The company said its Haile mine in South Carolina exceeded guidance with an annual record of 189,975oz. The Didipio operation in The Philippines also exceeded guidance with production of 14,863oz gold and 2,323 tonnes copper sine its restart in November 2021.
OceanaGold reported a consolidated all-in sustaining cost of US$1247/oz and a year-end cash balance of $133 million.
"We finished the year with a strong fourth quarter of production, backed by solid operational performances from Haile, which delivered a record annual gold output and Didipio, where ramp-up is advancing ahead of schedule," said OceanaGold acting CEO Scott Sullivan.
OceanaGold recommenced ore processing at Didipio after more than two years on the sidelines, with the restart coming two weeks ahead of schedule, following the completion of plant upgrades and maintenance.
Underground operations at Didipio will ramp up through mid-year during which time primary mill feed will initially be low-grade stockpile ore on the ROM pad that will be supplemented by higher-grade mine ore as stope development accelerates.
Didipio produced 115,000oz gold and 15,000t copper in 2018 before operations were suspended in 2019 when a key permit expired.
BMO Capital Markets analyst Brian Quast said it was a strong quarter, but the outlook was uncertain.
"Coming off a record year of production and with the technical review ongoing, Haile is at a crossroads," he said.
"While OceanaGold expects the SEIS final record of decision in Q1/22, the operation's mining rates and costs continued to be impacted by additional rehandling. The company expects to release preliminary results from the technical review in Q1/22."
Quast has an outperform rating and C$3.25 price target for OceanaGold. The company's shares were unchanged at $1.94 overnight, valuing it at $1.4 billion.
