(Kitco News) - Kirkland Lake Gold (TSX:KL)(NYSE:KL) today announced that the company’s net earnings totalled a record$254.9 million ($0.96 per share) in Q3 2021, a 26% increase from $202.0 million($0.73 per share) in Q3 2020.
In a statement, the companysaid that the 26% increase in net earnings from Q3 2020 was driven by revenuegrowth, reflecting higher gold sales, lower rehabilitation costs, a reductionin the effective tax rate, the favourable impact of other income, and lowercare and maintenance costs.
Kirkland Lake added itproduced 370,101 ounces of gold in Q3 2021, up 9% from Q3 2020, as Detour Lakeachieved record quarterly production of 189,233 ounces, and production atMacassa totalled 46,097 ounces compared to production of 38,028 ounces in Q32020.
However, the company saidthat the Fosterville mine produced 134,772 ounces in Q3 2021 compared to161,489 ounces produced in Q3 2020, mainly due to lower average grade largelyrelated to mine sequencing within the Swan, Audax, Benu and Raptor zones.
Importantly, the company pointedout that its YTD 2021 results included AISC per ounce sold averaging betterthan the guidance range for the year ($790 - $810/oz), operating cash costs perounce in line with guidance ($450 - $475/oz) and production on track to achievethe top end of full-year 2021 guidance (1,300,000 - 1,400,000 ounces).
President and CEO Tony Makuchcommented, "Q3 2021 was a quarter of substantial progress, highlighted byrecord quarterly earnings, solid year-over-year production growth as well asunit costs significantly better than full-year guidance. We also releasedencouraging exploration results at all three of our cornerstone assets andremained on track with our key growth projects, including the #4 Shaft projectat Macassa."
Kirkland Lake Gold is asenior gold producer operating in Canada and Australia that is targeting1,300,000 - 1,400,000 ounces of production in 2021. The production profile ofKirkland Lake Gold is anchored by three operations, including the Macassa mineand Detour Lake mine, both located in Northern Ontario, and the Fosterville minelocated in the state of Victoria, Australia.
By Vladimir BasovFor Kitco News
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