TSX posts gain, Oct. 28-Nov. 1: Torex, Sandstorm, Eldorado, Alacer

The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 1.16% to close at 16,594.07. The S&P/TSX Global Mining Index gained 2.07% to 76.65 and the S&P/TSX Global Base Metals Index went up 2.96% to 100.64. The S&P/TSX Global Gold Index increased 1.53% to 247.01, and spot gold moved 0.67% higher to US$1514.10 per ounce.

Torex Gold Resources shares jumped $2.37, or 13.7%, to $19.68. The company reported record gold production in the third quarter of 138,145 oz. — 21.5% higher than the 113,645 oz. in the previous quarter. Tonnes per hour and hours operated increased monthly, with throughput averaging 12,380 tonnes per day, or 6% higher than the previous quarter. Total cash costs in the quarter came in at US$561 per oz. and all-in sustaining costs at US$675 per ounce. The company posted net income of US$27.4 million, or 32¢ per share, on a basic and diluted basis. At the end of September, Torex had US$168 million in cash and its debt stood at US$255.7 million.

Sandstorm Gold climbed $1.27, or 16%, to $9.25 per share. The company reported record revenue of US$25.8 million, up 49% year-on-year, and net income of US$$6.2 million, up from US$2.1 million in the year-earlier quarter. Sandstorm posted record attributable 17,289 equivalent oz. gold sold in the third quarter — a 21% jump from the same quarter last year. Of the equivalent ounces of gold that Sandstorm sold during the third quarter, 31% were attributed to mines in Canada, 20% from the rest of North America, 35% from South America, and 14% from other countries. One of the mines, Equinox Gold’s Aurizona, achieved commercial production on July 1. Sandstorm has a 3% to 5% sliding scale, net smelter return royalty on Aurizona. Sandstorm expects its total attributable equivalent ounces of gold sold this year will reach between 63,000 and 70,000, and forecasts this amount will grow to 140,000 oz. in 2023.

Shares of Eldorado Gold went up $1.19, or 11.2%, to $11.83. Third-quarter gold production totalled 101,596 oz., up from 84,783 oz. produced in the third quarter of 2018. The quarterly gold production included 32,037 oz. from the Lamaque gold mine near Val-d’Or in Quebec, which achieved commercial production in April. The company is undertaking a preliminary economic assessment to increase the underground gold mine’s average annual production from 130,000 to 170,000 oz. gold.

Alacer Gold’s shares increased $1.19, or 20.5%, to $6.59. The company increased its 2019 guidance for its Copler oxide plant in Turkey from a range of 125,000 to 145,000 oz. to 150,000 to 160,000 ounces. The increase is the result of stacking ore from in-pit exploration, better-than-expected outcomes from the blended-ore program, and positive reconciliation for oxide ore. The sulphide plant’s gold production guidance range for the year remains at 230,000 to 270,000 ounces. So far this year, the oxide and sulphide plants have produced 290,127 oz. at a consolidated all-in sustaining cost of US$714 per ounce.