DRDGOLD said headline interim share earnings will decline between 43% and 53% owing to a year-on-year decline in the rand gold price and lower volumes from its Ergo operation. The gold retreatment company said share earnings would be 52.5 and 63.6 cents a share for the six month period ended December 31 compared to headline earnings of 111 cents per share last year.

Aim-listed DRDGold expects to report earnings per share (EPS) and headline earnings per share (HEPS) of between 52.5c and 63.6c for the six months ended December 31, which represents a decrease of 43% to 53% from the EPS and HEPS of 111c reported for the six months ended December 31, 2020.

DRDGold, SA’s biggest producer of gold from tailings dumps, expects headline profit to roughly halve in its six months to end-December, weighed down by lower selling prices and higher input costs, including chemicals.

Local gold producer DRDGold CEO Niël Pretorius says the market response to the global transition to clean energy, as well as the strategy and energy plans of the company’s majority shareholder, diversified miner Sibanye-Stillwater, are important considerations in shaping DRDGold’s strategy for the future.

DRDGOLD advises that its flagship metallurgical plant, Ergo Mining has entered into a second five year (2022-2026) research and support agreement with the University of the Witswatersrand (Wits University) through the Gold Research Group in the School of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering, to continue with research with the objective of enhancing capacity and capability within the field.

Dual-listed DRDGold’s flagship metallurgical plant Ergo Mining has entered into a second five-year research and support agreement with the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) through the Gold Research Group in the School of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering, to continue with research aimed at enhancing capacity and capability within the field.