Kinross (KGC) Declares New Collective Labor Deal At Tasiast

Kinross Gold Corporation (NYSE:KGC) said that it has reached a three-year collective labor agreement (CLA) with unionized employees at its Tasiast mine in Mauritania.

As stated earlier in its second-quarter 2016 earnings release, Kinross and the Government of Mauritania have agreed to a "Mauritanization" plan to increase the number of local workers at Tasiast, a requirement under Mauritanian law. Kinross resolved the expatriate work-permit issue with the Government of Mauritania and resumed normal operations at Tasiast in Aug 2016. The new CLA and Mauritanization plan underscore the strong partnership that Kinross has developed with the Government of Mauritania as well as its employees.

Kinross’s shares rose 1.4% to close at $3.63 on Oct 5.

During second-quarter 2016, Kinross reported a net loss of $25 million or 2 cents per share, narrower than a net loss of $83.2 million or 7 cents per share in the year-ago quarter. The loss was mainly due to a $69.4 million tax expense.

Adjusted loss (excluding one-time items) was $9.8 million or a penny per share, compared with adjusted loss of $13.6 million or a penny per share recorded in the year-ago quarter. Analysts polled by Zacks were expecting earnings of a penny per share on an average.

Revenues of $876.4 million in the quarter surged around 16% from $755.2 million in the year-ago quarter mainly due to increases in gold equivalent ounces sold and the average realized gold price. Revenues also surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $862 million.

For 2016, Kinross has reaffirmed its previously-outlined production guidance. The company anticipates producing about 2.7–2.9 million gold equivalent ounces this year. The overall production cost of sales is expected to be in the range of $675–$735 per gold equivalent ounce while all-in sustaining cost (AISC) is estimated to be $890–$990 per gold equivalent ounce.

Kinross currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Stocks to Consider

Some better-ranked companies in the mining space include AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. (NYSE:AU) , New Gold Inc. (TO:NGD) and Barrick Gold Corporation (NYSE:ABX) all sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

AngloGold Ashanti has an expected earnings growth of 368% for the current year.

New Gold has an expected earnings growth of 491.7% for the current year.
Barrick has an expected earnings growth of 118.8% for the current year.

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