In a February 3 trading update to shareholders, ahead of the planned publication of its interim results on February 15, the company noted that revenue had increased by 6% year-on-year. DRDGOLD subsidiary Ergo Mining achieved a R153-million year-on-year increase in revenue to R1.96-billion for the interim period, owing to an 11% increase in the rand gold price received and a 10% increase in yield to 0.203 g/t.

DRDGOLD, valued at about R12 billion on the JSE, comprises two subsidiaries — Ergo, about 50km east of Johannesburg in Brakpan, and Far West Gold Recoveries, near Carletonville, west of Johannesburg. The company uses chemical processes to recover residue metal from the retreatment of surface tailings left over from mining, processing vast quantities of material.