Ecora Resources saw royalty income rise by 11% to US$19.5 million its latest quarter driven by a return to metallurgical coal mining on its Kestrel asset in Australia.
Marc Bishop Lafleche, chief executive, commented: "The portfolio performed in line with expectation, production at Kestrel returned to our private royalty area driving a 117% increase in portfolio contribution compared to the fourth quarter of 2023 (US$19.5m vs US$9m).
“Mining at Kestrel is expected to remain within the bounds of our royalty area throughout the quarter which should underpin a strong first half.
"We are keeping a close eye on the progress of the ramp-up at Voisey's Bay, the publication of the Santo Domingo Feasibility Study and the development plan for the West Musgrave nickel-copper project."
Kestrel’s contribution rose by 314% to UIS$14.5mln. Excluding Kestrel, the contributions from the core portfolio were US$3.8 million (US$4.8 million) plus dividends of US$0.5 million (US$0.6 million).
Ecora added that production volumes within the group's private royalty land at Kestrel totalled 660,000 tonnes, with full-year guidance unchanged at a 15-25% increase from 2023 weighted toward the first half.
Two cobalt deliveries were made from Voisey's Bay (cobalt) during the period at an average realised sales price of $16.0/lb and guidance here also remains unchanged at 12-16 deliveries of cobalt.
Elsewhere, BHP has stated that the results of a review into the potential phasing and capital spending for the West Musgrave development project will be announced in August 2024, while Capstone Copper is scheduled to release the updated Santo Domingo Feasibility Study during the first half of 2024.
Net debt on 31 March was US$87 million.