Friday 24 May 2013

Orvana Minerals sees company insiders buy up stock, including chief


Members of Orvana Minerals (TSE:ORV) management and board of directors have been buying up the company's shares recently, showing confidence in a miner that just this month announced second fiscal quarter results that reflected strong copper and gold production at its Spanish mine. 
According to filings on Thursday, board director Audra Walsh, who worked previously as a senior manager at Barrick Gold(TSE:ABX), bought up a total of 38,900 shares on May 21 at prices ranging from 50 cents per share to as high as 53.2 cents. 
This transaction was followed a day later by interim CEO Michael Winship's purchase, which saw the acquisition of 60,000 Orvana shares at a price of 53 cents each, for a total of $31,800. 
Shares of Orvana are trading at 55 cents currently, up almost 2 per cent on Friday. 
For the three months to March 31, the company swung to a net profit of US$6.5 million, or 5 cents per share, compared to a loss of US$8.0 million, or a loss of 6 cents per share, in the year-earlier period. 
Operating cash flows, a key metric in the industry, rose to $14.0 million from a loss of $5.6 million in the same quarter a year ago. Before changes in non-cash working capital, cash flows came in at $10.6 million. 
Revenue surged 42 per cent to $44.3 million from $31.2 million a year earlier. 
Production in the quarter totalled 18,144 ounces of gold, 3.9 million pounds of copper and 191,374 ounces of silver. Output of all three metals was up significantly from the figures a year ago, consisting of 12,755 ounces of gold, 3.0 million pounds of copper and 115,282 ounces of silver. 
"The second quarter of 2013 highlights our focus on stabilizing and optimizing operations," said Winship in a statement earlier this month of the company, which operates the EVBC mine in Spain, the UMZ mine in Bolivia and is developing the Copperwood project in Michigan.
"We had record production numbers at our EVBC Mine and we will continue to implement changes to further improve our performance."
Production rose at EVBC as it realized the benefit of a new hoisting and shaft system, but mining costs also climbed. 
The company said earlier this month that it continues to strengthen its balance sheet by paying down debt, and focusing on driving down units costs, adding that reviews have been started to reduce both capital and operating costs. 
Orvana spent $8.8 million in capital expenditures in the latest quarter, with $1.2 million of that going toward the development of its Cooperwood project in Michigan, US, where it recieved the last major permit necessary for the mine in February this year.

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