Silver Lake eyes worst day in eight years as sales outlook disappoints

Shares of Silver Lake plunged as much as 24.2% during the session, before slightly paring losses to trade down 19.5% at A$0.8975. The stock is eying its worst session since Jan. 27, 2015, if current trends hold. It was the top loser on Australia’s benchmark stock index.

The miner is expected to sell 210,00 ounces (oz) to 230,000 oz of gold in the year ended June 30, 2024, down from record annual sales of 260,372 oz in fiscal 2023, as it halts mining and processing at its Sugar Zone mine in Northern Ontario, Canada.

Brokers at Ord Minnett had estimated the company will sell 282,000 oz of gold for the period.

Silver Lake is also anticipating an all-in sustaining cost (AISC) – a metric to estimate all direct and recurring costs required to mine a unit of ore – of A$1,850-A$2,050 per oz, compared to A$1,941/oz incurred this year.

The idling of mining activities in FY24 will provide Silver Lake with the opportunity to “reset” the mine and complete the necessary grade control and extensional drilling programs, the miner said.

“If Sugar Zone is excluded, SLR’s FY24 sales guidance is broadly in line with our figures,” Ord Minnett said.

Production from Sugar Zone had fallen in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023, as wildfires in Ontario caused interruptions to power supply and activities were suspended for about three weeks.