Peak Gold earns $14.6M in first year

After buying two operating mines in April last year, Peak Gold (PIK-V, PIKGF-O) raked in net earnings of US$14.6 million, or 3 per share, for the thirteen months ended Dec. 31, 2007.

From the date of its acquisitions of the Amapari mine in Brazil and the Peak mine in Australia last spring, production reached 149,830 oz. gold at a total cash cost of US$349 per oz., the company says. (Peak Gold reports total cash costs on a sales basis.)

The Peak mine started producing gold in 1992 and is a medium-sized operation in the Cobar gold field of central-west New South Wales. The mine also produces copper concentrate for the Asian market.

The Amapari gold deposit is in Amapa state, in northern Brazil’s Amazon region. The mine sits in the Vila Nova greenstone belt and is 15 km from the town of Serra do Navio, where a local company operated a manganese mine for more than 40 years until its closure in 1998.

For the full year, gold production was more than 212,930 per oz., up from 206,800 per oz. in 2006, while gold sales hit nearly 214,400 per oz. compared with 200,000 per oz. in 2006.

Copper production tallied 7.5 million lbs. with sales of 7.3 million lbs., up from 6.5 million lbs. produced and sold in 2006.

Total cash costs in 2007 were US$364 per oz., up from US$355 per oz. in 2006 (net of byproduct sales).

The company forecasts cash costs this year will fall from 2007 levels due to a cost saving programs that it implemented last year.

Peak Gold has a 52-week trading range of 43.5-$1.10 per share. It recently traded at about 66 per share.