Senior producers report record results and gear up for bigger 2025
Gold miners set up for even better year as margins expand
The record gold price has set up the world’s largest producers for major margin expansion in 2025, following a strong batch of financial results announced so far during reporting season.
Kinross Gold Corporation (TSX: K)
Kinross reported record full-year free cashflow of US$1.34 billion off the back of record December quarter free cashflow of US$434.4 million. The company achieved a Q4 margin of US$1565 an ounce of gold equivalent sold.
Net earnings for 2024 were US$948.8 million, while adjusted net earnings were US$838.3 million.
The company reported 2024 gold production of 2.13 million ounces, just ahead of guidance of 2.1Moz. Attributable all-in sustaining costs of US$1388/oz were slightly above guidance of US$1360/oz.
Kinross had cash and cash equivalents of US$611.5 million, and total liquidity of US$2.3 billion at December 31, and this month, fully repaid the debt associated with the acquisition of Great Bear Resources.
The company declared a quarterly dividend of US3c per share for the December quarter.
Guidance for 2025 has been set at 2Moz of gold at AISC of US$1500/oz, with capital expenditure of US$1.15 billion.
Kinross chair Catherine McLeod-Seltzer will not stand for re-election and will be replaced as long-time director Kelly Osborne.
Northern Star Resources (ASX: NST)
Australia’s largest listed gold producer Northern Star reported its own record half-year results earlier this month.
Cash earnings jumped 63% to A$1.14 billion, or A$1 per share, while underlying EBITDA was up 58% to A$1.4 billion.
The company sold 804,140oz of gold at an average realized price of A$3562/oz for revenue of A$2.87 billion.
A record interim dividend of A25c per share was declared, up 67% and representing a 25% payout of cash earnings. The company’s A$300 million on-market share buy-back was 86% complete at the end of the year.
At December 31, Northern Star was in a net cash position of A$265 million with cash and bullion of A$1.21 billion.
Guidance for the 12 months to June 30 was maintained at 1.65-1.8Moz of gold sold at AISC of A$1850-2100/oz, weighted to the second half.
Growth capital expenditure for the year is forecast at A$950 million to A$1.02 billion, with an additional A$500-530 million for the KCGM mill expansion.
In December, Northern Star announced a A$5 billion scrip takeover of Pilbara developer De Grey Mining (ASX: DEG), which it hopes to progress in the current half.
Gold Fields (JSE: GFI)
Johannesburg-based Gold Fields reported a 36% increase in normalised profit to US$1.22 billion after what it described as a year of two halves.
Gold Fields generated adjusted free cashflow of US$605 million, up 65%.
Group attributable gold-equivalent production for 2024 fell 10% to 2.07Moz, mainly due to lower production in the first half of the year, while second half production was up 26%.
All-in costs increased by 24% to US$1873/oz due to lower production, higher operating costs, additional gold inventory charges, higher sustaining capital expenditure and an increase in royalties.
Gold Fields declared a final dividend of SA700c per share, up 67% year-on-year and taking the total 2024 dividend to SA1000c.
Guidance for 2025 has been set at 2.25-2.45Moz at AISC of US$1500-1650/oz and AIC of US$1780-1930/oz, with the St Ives microgrid project accounting for US$48/oz of AIC.
Total capex for the year is expected to be US$1.49-1.55 billion due to the St Ives renewable project and pre-development costs at Windfall.
AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE: AU)
AngloGold reported a ninefold increase in full-year free cashflow to US$942 million and a 93% rise in adjusted EBITDA to US$2.74 billion, driven by operational efficiencies and a 24% increase in the average realized gold price to US$2394/oz.
The company swung from a US$46 million loss in 2023 to headline earnings of US$954 million, or US221c per share.
Group gold production for 2024 was 2.66Moz, including 40,000oz from the newly acquired Sukari operation in Egypt. AISC rose 4% to US$1611/oz.
AngloGold declared a dividend of US69c for the second half, up 263%, taking the total dividend for the year to US91c per share.
The company also announced a new dividend policy, targeting a 50% payout of free cashflow, subject to maintaining an adjusted net debt to adjusted EBITDA ratio of 1x and introducing an annual base dividend of US50c per share.
At the end of 2024, adjusted net debt was US$567 million, and the adjusted net debt to adjusted EBITDA ratio was 0.21x, the lowest since 2011. The company had US$2.6 billion in liquidity, including cash and cash equivalents of US$1.4 billion.
Gold production in 2025 is expected to grow to 2.9-3.22Moz at AISC of US$1580-1705/oz. Group capital expenditure is expected to be US$1.620-1.77 billion.
Alamos Gold (TSX: AGI)
Alamos reported a record 2024 across almost all metrics.
Production was a record 567,000oz, up 7% and the second consecutive full-year record, while AISC was US$1281/oz.
Full-year operating cashflow was up 40% to US$661.1 million, while free cashflow was a record US$272.3 million
Adjusted net earnings were US$328.9 million, or US81c per share, while reported net earnings were US$284.3 million, or US70c per share.
Alamos paid dividends of US$41 million for 2024, based on a quarterly dividend of US2.5c per share.
Production in 2025 is set to grow by 7% to 580,000-630,000oz, while the company aims to be producing 680,000-730,000oz in 2027 due to the Phase 3+ expansion at Island Gold. Further growth is expected in 2028 following the recent approval of the 176,000oz per year Lynn Lake project.
Alamos had cash and equivalents of US$327.2 million at the end of 2024, and US$827.2 million of total liquidity following the recent upsizing of its debt facility to US$750 million.
Evolution Mining (ASX: EVN)
Evolution reported a record half-year statutory profit of A$365 million, up 277%, a record underlying net profit of A$385 million, up 144%, record underlying EBITDA of A$1.01 billion, up 77%, record earnings per share of A18.4c, up 251%, and record group cashflow of A$273 million, up 420%.
The company declared its 24th consecutive dividend, returning A7c per share to shareholders, up 250%.
Half-year gold production rose 22% year-on-year to 388,346oz, while copper production jumped 36% to 37,613t.
Evolution maintained FY25 production guidance of 710,000-780,000oz of gold and 70,000-80,000t of copper, at AISC of A$1475-1575/oz, or US$996-1063/oz.
CEO Lawrie Conway said the company was on track to generate over A$2 billion of operating cashflow for the 12 months to June 30.
Gearing at December 31 dropped to 23%, down from 30% a year earlier. The company is targeting 20% gearing by the end of June.
The Australian miner also announced that founder and executive chairman Jake Klein would become non-executive chairman as of July 1.
Pan American Silver (NYSE: PAAS)
Pan American reported record gold production, revenue and free cashflow for 2024.
Full-year silver production of 21.1Moz was within guidance, while gold production was a record 892,500oz, generating record revenue of US$2.8 billion.
Net earnings for 2024 were US$112.7 million, or US31c per share, with adjusted earnings of US$286.7 million, or US79c per share.
Operating cashflow was a record US$724.1 million, while free cashflow was a record US$445.1 million.
Pan American declared a dividend of US10c per share.
At the end of December, the company had working capital of US$1.03 billion, including cash and short-term investments of US$887.3 million, and US$750 million available under its revolving credit facility. Debt stood at US$803.3 million.
The company repurchased US$24.3 million of shares in 2024 and stepped it up in January, repurchasing US$20 million of shares.
Guidance for 2025 is 20-21Moz of silver at AISC of US$16.25-18.25/oz and 735,000-800,000oz of gold at AISC of US$1525-1625/oz, weighted to the second half.
Lundin Gold (TSX: LUG)
Lundin reported record full-year gold production of 502,029oz from the Fruta del Norte operation in Ecuador, exceeding guidance of 450,000-500,000oz.
AISC of US$875/oz was within guidance of US$820-890/oz.
Cash from operating activities was a record US$662 million and adjusted free cashflow of was a record US$540 million.
The company also reported record adjusted EBITDA of US$780 million.
After becoming debt-free, Lundin increased its quarterly dividend to US30c per share.
The company maintained its 2025 guidance of 475,000-525,000oz at AISC of US$935-995/oz with the higher costs attributed to increased royalties and employee profit sharing resulting from the increase in the assumed gold price to US$2500/oz, an increase in power tariffs, and an increase in sustaining capital expenditures.
Lundin CEO Ron Hochstein said the company expected to generate free cashflow of more than US$500 million, based on a gold price of US$2500/oz.
The company had cash of US$349 million and a working capital balance of US$458 million at the end of 2024.
Royal Gold Inc (NASDAQ: RGLD)
Royalty company Royal Gold reported record financial results for 2024.
Net income was US$332 million, or US$5.04 per share, and adjusted net income of US$346.4 million, or US$5.26 per share, on revenue of US$719.4 million and operating cashflow of US$529.5 million, all records.
Sales volumes were 301,500oz of gold equivalent with a revenue split of 76% gold, 12% silver and 9% copper.
The company paid a dividend of US$1.60 per share and increased its 2025 dividend by 12.5% to US$1.80 per share, the 24th consecutive annual increase. The company has paid dividends of roughly US$1 billion since its first payment in 2000.
Royal Gold repaid US$250 million of debt during 2024, becoming debt-free.
Total liquidity at the end of December was around US$1.2 billion, which comprised US$190 million of working capital and US$1 billion undrawn and available under the revolving credit facility.
Royal Gold said it expected a softer start to 2025 with stream segment sales of 40,000-45,000oz of gold equivalent for the March quarter. Full-year guidance will be issued next month.
Click for detailed reports on the results from the world’s top three gold miners, Barrick Gold (TSX: ABX), Newmont Corporation (NYSE: NEM) and Agnico Eagle Mines (TSX: AEM).