The CEO of Aim-listed mining services group Goldplat, Werner Klingenberg, has applauded the work undertaken at its gold recovery operations in South Africa and Ghana during the quarter ended December 31 – the second quarter of the company's 2025 financial year.

"In Ghana, the team continued its implementation and management of several new processes and procedures to focus the business on local beneficiation and manage engagement with authorities with regard to new changes and requirements. 

"In South Africa, we continue streamlining the operations to respond to lower visibility of supply of material," he comments.

Goldplat's South African and Ghanaian operations achieved a combined operating profit of £1.17-million for the quarter and £2.5-million for the first half of the financial year.

This compares with an operating profit of £1.51-million for the second quarter and £3.37-million for the first half of the 2024 financial year.

The Ghanaian operation achieved a profit before tax of £555 000 for the second quarter, compared with £1.19-million for the prior comparable period.

Goldplat points out that, during December, the operations of the Precious Metals Marketing Company (PMMC), which, by law, manages the export of doré gold bars, was disrupted by "an outside mob". 

"Subsequent to this, the PMMC delayed the export of doré bars for certain producers of material until they felt more comfortable with their security position. It has since been resolved. This resulted in doré bars produced during the latter half of December in Ghana only being exported in January which had an impact on revenue of about £2-million in December," it notes.

The South African operation, meanwhile, swung to a profit before tax of £279 000 for the second quarter, compared with a loss of £476 000 in the prior comparable period, on the back of stable production, improved cost management and an increasing gold price.

Production in South Africa remained stable during the second quarter.

Goldplat notes that it continues to focus on the work required to begin processing its old tailings storage facility (TSF), which has a resource of 81 959 oz.

The processing of the old TSF remains dependent on the approval of a water-use licence by local authorities and approval from third parties in certain areas for the installation of a pipeline to a DRDGOLD processing facility. 

"We also still need to agree commercials terms with DRDGOLD based on testwork and analysis which is ongoing. During the second quarter, there have been several engagements with all parties involved and good progress has been made, with the aim of getting all approvals completed by June," the company says. 

It points out that, even at a higher gold price, it is uneconomical to process the old TSF through Goldplat's existing infrastructure.

In Ghana, Goldplat expects to invest a further £250 000 over the next six months to increase the capacity of its plant to recover gold from concentrate.

It has also invested £900 000 on the planned capacity expansion project in the first half of the financial year.

"There is still significant work to be completed but all our efforts will create a more robust business providing a niche solution to the industry it operates in.

"The focus remains to reduce inventory levels in Ghana, while increasing cash on hand; improve the local beneficiation solution in Ghana to ensure consistent margins; progress the approval of the TSF pipeline; continue cost management efforts in South Africa; and increase market share in South Africa," Klingenberg comments.

He adds that activity in South America is also encouraging.

During the second quarter, all necessary approvals were received to finalise the acquisition of land in João Pinheiro, Brazil, to the value of £72 000.

"We plan to spend £200 000 during the next 6 to 12 months to install spiral and other basic equipment to assist in cleaning and upgrading the material we source in South America," the company points out.