L and M parent lifts profit

Press, 25 February 1988, Page 23

L and M parent lifts profit

The Australian gold producer, AUR, has announced an unaudited net profit of sAust2,oo6,ooo for the six months ended December 31. This is 66 per cent higher than the profit for the last half of 1986 — $1,210,000. AUR is 50 per cent owned by Botena Resources, the Australian resource arm of Chase Corporation. Last July, AUR bought 78 per cent of New Zealand’s largest gold producer, L and M Mining, for sAust2sM. It lifted the shareholding to 81.25 per cent on December 31. Gold production from AUR’s mines at Mount Martin, West Australia, Mount Madden, Cloncurry, Queensland, and New Zealand amounted to 10,910 ounces — up 66 per cent on the 6581 ounces produced during the last half of 1986.

The higher profit was

achieved after finance charges of sAustl,3oo,ooo (previous corresponding period $50,000) reflecting the costs of financing the acquisition of L and M Mining. The directors said this debt had been substantially reduced by the successful completion of a $2l million issue of options to AUR shareholders in October, 1987. L and M Mining recently announced a profit of $NZ1,183,000 from operations, $NZ2,138,000 from reversal of prior years deferred taxation and $NZ2,500,000 profit on sale of the Industrial Minerals Division during the half-year. L and M Mining plans to open a new gold mine at Rimu, on the West Coast, this year. The capital cost is estimated about SNZ6.4M and the feasibility study estimates a first-year profit of about SNZ24M.