OceanaGold Shares Soar: See How the Lowest-Cost Gold Producer Operates

Low cost and high production is helping OceanaGold's become a hot commodity in the gold mining industry

OceanaGold Corporation (TSE:OGC, ASX:OGC) released its first quarter production and revenue numbers on Tuesday, and things couldn’t be better.

The Melbourne-based company reported $170.4 million, EBITDA of $101.0 million and a net profit of $58.9 million, all records for the exploration company. Under an optimized mining plan, OceanaGold has seen its gold production increase to 86,568 ounces, thanks in large to its Didipio Mine in northern Luzon, Philippines. The mine produced an astounding 30,480 ounces of gold following its first year in operation.

On Tuesday the gold mining company was up 11.2 percent, changing hands for $2.78 on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Roughly 1.3 million shares were traded by 2:00 (EST) versus daily volumes averaging around 700,000. OceanaGold is up more than 67 percent since the start of the year.

A majority of the company’s success can be attributed to it low cash costs for gold, which is one of the best in the industry. Overall cash costs for the company was $170 an ounce while Al-In Sustaining Costs were $450 per ounce. These numbers have helped the Australian company pay back more than $20 million of debts.

Founded in 2003, the OceanaGold operates three in New Zealand, including the country’s largest gold complex at the Macraes goldfield in Otago This mine consist of a large scale open-cut mine and underground pit (Frasers Underground), which commissioned in 2008. The company also operates the Reefton Project, an open-cut mine with four open pits. The Pacific-Rim company commenced production on its newest mine the Didipio Project in April 2013, a high grade gold copper mine that is expected to produce approximately 100,000 ounces of gold and 14,000 tons of copper per year over the next 15 years.

OceanaGold is expected to produce somewhere in the range of 275,000 to 305,000 ounces of gold in 2014 from the combined New Zealand and Philippine operations. Copper production is expected to average 21,000 to 24,000 tons from the Didipio Mine.