Since March, gold has deviated from the US dollar index and has been "soaring", and the increase in gold futures prices at home and abroad has been close to that of the whole of 2023. As of April 15, the price of the New York Gold Principal Futures Contract was $2,374.9 per ounce, up 15.66% from March 1; The main force of domestic Shanghai gold futures was 563.16 yuan/g, up 16.88%. Analysts point out that gold, driven by geopolitical tensions, has become the preferred safe haven for investors.
In the domestic A-share market, gold-related listed companies are also expected to usher in the "gold first quarterly report". On the evening of April 16, Yulong Co., Ltd. (601028), a subsidiary of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of Jinan High-tech Zone, disclosed its 2023 annual report and 2024 first quarter report. The company will achieve operating income of 2.424 billion yuan in 2023; The net profit attributable to the parent company was 445 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 52.90%. In the first quarter of 2024, the company achieved a total operating income of 380 million yuan and a net profit attributable to the parent company of 106 million yuan; Among them, the gold mining and dressing business further released a strong momentum, achieving an operating income of 354 million yuan, an increase of 6.09% over the same period last year; The net profit was 131 million yuan, an increase of 28.04% over the same period last year.
According to the annual report data, the company's gold mining business is growing gratifyingly, with the gold and precious metals business achieving revenue of 1.261 billion yuan in 2023, accounting for 52.01% of the revenue, and the net profit attributable to the parent company of 396 million yuan, accounting for 88.88% of the company's net profit attributable to the parent company. Among them, the Pajingo gold mine will produce 91,500 ounces (2.85 tons) of gold in 2023, setting a new record for the mining area in the past 15 years. In 2022 and 2023, NQM, the parent company of Parkingo Gold Mine, achieved a cumulative net profit of A$156 million, completing 134.68% of the three-year performance commitment, exceeding the performance VAM target one year ahead of schedule.
During the reporting period, the company's gold business started strongly, the new energy and new materials business was poised for breakthroughs, relying on the "two-wheel drive" model built by gold mining and new energy materials and minerals to accelerate the release of new qualitative kinetic energy, the company is steadily entering a new period of development, the gold production, cost control and profitability of Pajingo gold mine have reached the best in recent years, and the basic market of high-quality development is more stable; Acquired vanadium mines, participated in graphite mines and silica mines, and gathered potential energy for breakthroughs in the new energy and new materials business.
Specifically, as of June 30, 2023, the Parkingo Gold Mine contained 2.021 million ounces (62.86 tonnes) of JORC-compliant gold, an increase of 315,000 ounces (9.80 tonnes) from the same period last year. At the same time, a professional exploration company Auspin has been established to undertake geological research and drilling business in the Parkingo mining area, so as to professionally improve the exploration and reserve capacity and continue to improve the resource guarantee capacity.
In the new energy and new materials business, Yulong Co., Ltd. has successively acquired vanadium mines, participated in graphite mines and silica mines to build up resource advantages, such as acquiring 67% of the equity of Shaanxi Shanjin in cash, and obtaining the mining rights of Loufanggou vanadium mine project in Shangnan County, Shaanxi Province, with a vanadium pentoxide resource of 499,900 tons and an annual output of 5,000 tons of vanadium pentoxide, which is expected to be put into operation in 2025; In addition, the company participated in the Liaoyang Shuangli silica project to control 16.501 million tons of ore resources.
According to the disclosure, during the reporting period, the company's Shaanxi vanadium mine tracked and grasped the policy trends in a timely manner, paid close attention to the implementation of the strategy, accelerated the handling of warrants and engineering construction, and laid the foundation for project construction. Up to now, the vanadium ore project has completed the approval and approval of the Provincial Development and Reform Commission for mining projects, and the filing and approval of the Municipal Development and Reform Bureau for mineral processing projects; The "two-for-one" index transfer agreement for tailings pond was signed, the preparation and reporting of the "Shiliping Vanadium Science and Technology Industrial Park Master Plan" was completed, and the land use index of 205 acres within the urban construction boundary was obtained; The construction of the supplementary exploration 1020 square meters has been completed with a footage of 507m, and the construction of the vanadium mine project is progressing in an orderly manner.
At the same time, the company found that the ore body was not disclosed in the original geological exploration report during the construction of 1020 square meters of supplementary exploration of the Loufanggou vanadium mine project in Shaanxi, and the No. II ore body in the exploration report was extended after research and analysis, and the length of the No. II ore body increased from 250 meters to about 550 meters. The preliminary resource estimate of the newly discovered vanadium ore body in Loufanggou vanadium mine in Shaanxi Province is 151,600 tons of vanadium pentoxide metal resources, and the total vanadium pentoxide metal resources have increased from the original 499,900 tons to 651,500 tons, an increase of 30.33%.
It is worth noting that in recent years, Yulong has actively promoted the clean-up and withdrawal of bulk trade in non-core main businesses, and deeply implemented industrial transformation. As the commodity trading business is susceptible to global supply and demand, forward transactions and other macro-political and economic factors, market supply, demand and prices will fluctuate greatly, which may adversely affect the Company's sound operation. In this context, Yulong Co., Ltd. accelerates the disposal of bulk trade business, concentrates resources to expand the mining business with stronger profitability and better business stability, expands internal and external purchases, and increases long, so as to build an industrial structure that focuses on core mining, has guaranteed profitability and develops sustainably.
Based on becoming a high-growth international mining company with a global vision, advanced management, flexible mechanism, significant benefits and cultural compatibility, on the basis of effectively safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of small and medium-sized shareholders and taking into account the growth and development of the company, the company plans to distribute a cash dividend of 0.5 yuan (tax included) to all shareholders for every 10 shares in 2023, with a total cash dividend of 38.8964 million yuan (tax included) , plus the 9.9918 million yuan paid for the repurchase of shares through centralized bidding, the company's cash dividends in 2023 totaled 48.8881 million yuan, accounting for 10.97% of the net profit attributable to the parent company in the consolidated statement in 2023.
Entering 2024, gold prices will continue to perform well, investment in gold mining will continue to grow, and the industry's prosperity will remain high. The new energy industry is also ushering in unprecedented development opportunities, and the demand for vanadium products is rising rapidly. Under the continuous high prosperity of the industry, Yulong shares will also enter a new stage of strategic upgrading of diversified development.
While continuously building barriers to the high-quality resource reserve industry, Yulong Co., Ltd. said that it will strengthen its core competitiveness with lean and efficient cost control, and will firmly focus on the "two-wheel drive" strategy of gold and precious metals and new energy and new material minerals in the future, seize market opportunities, and build the company into a high-growth international gold mining company through drastic reforms.