Quadra FNX posts record earnings in 2010 (March 02, 2011)

Quadra Mining successfully completed its merger with FNX Mining in May 2010 and judging by the combined company’s earnings last year, the blend into Quadra FNX Mining  (QUX-T) has been quite a success so far, with a little help from surging copper prices.  

The new, mid-cap Canadian mining company posted full-year earnings in 2010 of US$173 million or $1.11 per share. Adjusted earnings reached US$225 million or $1.45 per share for the year.

The company turned out 224 million pounds of copper and 148,000 ounces of total precious metals (TPMs) at cash costs of US$1.57 per pound of copper.

Production in the fourth quarter added up to 57 million pounds of copper and 39,000 ounces of TPMs, while cash costs were US$1.55 per pound of copper.

Quadra FNX ended the year with US$320 million in cash.

Tom Meyer of Raymond James has a “strong buy” on Quadra FNX stock with a 12-month target price of $35 per share. At presstime in Toronto the company was trading at $14.10 per share and it has traded between a low of $8.98 per share (July 5 2010) and a high of $18.57 (March 10 2010).

Highlights from Quadra FNX’s financial results included operating income from its Robinson mine in Nevada, which jumped 36% to US$193 million from US$143 million in 2009.

The Morrison deposit in Sudbury, Ontario, meanwhile, moved into commercial production on Sept. 1, 2010 and produced 7.1 million pounds of payable copper in the fourth quarter and 19 million pounds of payable copper for the year.

At the Victoria property, where a scoping study is underway, exploration uncovered the Zone 4 sulphide mineralized system, which chief executive Paul Blythe describes as “one of the most important discoveries in the Sudbury district in recent history.”

Finally at Sierra Gorda in Chile, a financing study is expected to be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2011, followed by a NI 43-101 feasibility study in the second quarter. The company also anticipates completing its environmental permit process in June.

In January 2011 Quadra FNX also closed the sale of its shares in Gold Wheaton (GLW-T) for initial cash proceeds of C$263 million, which increased the company’s cash balance to roughly $600 million.