[miningmx.com] — HARMONY Gold , South Africa’s third largest gold miner, said on Friday output for the April-to-June quarter would likely be 3% higher than the 317,000 ounces produced in the previous one despite days lost to public holidays.
It also said in a brief guidance to investors that its operating costs in rand terms would be higher because of factors such as rising power bills but gave no further details.
Gold scaled record highs this week but South African gold miners say they are grappling with soaring costs that are eating into their margins, stemming from rapidly rising electricity tariffs, high-wage bills and big capital outlays related to the depths they must mine.
Other costs like fuel that stem from the commodity boom are also adding to their costs.
Harmony and its larger rivals Gold Fields and AngloGold Ashanti face the prospect this quarter of strike action as unions and management head for a showdown over wages. This could cut their output but could also put further upward pressure on the gold price.
The company’s results for the year ended June 30 are due out on August 15.
DRDGold , the country’s fourth largest gold producer, said earlier on Friday that its gold production for the year to the end of June should be 10% higher.
