Kazakh miner Solidcore reports profit jump on high gold prices
Kazakh gold miner Solidcore on Monday said high gold prices and sales growth had almost doubled its net profit in 2024, but warned that the impact of sanctions on concentrate deliveries to Russia would hit first-quarter revenue.
Solidcore, formerly Polymetal International, is the second-largest gold miner in Kazakhstan and expects to produce 470,000 gold equivalent ounces in 2025. The company sold its Russian assets in 2024 after its business there came under U.S. sanctions in response to Moscow’s military action in Ukraine.
The group’s Russian business had represented about 70% of output and more than 50% of core earnings.
In results for the year ending December 31, 2024, excluding the Russian segment of its business which it now classes as a discontinued operation, net profit rose 96% year-on-year to $533 million, Solidcore said. Revenue climbed 49% to $1.3 billion.
This year, revenue is under early pressure.
“At (the) Kyzyl (gold project), concentrate delivery delays to the Amursk POX (in Russia), resulting from operational challenges linked to the impact of international sanctions against Russia, are expected to negatively impact revenue in Q1,” Solidcore said in a statement.
Gold prices surged above $3,100 per ounce on Monday to a record high, as worries about potential inflation due to U.S. tariffs set the safe-haven asset up for its strongest quarter since 1986.
Gold is up around 18% so far this year, building on its best performance in over a decade last year with a 27% rise.
“In 2024, our stable operational performance and favourable gold prices drove robust financial results,” CEO Vitaly Nesis said in a statement.
Solidcore expects to double production to 1 million ounces of gold equivalent by 2029, relying on mergers and acquisitions in Central Asia and the Middle East.
To that end, the company has suspended dividend payments for now. Capital expenditure in 2024 rose 44% to $208 million, below the company’s forecast. This year, capital expenditure is seen increasing to $300 million.