JSE-listed Harmony Gold Mining Company confirms that it experienced a “landmark” 2025 financial year, which ends on June 30, underpinned by exceptional operating free cash flows and higher recovered grades.

The company is poised to meet its production, grade and cost guidance for the year, CEO Beyers Nel confirms in a pre-year-end shareholder update issued on June 23.

Total production for the group is expected to meet the guidance range of between 1.4-million and 1.5-million ounces of gold, while all-in sustaining costs will range between the guided R1.02-million and R1.1-million a kilogram.

Underground recovered grades will be higher than the guided 6 g/t and capital expenditure for the year will be slightly lower than the initially expected R10.8-billion.

Nel says the company has a firm grip on its costs, which are mostly rand-based and include labour, consumables and electricity. Harmony continues to benefit from a high rand-per-kilogramme gold price and maintains a high level of certainty on its planning parameters.

Harmony has met or exceeded its guidance metrics for the past ten consecutive financial years, with its share price having hit an all-time high of R26.80 apiece on the JSE on June 10.

The company paid a record interim dividend of R1.4-billion for the six months ended December 31, 2024.

Meanwhile, Harmony is in the process of potentially acquiring MAC Copper, in New South Wales, Australia, which, if concluded, will add 40 000 t/y of copper production to the group’s portfolio and increase free cash flow generation.

“Over the past three years, Harmony has transformed into a geographically diversified specialist mining company with a compelling gold and copper story.

“We continue creating meaningful value for our stakeholders through safe, profitable ounces and improving margins by delivering on our strategic objectives,” Nel states.

He adds this has only been possible through an embedded approach to sustainability, disciplined and responsible capital allocation and consistent, predictable production underpinned by operational excellence, which enabled Harmony to improve the quality of its portfolio, extend the life of its mines and deliver stellar cash flow generation.

Harmony continues to allocate most of its project capital to higher-grade, higher-quality and lower-risk assets, which includes extension projects at the Papua New Guinea-based Hidden Valley mine, as well as the South Africa-based Moab Khotsong and Mponeng mines.

The company is also finalising a feasibility study on the Eva Copper project, in Australia, and will provide an update on its outcome when the financial results for the 2025 financial year are released in August.