gold, Barrick’s interest in Reunion fell below 10% to about 9.98% of the company’s issued and outstanding common shares. Barrick did not participate in the private placement and continues to own 81.15 million common shares in the company.