Lihir has announced a rise in profits and revenues from the previous fiscal year.
Lihir Gold has recorded profit above its forecast expectations.
The miner saw underlying net profit more than double to US$ 290 million on the back of increased gold prices and revenues exceeding US$ 1 billion for the first time.
In the previous corresponding period, Lihir recorded a net profit of US$ 184 million.
It booked earnings from its mine of US$ 634 million, which was up 63% from the previous corresponding period. In the 2008 fiscal year, it announced earnings of only US$ 389 million.
However, Lihir also recorded a hit of $US 234 million due to impairments from its Ballarat operations.
Lihir has previously announced its intention to sell the Ballarat operations sometime early this year, after making a loss on the project which it bought for US$ 440 million three years ago.
The majority of revenues were generated from Lihir’s Papuan New Guinea assets which produced US$ 487 million.
The company has predicted an increase in capital expenditure for next year, rising from US$ 374 million in 2009 up to a forecast US$ 640 million for 2010.
Last month saw the miner also announce that chief executive officer Arthur Hood would be stepping down from his position and the company would begin a search for a replacement.
Lihir yesterday announced concern over its West African assets following civil unrest in the Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast).
It is something we are keeping a very close eye on but will not change to the way that we conduct business, acting chief executive Phil Baker stated.
