Eden Roc reports profit from African gold mine

Annual earnings for Eden Roc Mineral (TSE) are finally in the black, following three years of unprofitable operations at its gold mine in Ivory Coast.

For the year ended Dec. 31, Eden Roc earned $567,000 (or 1.4 cents per share) on revenue of $14 million, compared with a loss of $4.8 million (12.2 cents per share) on $9.7 million in 1994.

Eden Roc has a 68% interest in the Afema heap-leach gold mine, where production started in February 1992. The remaining 32% interest in held by SODEMI, a government agency.

Last year, production at Afema jumped to 26,080 oz. from 15,520 oz. in 1994, while cash costs dropped 25% to US$268 per oz. The recovery plant is being expanded to double the available capacity for gold solution thoughput.

Eden Roc also increased oxide reserves by 34% last year, to 550,000 oz., and sulphide reserves by 37%, to 1.4 million oz.

The junior says a feasibility study on the sulphide material will follow further increases in both reserves this year.

Eden Roc is using some of its profit to resume exploration on four target areas near the mine.

At the Toliesso project, the company recently intersected, in the first of six drill holes, a mineralized quartz vein grading 5.2 grams per tonne over 6 metres.

At Aniuri North, where Eden Roc is testing a 700-metre-long soil anomaly, the first of five holes cut 5.6 grams over 3 metres.