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CEY Centamin Plc

125.50
-4.20 (-3.24%)
Last Updated: 13:47:58
Delayed by 15 minutes
Share Name Share Symbol Market Type Share ISIN Share Description
Centamin Plc LSE:CEY London Ordinary Share JE00B5TT1872 ORD NPV (DI)
  Price Change % Change Share Price Bid Price Offer Price High Price Low Price Open Price Shares Traded Last Trade
  -4.20 -3.24% 125.50 125.60 126.00 129.50 120.90 129.50 5,967,485 13:47:58
Industry Sector Turnover Profit EPS - Basic PE Ratio Market Cap
Metal Mining Services 891.26M 92.28M 0.0797 15.67 1.45B

Centamin PLC Q3 financial results to 30 September 2017 (3294V)

02/11/2017 7:00am

UK Regulatory


TIDMCEY

RNS Number : 3294V

Centamin PLC

02 November 2017

 
 For immediate release   2 November 2017 
 

Centamin plc ("Centamin" or "the Company")

(LSE:CEY, TSX:CEE)

Centamin plc Results for the Third Quarter and Nine Months Ended 30 September 2017

Centamin plc ("Centamin", the "Group" or "the Company") (LSE: CEY, TSX: CEE) is pleased to announce its results for the third quarter and nine months ended 30 September 2017.

Q3 2017 Operational Highlights (1),(2)

-- Record quarterly gold production of 156,533 ounces was a 26% increase on Q2 2017 and 5% higher than Q3 2016.

-- Q3 2017 cash cost of production and all-in sustaining costs (AISC) remain well controlled resulting in unit cash cost of production of US$483 per ounce produced and unit AISC of US$732 per ounce sold.

-- Full year 2017 guidance maintained at 540,000 ounces, with US$580 per ounce cash cost of production and US$790 per ounce AISC.

-- Quarterly throughput of 3.0 million tonnes from Sukari process plant, a slight decrease of 2% on Q2 2017 and an increase of 7% on Q3 2016 performance.

-- Amun / Ptah underground operations delivered 302kt at a grade of 7.98g/t to the ROM pad with mill feed from underground of 305kt at 8.07g/t during the period.

   --       Third successive record quarterly open-pit material movement of 18.6 million tonnes. 

-- Continued positive results from underground exploration drilling at Sukari at both Amun / Ptah and Cleopatra and further encouraging drill results received from Côte d'Ivoire.

-- Development of the Cleopatra exploration decline, located in the north-east of Sukari Hill, advanced 153 metres.

Financial Highlights (1),(2)

-- Q3 2017 EBITDA of US$103.6 million up 57% from Q2 2017 due to an increase in both sales volumes and average realised gold price.

-- Strong cash flow generation with free cash flow generation of US$45 million in the third quarter, US$96 million year to date.

-- Cash at bank, bullion on hand, gold sales receivable and available-for-sale financial assets as at 30 September 2017 of US$345.8 million, following an interim dividend payment of US$29.0 million.

-- The Egyptian state has benefitted directly from profit share payments to EMRA of US$76.6 million during the first nine months of 2017 in addition to US$14.5 million in royalties.

-- Quarterly basic earnings per share (after profit share) of 3.41 US cents, an increase from 1.10 US cents in Q2 2017, due primarily to higher EBITDA offset by higher profit share payments.

 
                                                Q3 2017   Q2 2017   Q3 2016 
--------------------------------  -----------  --------  --------  -------- 
 Gold produced                       ounces     156,533   124,641   148,674 
 Gold sold                           ounces     150,273   120,912   150,201 
 Cash cost of production           US$/ounce        483       609       466 
 AISC                              US$/ounce        732       829       644 
 Average realised gold 
  price                            US$/ounce      1,283     1,249     1,335 
--------------------------------  -----------  --------  --------  -------- 
 Revenue                            US$'000     193,092   151,282   200,845 
 EBITDA                             US$'000     103,598    65,958   122,032 
 Profit before tax                  US$'000      75,446    37,819    93,716 
 EPS (before profit share)          US cents       6.47      3.18      8.11 
 EPS (after profit share)           US cents       3.41      1.10      5.62 
 Cash generated from operations     US$'000     109,471    77,582   139,822 
 Free cash flow                     US$'000      45,213    31,104   105,443 
--------------------------------  -----------  --------  --------  -------- 
 

(1) Cash cost of production, AISC, EBITDA, free cash flow and cash, bullion on hand, gold sales receivables and available-for-sale financial assets are non-GAAP measures and are defined at the end of the Financial Statements. AISC is defined by the World Gold Council, the details of which can be found at www.gold.org.

(2) Basic EPS, EBITDA, AISC, cash cost of production reflects a provision against prepayments, recorded since Q4 2012, to reflect the removal of fuel subsidies which occurred in January 2012 (see Note 6 of the financial statements).

Andrew Pardey, CEO, commented: "Sukari enjoyed an excellent quarter with all parts of the mine continuing to perform well. Open pit mining rates reached another record, with ore production from high grade areas allowing a significant increase in open pit plant feed grade. The underground operations delivered another quarter of good grades at an annualised 1.2 million tonne rate and the process plant again achieved a quarterly throughput of approximately 3 million tonnes. The resulting increase in overall plant feed grade led to record quarterly gold production. Mine production costs increased slightly on Q2 due to higher mining rates and higher reagent usage, but remain well controlled. As a result, Centamin generated cash flow from operating activities of US$109.2 million and recorded free cash flow of US$45.2 million, or US cents 3.9 per share, for the quarter."

Centamin will host a conference call on Thursday 2(nd) November 2017 at 9.00am (London, UK time) to update investors and analysts on its results. Participants may join the call by dialling one of the following three numbers, approximately 10 minutes before the start of the call.

   UK Toll Free:                                          0808 237 0040 
   International Toll number:                +44 20 3428 1542 
   Participant code:                                 21451666# 

A recording of the call will be available four hours after the completion of the call on:

   UK Toll Free:                                         0808 237 0026 
   International Toll number:                +44 20 3426 2807 
   Playback Code:                                    692951# 

Via audio link at http://www.centamin.com/media/press-releases/2017

For more information, please contact:

 
 
   Centamin plc                               Buchanan 
   Andrew Pardey, Chief Executive Officer     Bobby Morse 
   Jonathan Stephens, Chief Development       Chris Judd 
   Officer                                    Patrick Hanrahan 
   (info@centamin.com) +44 (0) 1534           + 44 (0) 20 7466 5000 
   828700 
 

________________________________

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER'S REPORT

Third quarter gold production from Sukari of 156,533 ounces was a 26% increase on Q2 2017, mainly driven by a 26% increase in the average processed grade and a 2% increase in average recovery rates, offset by a 2% decrease in ore processed.

Higher head grades were delivered from the open pit and grades delivered from underground were in line with the respective mine plans. During the third quarter, mining in the open pit continued in the higher grade areas of stage 3B, which provided open pit mill feed. In addition, mining targeted the northern section of stage 4, which will provide continuity of mill feed once stage 3B is completed.

The open pit delivered record quarterly total material movement of 18,602kt, a 6% increase on the previous quarter, with 4,825kt of ore, an increase of 58% on the previous quarter. This included 1,222kt @ 0.29g/t delivered to the dump leach pads. The average head grade to the plant from the open pit was 1.11g/t, up 37% from Q2 2017.

The underground mine delivered 302kt of ore, a 3% increase on Q2 2017 and an annualised rate of just over 1.2Mtpa, at a grade of 7.98g/t.

Processing rates were 2% lower than the prior quarter at 3.0 million tonnes, an annualised rate of above the target 11.75Mtpa forecast rate for 2017. Recoveries of 88.3% were below our forecast average of 89.5% for the full year but improved from the 86.7% achieved in Q2 2017. A strong focus on improving overall metallurgical recoveries while processing higher tonnes through the plant is continuing. A number of initiatives to improve recoveries were progressed in Q3 and should see improved recoveries in Q4 as the projects are completed.

Sukari will install a fourth secondary crusher during the fourth quarter, addressing an identified bottleneck in the comminution circuit and having the potential to allow processing rates above the 12 million tonnes per annum currently being achieved.

Mine production costs increased by 6% over Q2 2017 to US$ 80.7 million largely as a result of higher mining rates in the open pit and higher reagent costs in the process plant. Allowing for movement in inventory charges, total cash cost of production decreased by 0.4% compared to Q2 2017 and, with higher gold production, unit cash cost of production decreased by US$126 per ounce to US$483 per ounce produced.

Total all-in sustaining costs excluding movement in inventory adjustments increased by US$12.2 million during Q3 2017 compared to Q2 2017 due primarily to the higher mine production costs and increased sustaining capital expenditure for the open pit mining fleet midlife and full life rebuilds as well as underground development. Including movement in inventory adjustments, all-in sustaining costs increased by US$9.8 million to US$109.9 million. Together with a 24% increase in volume of gold sold compared to Q2 2017, this resulted in a US$97 per ounce decrease in AISC to US$732 per ounce sold.

Revenues were 28% higher than the previous quarter, due to a 24% increase in gold sales volumes and a 3% rise in realised gold prices. The increase in revenue and decrease in production costs after movements in inventory lead to an increase in EBITDA to US$103.6 million which was 57% higher than in Q2 2017.

Centamin's balance sheet ended the period with US$345.8 million of cash, bullion on hand, gold sales receivable and available-for-sale financial assets. This marked an increase of US$12.2 million since 30 June 2017 with the interim dividend of US$29.0 million being paid during the quarter. Centamin remains debt-free and committed to its policy of being 100% exposed to the gold price through its un-hedged position.

There were two lost time injuries in Q3 2017, with a LTIFR of 0.29. No lost time injuries were recorded in Q2 2017. We continue to review and address training requirements to ensure we achieve our long term target of zero LTIs on a consistent basis.

We maintain our full year production forecast of 540,000 ounces at a cash cost of production of US$580 per ounce and AISC of US$790 per ounce sold. Productivity rates in the open pit, underground and process plant achieved during Q3 2017 demonstrate the potential for Sukari to grow production from existing operations.

As a result of the significant cash generation from Sukari, profit share was US$35.4m for the quarter, with advance distributions to EMRA totalling US$76.6m during the nine months to 30 September 2017. Both EMRA and our subsidiary, Pharaoh Gold Mines ("PGM") will continue to benefit from advance distributions of profit share on a proportionate basis, in accordance with the terms of the Concession Agreement. Profit share payments will be reconciled in full, in consultation with EMRA, against Sukari Gold Mining Company's ("SGM") audited June 2018 financial statements, which will be the second year that profit share payments have been paid.

An updated reserve and resource statement for Sukari is in the process of being finalised and will be released during Q4 2017. Beyond current resources, further support for the longer-term potential and the sustainability of high-grade underground production at Sukari continues to be provided by results from on-going exploration drilling, as highlighted in the following pages of this report.

During August 2016 we began development of a new exploration decline within the north-eastern Cleopatra zone of Sukari Hill. The initial phase of development was focused on the establishment of drill platforms from which to conduct detailed exploration. Development of 153m during the third quarter produced 12,896 tonnes of mineralised development ore, at an average grade of 1.40g/t.

Drilling to date has been encouraging and has confirmed and defined the geometry of the high-grade zones on the eastern contact of the porphyry. Drill testing of the western contact of the porphyry commenced during Q2 2017 and results remain outstanding. As was the case with the Amun and Ptah declines, the initial Cleopatra project is being developed with infrastructure capable of supporting mining rates of up to 1 million tonnes per annum from this area. Ultimate production rates will depend on future results from the programme and further development, and would be in addition to the current underground ore production from the Amun and Ptah declines.

During the quarter, exploration activities in Côte d'Ivoire focused on the Kalamon, Danoa, Gogo and Tehini 1 permits which are within the Doropo Project (where we previously announced the 0.3Moz Indicated 1.0Moz inferred resource, see the 31 December 2016 annual report for more information), as well as the Kona permit which is within the ABC project. A total of 108 drill holes were completed for a combined total of 14,578 metres, 13,896 m RC and 682m DD core. The bulk of the resource metres were focused on the development of the Souwa-Nokpa-Chegue (SNC) trend. A number of new proximal resource targets were identified in Q2 2017 which are scheduled for resource in-fill in Q4 2017.

During the quarter, exploration in Burkina Faso continued to focus on anomaly development and extension proximal to the main resource areas within the Napelepera, Konkera, Kpere Batie and Tonior permits. Focus has been on the generation of new air core and RC targets for Q4 2017 and 2018-H2 resource growth delivery.

There were no developments during the quarter in the two litigation actions, the Diesel Fuel Oil and Concession Agreement, which are described in further detail in Note 8 to the financial statements.

OPERATIONAL REVIEW

Sukari Gold Mine:

 
                                    Q3 2017  Q2 2017          Q3 2016 
----------------------------------  -------  -------  --------------- 
OPEN PIT MINING 
Ore mined (1) ('000t)                 4,825    3,060            2,936 
Ore grade mined (Au g/t)               0.76     0.76             1.06 
Ore grade milled (Au g/t)              1.11     0.81             1.14 
Total material mined ('000t)         18,602   17,493           16,191 
Strip ratio (waste/ore)                2.86     4.72             4.51 
----------------------------------  -------  -------  --------------- 
UNDERGROUND MINING 
Ore mined from development 
 ('000t)                                113      119              103 
Ore mined from stopes ('000t)           189      174              153 
Ore grade mined (Au g/t)               7.98     8.79             8.97 
----------------------------------  -------  -------  --------------- 
Ore processed ('000t)                 2,996    3,056            2,806 
Head grade (g/t)                       1.82     1.44             1.83 
Gold recovery (%)                      88.3     86.7             89.7 
Gold produced - dump leach 
 (oz)                                 1,692    1,738            1,897 
Gold produced - total (2) (oz)      156,533  124,641          148,674 
Cash cost of production(3) 
 (4) (US$/oz)                           483      609              466 
               Open pit mining          180      234              163 
               Underground mining        33       41               38 
               Processing               244      296              222 
               G&A                       26       38               43 
AISC(3) (4) (US$/oz)                    732      829              644 
----------------------------------  -------  -------  --------------- 
Gold sold (oz)                      150,273  120,912          150,201 
Average realised sales price 
 (US$/oz)                             1,283    1,249            1,335 
----------------------------------  -------  -------  --------------- 
 

(1) Ore mined includes 1,222kt delivered to the dump leach pad in Q3 2017 (0kt in Q3 2016).

(2) Gold produced is gold poured and does not include gold-in-circuit at period end.

(3) Cash cost of production exclude royalties, exploration and corporate administration expenditure. Cash cost of production and AISC are non-GAAP financial performance measures with no standard meaning under GAAP. For further information and a detailed reconciliation, please see "Non-GAAP Financial Measures" section below.

(4) Cash cost of production and AISC reflect a provision against prepayments to reflect the removal of fuel subsidies which occurred in January 2012 (refer to Note 6 to the financial statements for further details).

Health and safety - Sukari

There were two lost time injuries in Q3 2017, with a 0.29 lost time injury (LTI) frequency rate per 200,000 man hours. This compares to zero LTIFR in Q2 2017 and 0.46 LTIFR for Q3 2016. A total of 1,376,081 man-hours were worked in Q3 2017 (1,290,907 in Q3 2016, 1,369,939 in Q2 2017). We continue to develop the health and safety culture onsite and address training requirements to ensure we achieve our long term target of zero LTIs on a consistent basis.

Open pit

The open pit delivered total material movement of 18,602kt for the quarter, an increase of 6% on Q2 2017 and a 15% increase on the prior year period. Improvements on fleet availability and utilisation drove the improvement. The waste to ore strip ratio was 2.86 compared with 4.72 in the previous quarter. Mining continued to focus on the Stage 3B and 4A (north) areas of the open pit.

Ore production from the open pit was 4,825kt at 0.76g/t. The head grade delivered to the process plant was 1.11 g/t. This was up 37% from Q2 2017. The run of mine ore stockpile balance increased by 904kt to 1,274kt at the end of the period.

Mining has progressed to the lower benches of stage 3B, with higher average grades, and upper portions of stage 4 of pit development. We continue to expect to mine higher grades from the open pit for the balance of 2017.

Underground mine

Ore production from the underground mine was 302kt for Q3 2017, above the forecast annualised rate of 1Mt. The ratio of stoping-to-development ore remained constant with 63% of ore from stoping 189kt and 37% of ore from development 113kt. Ore tonnages from stopes increased by 9% on Q2 2017.

The average mined grade was 7.98 g/t, comprising ore from stoping at 8.21 g/t and ore from development at 7.57 g/t.

Total development during the quarter, including the Ptah and Horus declines (lower Amun), was 1,705 metres. The Horus and Ptah declines continued towards accessing the lower Amun / Osiris zones and Ptah zone respectively. Development within mineralised areas of Amun accounted for 945 metres and took place between the 770 and 620 levels, 310 to 460 vertical meters below the underground portal. The Horus decline is approaching the take-off position for the 605 Amun level. Ptah development in mineralised porphyry totalled 518 metres on the P770 to P660 levels. Combined Amun and Ptah mineralised development ore achieved 112,790 tonnes at an average grade of 7.57g/t.

Work on the exhaust ventilation circuits for the Amun levels and Ptah declines progressed, ensuring sufficient ventilation as the decline continues to extend deeper into the orebody. The base of the exhaust system is developed to 620 level on the Amun side and 645 on the Ptah side.

A total of 1,795 metres of grade control diamond drilling were completed, aimed at short-term stope definition, drive direction optimisation and underground resource development. Positive results continue and support extensions of development drives and stoping blocks. A further 10,479 metres of drilling continued to test for extensions of the orebody at depth, below the current Amun zones and from the Cleopatra exploration drill cuddies targeting the main western and northern contacts and extension of the Cleopatra lodes to the east. Results are discussed in the exploration section.

Processing

Quarterly throughput at the Sukari process plant was 2,996kt. This is a 2% decrease on Q2 2017 and a 7% increase on the prior year period. Plant productivity of 1,430 tonnes per hour (tph) was a 5% decrease on Q2 2017 and a 0.1% decrease on the prior year period. During the quarter the SAG02 mill motor was replaced over a 24 hour period with the onsite spare motor. The replaced motor is currently being repaired in Cairo and is due back onsite in January 2017. An additional new motor has also been ordered and is expected onsite late in Q1 2018 to provide additional resilience in the future.

Plant metallurgical recovery at 88.3% was 2% higher compared to Q2 2017 at 86.7% and was 2% lower than the 89.7% achieved in the prior year period. A strong focus on improving overall metallurgical recoveries while processing increased tonnes through the plant is continuing. A second acid wash column was commissioned while several other projects are due for completion in Q4 2017. These include: the commissioning of the VisioFroth; an automated control monitoring system that aims to increase the floatation mass pull; an expansion of the elution circuit by installing a third elution column with supporting infrastructure and an extra electro winning cell, reducing the CIL tailings losses with improved carbon management and carbon monitoring techniques. The fourth secondary crusher installation is also progressing with installation expected to be completed late in Q4 2017.

The dump leach operation produced 1,692oz, 3% lower than Q2 2017 and 11% lower than the prior year period.

Exploration

Centamin's "explore to develop" strategy is focussed on defining, through the exploration process, the optimal path to development for projects which can provide material returns on shareholder capital. The Company aims to undertake systematic exploration programmes over large-area licence packages within geologically prospective regions and will only operate within stable jurisdictions offering a fiscally-attractive framework for mining investment. Development decisions are made on the basis that Centamin will take a self-performing, self-funding and staged approach to project construction and operation.

Sukari

Resource and reserve definition drilling on underground targets remains the focus of exploration at Sukari. Drilling during the quarter prioritised on the Amun decline drill platform from the 655RL, targeting the high grade structures at the intersection of the Osiris thrust and the top of Horus Porphyry in lower Amun. A further two underground mobile carrier rigs (MCR) were used for exploration work in Ptah (labelled PUD holes), Amun (UGD holes) and Cleopatra, (CUD holes) as grade control priorities allowed. Two LM90 rigs were drilling from drill platforms in the Cleopatra development, exploring for high grade mineralisation on the western and northern contacts of the porphyry. A total of 10,479m of exploration drilling was completed for the quarter.

Significant results received during the quarter from the underground drilling programmes in Amun and Ptah region are summarised as follows.

Amun Drill Intersections - with holes UGRSD0810 to UGRSD0813 intercepts highlighting the growing reserve potential within the Osiris Thrust proximal to the Horus Porphyry apex. The detailed 3D structural modelling of this high grade zone indicates the continuity is open up and down plunge of the current discovery. Drill targeting is on-going and significant results from Q3 include:

 
 Hole Number    From   Interval    Grade 
                (m)      (m)      (Au g/t) 
 UGRSD0810      103      4.0        31.9 
-------------  -----  ---------  --------- 
 UGRSD0812      212      4.1        8.5 
-------------  -----  ---------  --------- 
                255      3.0        7.0 
-------------  -----  ---------  --------- 
 UGRSD0813      199      6.9        8.8 
-------------  -----  ---------  --------- 
 UGD3524         10      4.0        70.1 
-------------  -----  ---------  --------- 
 UGD3510         32      4.1        71.8 
-------------  -----  ---------  --------- 
 

Ptah Drill Intersections - with drill hole UGRSD0577 intercepts in the "Ptah Keel" zone and UGRSD0135 and UGRS0829 intercepts highlighting the on-going resource growth consolidating the "Amun Ptah Gap". Significant results reported in Q3 include:

 
 Hole Number    level   Interval    Grade 
                (rl)      (m)      (Au g/t) 
 UGRSD0577        413       11.0        8.0 
-------------  ------  ---------  --------- 
                  370        8.9        9.1 
-------------  ------  ---------  --------- 
 UGRSD0123        839        1.8       86.8 
-------------  ------  ---------  --------- 
 UGRSD0139        837        5.0       11.8 
-------------  ------  ---------  --------- 
 
 PUD7523          655        4.0      116.6 
-------------  ------  ---------  --------- 
 PUD7526          682        8.0        7.8 
-------------  ------  ---------  --------- 
                  641        6.7        8.0 
-------------  ------  ---------  --------- 
 PUD7527          681        4.7       47.0 
-------------  ------  ---------  --------- 
 PUD7528          687       16.0        8.6 
-------------  ------  ---------  --------- 
 UGRSD0135        733        1.9      419.0 
-------------  ------  ---------  --------- 
                  652        3.3       71.5 
-------------  ------  ---------  --------- 
                  635        2.0      163.2 
-------------  ------  ---------  --------- 
                  628        2.0      163.7 
-------------  ------  ---------  --------- 
 UGRSD0829        653        4.0       82.1 
-------------  ------  ---------  --------- 
 

Cleopatra Exploration Decline

The existing underground operations at Sukari have demonstrated that the western contact zone between the main porphyry and the surrounding meta-sedimentary rock units is highly prospective for high-grade gold mineralisation. This contact has received limited drilling in the north western portion of Sukari Hill, where the porphyry is approximately three hundred metres wide and access for surface drill rigs is limited.

Historic high grades have been observed from limited surface drilling along the north-eastern flank of Sukari Hill, where an interpreted stacked set of three mineralised thrusts dip uniquely to the northwest, named north to south as Cleopatra, Julius and Antoine. Cleopatra outcrops as two distinct quartz veins within a broader mineralised shear which has been mined historically through small historical workings, visible on the north eastern flank of Sukari Hill. Julius and Antoine are repeated NW dipping thrust further south and above the main Ptah Buthinae Thrust. Drill targeting on the grade development and continuity of these three parallel, stacked gold thrusts as they interact with each other and the main Sukari porphyry contacts in the under explored north porphyry, embodies the Cleopatra Mine exploration strategy.

This project is designed to commence development along strike within the upper Cleopatra zone. In addition to providing geological information, exploration drilling will be carried out from this central drive. The project has been developed in two phases, with 1,370 metres of development and 96,422 tonnes of mined material movement in phase 1, which was completed during Q1 2017, and 1,210 metres of development and 69,467 tonnes of mined material in phase 2. US$7.2m has been spent on the initial project to date, before any credit for ore production.

Phase 2 continued during Q3 2017 with 406.5 metres of development and production of 29,902 tonnes of mineralised development ore, at an average grade of 2.26g/t. During the quarter a total of 12,896t of mineralised development ore from Cleopatra was fed to the process plant at an average grade of 1.40g/t.

A total of 6,735m of exploration drilling was completed from 1130mRL, in addition to 876 metres of shorter exploration drill holes utilising the MCR drill rig. Drilling to date has confirmed and defined the geometry of the high-grade zones on the eastern side of the porphyry.

Drill testing of the western contact of the porphyry was commenced during Q2, drilling to target the extension of Antoine zone near the western contact.

Selected results received during the third quarter from Cleopatra include the following, which are internal in the porphyry on the Cleopatra, Antoine and Julius structures:

 
 Hole Number    From   Interval    Grade 
                (m)      (m)      (Au g/t)   Rig 
 CRSD035          23        2.0        9.7   LM90 
-------------  -----  ---------  ---------  ----- 
 CRSD039         120        1.0        8.0   LM90 
-------------  -----  ---------  ---------  ----- 
 CUD061          1.6        3.6        8.2    MCR 
-------------  -----  ---------  ---------  ----- 
 CUD062         32.4       16.6        4.4    MCR 
-------------  -----  ---------  ---------  ----- 
 CUD067         15.5        0.9       18.5    MCR 
-------------  -----  ---------  ---------  ----- 
 CUD086          7.3        3.4        6.9    MCR 
-------------  -----  ---------  ---------  ----- 
 CUD088         19.2        2.5        5.2    MCR 
-------------  -----  ---------  ---------  ----- 
 CUD090            0        2.0        6.7    MCR 
-------------  -----  ---------  ---------  ----- 
 

Other prospects

Whilst exploration remains focused on Sukari Hill, there are seven other prospects that have been identified within the 160km(2) Sukari tenement area which are close enough such that ore could be trucked to the existing processing plant. No exploration drilling was completed on these prospects this quarter, however a thorough in-house prospectivity review has commenced with the objective of outlining new exploration plans for 2018.

Resource and Reserve

An updated reserve and resource statement for Sukari is in the process of being finalised and will be released during Q4 2017.

Côte d'Ivoire

Centamin has currently nine granted permits in Côte d'Ivoire, encompassing some 2,832 km(2) . Ten new permits covering a further 3,349 km(2) are also under application.

During the quarter, exploration activities focused on the Kalamon, Danoa, Gogo, Tehini 1 and Tehini 2 permits (within the Doropo Project), and on the Kona and Farako Nafana permits (within the ABC project).

Doropo Project

Generative exploration focussed on regional target generation on the newly granted permits of Gogo, Tehini 1 and Tehini 2, principally through systematic grid mapping, prospecting, soil sampling and auger drilling. Resource Discovery focused in Kalamon and Danoa permits expanding on the current Doropo resource cluster. Resource Development focused in Kalamon extending the main Nokpa. Souwa and Chegue South deposits.

A total of 108 drill holes were completed for a combined total of 14,578 metres, 13,896 m RC and 682m DD core. The bulk of the resource metres were focused on the development of the Souwa-Nokpa-Chegue (SNC) trend. A number of new proximal resource targets were identified in Q2 2017 which are scheduled for resource in-fill in Q4 2017.

Ten RC-DD drill holes were completed on Nokpa prospect, with assays currently pending for the majority of the drill holes, and extending significantly the mineralisation at depth (new targets tested in between 150 and 200 metres vertical depth). The structure appears to strengthen down-dip with the development of a significant dip-jog lode appearing.

The new Chegue South splay from the SNC, discovered during Q2 2017, has been drilled during Q3 2017 along 750 metres strike length. This is still open in both directions and to approximately 150 metres vertical depth. The mineralisation there is different from the other prospects with the fact that quartz veining is not as abundant. The gold mineralisation is associated to abundant disseminated pyrite within the sheared granite and the alteration mineral assemblage is silica-hematite dominant. The structure has a North-South orientation and dips towards the East. Further drilling planned during Q4 2017 will step back testing at depth and along strike.

Reconnaissance aircore (AC) drilling was temporarily suspended during the quarter to focus all efforts on resource growth delivery by year end.

The DD core metallurgical sampling program was completed and freighted to Perth in Q3. The program was designed to provide fresh material for comminution and diagnostic leach testing at AMMTEC PTY Ltd (Perth). A full suite of geotechnical hardness test work, logging and Rock Mass Classification will be completed on the main resource deposits in H2 2017. This data will feed into preliminary pit optimisation studies planned for Q1 2018.

Table of the significant RC intercepts reported from the Doropo drilling during the quarter:

 
              HoleID     Type    From   To (m)   Interval   Grade (Au 
 Prospect                         (m)               (m)        g/t) 
----------  ----------  ------  -----  -------  ---------  ---------- 
   Nokpa     DPRD1377     DD     146     162        17         3.0 
----------  ----------  ------  -----  -------  ---------  ---------- 
                                 182     189        7          1.5 
  ----------------------------  -----  -------  ---------  ---------- 
  DPRD1379           DD          112     139        27         1.2 
 ----------  -----------------  -----  -------  ---------  ---------- 
  DPRD1380           DD          231     234        3          8.3 
 ----------  -----------------  -----  -------  ---------  ---------- 
                                 246     254        8         13.2 
  ----------------------------  -----  -------  ---------  ---------- 
  Chegue     DPRC0736     RC      78      91        13         5.2 
----------  ----------  ------  -----  -------  ---------  ---------- 
  DPRC0740           RC          141     143        2         32.7 
 ----------  -----------------  -----  -------  ---------  ---------- 
  DPRC0741           RC           44      52        8          2.9 
 ----------  -----------------  -----  -------  ---------  ---------- 
  DPRC0742           RC           79      89        10         1.9 
 ----------  -----------------  -----  -------  ---------  ---------- 
  DPRC0743           RC          115     127        12         1.9 
 ----------  -----------------  -----  -------  ---------  ---------- 
  DPRC0744           RC          139     151        12         5.6 
 ----------  -----------------  -----  -------  ---------  ---------- 
  DPRC0745           RC          111     117        6          2.1 
 ----------  -----------------  -----  -------  ---------  ---------- 
                                 121     130        9          1.4 
  ----------------------------  -----  -------  ---------  ---------- 
  DPRC0747           RC           68      71        3          4.8 
 ----------  -----------------  -----  -------  ---------  ---------- 
  DPRC0750           RC           69      76        7          6.5 
 ----------  -----------------  -----  -------  ---------  ---------- 
  DPRC0754           RC          110     118        8          1.0 
 ----------  -----------------  -----  -------  ---------  ---------- 
                                 125     138        13         1.3 
  ----------------------------  -----  -------  ---------  ---------- 
  DPRC0757           RC          100     102        2         12.8 
 ----------  -----------------  -----  -------  ---------  ---------- 
  DPRC0758           RC          101     113        12         3.0 
 ----------  -----------------  -----  -------  ---------  ---------- 
  DPRC0764           RC          107     109        2          9.7 
 ----------  -----------------  -----  -------  ---------  ---------- 
  DPRC0770           RC           79      89        10         2.1 
 ----------  -----------------  -----  -------  ---------  ---------- 
  DPRC0773           RC           78      90        12         2.9 
 ----------  -----------------  -----  -------  ---------  ---------- 
  DPRC0774           RC          120     128        8          2.9 
 ----------  -----------------  -----  -------  ---------  ---------- 
  DPRC0776           RC           12      24        12         1.6 
 ----------  -----------------  -----  -------  ---------  ---------- 
  DPRC0783           RC           18      26        8          1.2 
 ----------  -----------------  -----  -------  ---------  ---------- 
                                  29      34        5          2.0 
  ----------------------------  -----  -------  ---------  ---------- 
  DPRC0789           RC           71      75        4          6.8 
 ----------  -----------------  -----  -------  ---------  ---------- 
                                  92      94        2          3.3 
  ----------------------------  -----  -------  ---------  ---------- 
 

ABC Project

A comprehensive mapping and grid rock chip sampling program was completed across the Lolosso Prospect on the Kona permit during Q2. Results to date demonstrate a coherent 12km x 200m anomalous trend. The mineralisation is hosted by fine grained volcano-sediments and felsic volcanics along a major structural contact.

The Lolosso GAIP survey was completed as planned in Q3. It covered the whole 12km strike length of the mineralised trend and successfully mapped the underlying structural architecture which we are actively targeting within our current October first-pass RC 5,000m program.

Burkina Faso

During the quarter, exploration in Burkina Faso continued to focus on anomaly development and extension proximal to the main resource areas within the Napelepera, Konkera, Kpere Batie and Tonior permits. Focus has been on the generation of new air core and RC targets for Q4 2017 and 2018-H2 resource growth delivery.

Two auger rigs drilled full-time completing a total of 2,371 holes, comprising 12,276 meters, generating 2,445 samples principally from the Napelepera West, Tonior NE and Granite contact prospects.

Q3 2017 results have confirmed and extended the new Tonior SE prospect with the gold anomaly hosting grades >20ppb extending over 3.6km linking into our Tonior Main prospects. The gradient array induced polarisation (GAIP) survey is 67% complete with 137.8 km of lines being completed in Q3. The GAIP survey has successfully mapped the subjacent structural architecture and clearly identified the new air core targets for October.

An air core drill program will commence in October focusing on the 3.6km trend of Tonior SE, Tonior Main, Napelepera West, Konkera FW and HW targets and Granite Contact trends.

RC and RC-DD drilling will recommence at Konkera FW, HW, Tonior SE and Tonior Main during Q4 and run concurrently to June 2018 targeting new aircore targets as they are discovered.

The Kpere Permit reconnaissance stream sediment survey was completed during the quarter. 49 samples were taken and ICPMS results are pending from ACME Vancouver.

Centamin currently holds 11 exploration permits and 1 exploitation permit, totalling some 1,428 km(2). A further 14 permits, representing a further 1,472 km(2), have been applied for and are awaiting approval.

The Konkera mining license renewal has been lodged which extends the permits validity for a further two years.

FINANCIAL REVIEW

In its eighth year of production, the Sukari Gold Mine is highly cash generative as reflected in the Group's financial results for the quarter ended 30 September 2017:

-- EBITDA of US$103.6 million down 15% from Q3 2016 due to a decrease in revenue and an increase in cost of sales.

-- Strong cash flow generation with US$45.2 million of free cash flow generated in Q3 2017, down 57% on the prior year period due largely to the impact of profit share.

-- Cash at bank, bullion on hand, gold sales receivable and available-for-sale financial assets as at 30 September 2017 of US$345.8 million.

-- Quarterly basic earnings per share (after profit share) of 3.41 US cents, a 39% decrease on Q3 2016 due lower revenues, higher cost of sales and the commencement of profit share payments.

-- The Egyptian state has benefitted directly from advance profit share payments to EMRA of US$76.6 million during the nine months ended 30 September 2017 (in line guidance for 2017) in addition to US$14.5 million in royalty payments for the same period.

Revenue

Revenue from gold and silver sales for the quarter decreased by 4% to US$193.1 million (US$200.9 million in Q3 2016), with a 4% decrease in the average realised gold sales price to US$1,283 per ounce (US$1,335 per ounce in Q3 2016) and a 0.1% increase in gold sold to 150,273 ounces (150,201 ounces in Q3 2016).

Cost of sales

Cost of sales represents the cost of mining, processing, refining, transport, site administration, depreciation, amortisation and movement in production inventories. Cost of sales is inclusive of US$12.2 million categorised as fuel pre-payments (refer to Note 6 of the financial statements for further information) and is up 7% compared with Q3 2016 to US$105.5 million, mainly as a result of a:

-- 6% increase in total mine production costs from US$76.1 million to US$80.7 million, due to a 15% increase in mined tonnes combined with a 7% increase in processed tonnes and an increase in unit costs mainly due to increased fuel and reagent costs; and

-- 3% increase in depreciation and amortisation charges from US$28.4 million to US$28.7 million as higher production physicals increased the associated amortisation charges.

Other operating costs

Other operating costs comprises expenditure incurred for communications, consultants, directors' fees, stock exchange listing fees, share registry fees, employee entitlements, general office administration expenses, the unwinding of the restoration and rehabilitation provision, foreign exchange movements and the 3% production royalty payable to the Egyptian government. Other operating costs increased by 46% on the prior year period to US$13 million, as a result of a:

-- US$1.8 million decrease in net foreign exchange movements from a US$1.3 million gain to a US$0.5 million loss;

-- US$0.2 million decrease in royalty paid to the government of the Arab Republic of Egypt in line with the decrease in gold sales revenue;

   --       US$0.5 million decrease in corporate costs; and 
   --       US$2.5 million stock obsolescence provision. 

Finance income

Finance income reported comprises interest revenue applicable on the Company's available cash and term deposit amounts. The movements in finance income are in line with the movements in the Company's available cash and term deposit amounts.

Profit before tax

As a result of the factors outlined above, the group recorded a profit before tax for the quarter ended 30 September 2017 of US$75.5 million (Q3 2016 US$93.7 million).

EMRA profit share

During the quarter ended 30 September 2017, US$35.4 million was paid to EMRA.

Profit share payments made to EMRA, pursuant to the provisions of the Concession Agreement, are recognised as a variable charge in the income statement (below profit after tax) of Centamin, resulting in a reduction in earnings per share. The profit share payments during the year will be reconciled against SGM's audited June 2017 and June 2018 financial statements. Any variation between payments made during the year (which are based on the Company's estimates) and the audited financial statements, may result in a balance due and payable to EMRA or advances to be offset against future distributions. SGM's June 2017 financial statements are currently being audited.

Earnings per share

Earnings per share of 6.47 US cents (before profit share) has decreased when compared with 8.11 US cents per share for Q3 2016. The decrease was driven by lower gross operating margins and higher operating costs as detailed above.

Earnings per share of 3.41 US cents (after profit share) has decreased when compared with 5.62 US cents per share for Q3 2016. The decrease was driven by the factors outlined above combined with a higher rate of profit share accrual which commenced during Q3 2016.

Financial position

Centamin has a strong and flexible financial position with no debt, no hedging and cash, bullion on hand, gold sales receivables and available-for-sale financial assets of US$345.8 million at 30 September 2017, down from US$416.9 million at 30 September 2016 following dividend payments of US$184.4 million during the intervening period.

 
                                 30 September   30 June   30 September 
                                         2017      2017           2016 
                                      US$'000   US$'000        US$'000 
 Cash at Bank                         313,003   296,980        388,352 
 Bullion on hand                       14,858    17,116         13,489 
 Gold sales receivable                 17,803    19,407         14,850 
 Available-for-sale-financial 
  assets                                  125       125            163 
                                -------------  --------  ------------- 
                                      345,789   333,628        416,854 
                                -------------  --------  ------------- 
 

The majority of funds have been invested in international rolling short-term interest money market deposits.

Current assets have decreased from Q4 2016 to Q3 2017 by US$110 million, or 20%, to US$454 million, as a result of a:

-- US$20.5 million decrease in inventory driven by a US$18.5 million decrease in collective stores inventory value to US$83.2 million and a US$1.4 million decrease in overall mining stockpiles and gold in circuit levels to US$32.9 million;

   --       US$3.9 million decrease in gold sale receivables; and 

-- decrease in net cash of US$86.9 million (net of foreign exchange movements) driven by a US$155.4 million final dividend payment to external shareholders for 2016, a US$29.0 million interim dividend payment to external shareholders for 2017 and a US$76.6 million payment to EMRA as profit share during the period.

Non-current assets have decreased from Q4 2016 to Q3 2017 by US$10.3 million to US$1,013 million, as a result of:

   --       US$50.6 million increase in expenditure for property, plant and equipment; 
   --       US$81.5 million charge for depreciation and amortisation; 

-- US$21.2 million increase in exploration and evaluation assets net of the US$2.6 million impairment, as a result of the drilling programmes in Sukari Hill, Burkina Faso and Côte d'Ivoire.

Current liabilities have decreased from Q4 2016 to Q3 2017 due to a US$3.6 million decrease in payables and accrual balances.

Non-current liabilities have increased from Q4 2016 to Q3 2017 by US$0.6 million to US$8.3 million as a result of an increase in the rehabilitation provision.

The value of share capital increased from Q4 2016 to Q3 2017 by US$1.3 million which can be attributed to the value of awards granted under the employee share plans for the period. There has been no change in the number issued shares over the same period.

Share option reserves reported have increased from Q4 2016 to Q3 2017 by US$0.5 million to US$3.5 million as a result of the forfeiture and vesting of awards and the resultant transfer to accumulated profits, offset by the recognition of the share-based payments expenses for the period.

Accumulated profits decreased from Q4 2016 to Q3 2017 by US$118.9 million as a result of:

   --       US$141.1 million profit for the period ; offset by a 

-- US$75.6 million profit share charge (decrease) to EMRA in the first nine months of the year; and

-- US$155.4 million final dividend payment (decrease) in respect of the year ended 31 December 2016; and a

-- US$29.0 million interim dividend payment to external shareholders in respect of the year to 31 December 2017.

Cashflow

Net cash flows generated by operating activities comprise receipts from gold and silver sales and interest income, offset by operating and corporate administration costs. Cash flows from operating activities decreased from Q3 2016 to Q3 2017 by US$30.4 million to US$109.5 million, primarily attributable to a decrease in revenue, due to a lower average realised price offset by a slight increase in gold sold ounces as well as an increase in costs.

Net cash flows used in investing activities comprise exploration expenditure and capital development expenditures including the acquisition of financial and mineral assets. Cash outflows have decreased by US$5.6 million from Q3 2016 to Q3 2017 to US$28.8 million. The primary use of the funds in the third quarter was for investment in underground development at the Sukari site in Egypt and exploration expenditures incurred in West Africa.

Net cash flows generated by financing activities comprise a US$35.4 million payment to EMRA as profit share and a 2017 interim dividend paid of US$29.0 million during the period.

Effects of exchange rate changes have decreased by US$1.4 million as a result of movements of some of the currencies used within the operation in the quarter.

Capital Expenditure

A breakdown of capital expenditure for the Group during Q3 2017 is as follows:

 
                                 US$ million 
 Underground exploration                 1.8 
 Underground mine development            8.3 
 Other sustaining capital 
  expenditure                           13.5 
 Total Sustaining Capex                 23.7 
 
 Cleopatra underground 
  mine development                       0.6 
 
 

Cumulative exploration expenditure for Cleopatra at Sukari is US$7.2 million project to date.

Q3 2017 Exploration Expenditure

A breakdown of exploration expenditure for the Group during Q3 2017 is as follows:

 
 Exploration Expenditure          US$ million 
 Burkina Faso                             1.4 
 Côte d'Ivoire                       4.0 
 Sukari Tenement                          2.5 
 Total Exploration Expenditure            7.9 
 

Exploration and evaluation assets - impairment considerations

As discussed in note 13 to the financial statements, in consideration of the requirements of IFRS 6, management is not aware of any information that would otherwise suggest that an impairment trigger has occurred which would require a full impairment test to be carried out at 30 September 2017.

NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES

Four non-GAAP financial measures are used in this report:

1) EBITDA: "EBITDA" is a non-GAAP financial measure, which excludes the following from profit before tax:

   --      Finance costs; 
   --      Finance income; and 
   --      Depreciation and amortisation. 

Management believes that EBITDA is a valuable indicator of the Group's ability to generate liquidity by producing operating cash flow to fund working capital needs and fund capital expenditures. EBITDA is also frequently used by investors and analysts for valuation purposes whereby EBITDA is multiplied by a factor or "EBITDA multiple" that is based on an observed or inferred relationship between EBITDA and market values to determine the approximate total enterprise value of a company. EBITDA is intended to provide additional information to investors and analysts and does not have any standardised definition under IFRS and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with IFRS. EBITDA excludes the impact of cash cost of production and income of financing activities and taxes, and therefore is not necessarily indicative of operating profit or cash flow from operations as determined under IFRS. Other companies may calculate EBITDA differently. The following table provides a reconciliation of EBITDA to profit for the year attributable to the Company.

Reconciliation of profit before tax to EBITDA:

 
                            Quarter         Quarter     Nine months     Nine months 
                              ended           ended           ended           ended 
                       30 September    30 September    30 September    30 September 
                            2017(1)         2016(1)         2017(1)         2016(1) 
                            US$'000         US$'000         US$'000         US$'000 
 Profit before 
  tax                        75,446          93,716         142,732         207,960 
 Finance income               (607)           (143)         (1,603)           (463) 
 Depreciation 
  and amortisation           28,759          28,460          81,485          83,626 
 
 EBITDA                     103,598         122,033         222,615         291,123 
                     --------------  --------------  --------------  -------------- 
 

(1) Profit before tax, Depreciation and amortisation and EBITDA includes a charge to reflect the removal of fuel subsidies (refer to Note 6).

2) Cash cost of production and all-in sustaining costs per ounce sold calculation: Cash cost of production and AISC are non-GAAP financial measures. Cash cost of production per ounce is a measure of the average cost of producing an ounce of gold, calculated by dividing the operating costs in a period by the total gold production over the same period. Operating costs represent total operating costs less administrative expenses, royalties, depreciation and amortisation. Management uses this measure internally to better assess performance trends for the Company as a whole. The Company believes that, in addition to conventional measures prepared in accordance with GAAP, certain investors use such non-GAAP information to evaluate the Company's performance and ability to generate cash flow. The Company believes that these measures provide an alternative reflection of the Group's performance for the current period and are an alternative indication of its expected performance in future periods. Cash cost of production is intended to provide additional information, does not have any standardised meaning prescribed by GAAP and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with GAAP. This measure is not necessarily indicative of operating profit or cash flow from operations as determined under GAAP. Other companies may calculate these measures differently.

During June 2013 the World Gold Council (WGC), an industry body, published a Guidance Note on 'all in sustaining costs' metric, which gold mining companies can use to supplement their overall non-GAAP disclosure. AISC is an extension of the existing 'cash cost' metric and incorporates all costs related to sustaining production and in particular recognising the sustaining capital expenditure associated with developing and maintaining gold mines. In addition, this metric includes the cost associated with developing and maintaining gold mines. In addition, this metric includes the cost associated with corporate office structures that support these operations, the community and rehabilitation costs attendant with responsible mining and any exploration and evaluation costs associated with sustaining current operations. AISC US$/oz is arrived at by dividing the dollar value of the sum of these cost metrics, by the ounces of gold sold (as compared to using ounces produced which is used in the cash cost of production calculation).

Reconciliation of cash cost of production per ounce:

 
                                  Quarter         Quarter     Nine months     Nine months 
                                    ended           ended           ended           ended 
                             30 September    30 September    30 September    30 September 
                                  2017(1)         2016(1)         2017(1)         2016(1) 
                                  US$'000         US$'000         US$'000         US$'000 
 Mine production costs 
  (Note 4)                         80,653          76,069         232,293         215,532 
 Less: Refinery and 
  transport                         (445)           (404)         (1,142)         (1,191) 
 Movement in inventory            (4,550)         (6,431)             590         (4,820) 
                           --------------  --------------  --------------  -------------- 
 Cash cost of production           75,658          69,234         231,740         209,521 
                           --------------  --------------  --------------  -------------- 
 Gold Produced - Total 
  (oz)                            156,534         148,674         390,361         414,248 
 Cash cost of production        US$483/oz       US$466/oz       US$594/oz       US$506/oz 
  per ounce 
 

(1) Cash cost of production includes a charge to reflect the removal of fuel subsidies (refer to Note 6).

Reconciliation of AISC per ounce sold:

 
                                   Quarter         Quarter     Nine months     Nine months 
                                     ended           ended           ended           ended 
                              30 September    30 September    30 September    30 September 
                                   2017(1)         2016(1)         2017(1)         2016(1) 
                                   US$'000         US$'000         US$'000         US$'000 
 Mine production costs(2) 
  (Note 4)                          80,653          76,069         232,293         215,532 
 Movement in inventory             (3,900)         (6,160)           1,365         (2,165) 
 Royalties                           5,779           6,013          14,519          15,837 
 Corporate administration 
  costs                              3.836           3,889           9,889          10,849 
 Rehabilitation costs                  157             145             471             436 
 Underground development            10,155          10,073          27,959          28,368 
 Other sustaining 
  capital exp.                      13,531           7,019          26,521          17,254 
 By-product credit                   (259)           (282)           (798)           (801) 
                            --------------  --------------  --------------  -------------- 
 AISC                              109,952          96,766         312,219         285,310 
                            --------------  --------------  --------------  -------------- 
 Gold Sold - Total 
  (oz)                             150,273         150,201         386,237         415,671 
 AISC per ounce sold             US$732/oz       US$644/oz       US$808/oz       US$686/oz 
 

(1) Mine production costs, cash cost of production, AISC, cash cost of production per ounce, and AISC per ounce sold includes prepayments recorded since Q4 2012 to reflect the removal of fuel subsidies (refer to Note 6 of the financial statements for further details).

(2) Includes refinery and transport.

3) Cash and cash equivalents, bullion on hand, gold sales receivables and available-for-sale financial assets: This is a non-GAAP financial measure any other companies may calculate these measures differently.

Reconciliation to cash and cash equivalents, bullion on hand, gold sales receivables and available-for-sale financial assets:

 
                                                       As at           As at 
                                                30 September    30 September 
                                                        2017            2016 
 
 Cash and cash equivalents (Note 17(a))              313,003         388,352 
 Bullion on hand (valued at the period-end 
 spot price)                                          14,858          13,489 
 Gold sales receivable                                17,803          14,850 
 Available-for-sale financial assets                     125             163 
 
 Cash, bullion, gold sales receivables and 
 available-for-sale financial assets                 345,789         416,854 
                                              --------------  -------------- 
 
   4)    Free cash flow 

This is a non-GAAP financial measure any other companies may calculate these measures differently.

 
                                     Quarter         Quarter     Nine months     Nine months 
                                       ended           ended           ended           ended 
                                30 September    30 September    30 September    30 September 
                                        2017            2016            2017            2016 
                                     US$'000         US$'000         US$'000         US$'000 
 
 Net cash generated 
  from operating activities          109,471         139,821         245,044         296,322 
 Less: 
 Net cash used in 
  investing activities              (28,834)        (34,388)        (72,427)        (86,828) 
 EMRA profit share 
  payments                          (35,424)               -        (76,577)               - 
 Free cash flow                       45,213         105,433          96,040         209,494 
                              --------------  --------------  --------------  -------------- 
 

ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL, GOVERNANCE AND COMMITTEE (ESGC) UPDATE

There were no updates to report during the quarter.

PRINCIPAL RISKS AFFECTING THE CENTAMIN GROUP

The operations of the Company are speculative due to the high risk nature of its business which includes the acquisition, financing, exploration, development and operation of mining properties. These risk factors could materially affect the Company's future operations and could cause actual events to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements relating to the Company.

There have been no changes in the Company's risks and uncertainties during the quarter and nine months ended 30 September 2017 from those described in the Group's annual management discussion, analysis and business review for the year ended 31 December 2016 on pages 30 to 35 of the 2016 Annual Report, and the Company does not anticipate any changes in the Company's risks and uncertainties during the next three months to 31 December 2017. The key principal risks relate to the following:

   --      Single project dependency 
   --      Sukari Project joint venture risk and relationship with EMRA 
   --      Gold price and currency exposure 
   --      Jurisdictional taxation exposure 
   --      Political risk - Sukari 
   --      Political risk - West Africa 
   --      Reserve and resource estimations 
   --      Exploration development 
   --      Failure to achieve production estimates 
   --      Litigation risks 

Centamin takes a number of measures to mitigate risks associated with its underlying operational and exploration activity which are monitored and evaluated regularly. Due to the nature of these inherent risks, it is not possible to give absolute assurance that mitigating actions will be wholly effective. The Company is exposed to changes in the economic environment through its operations in Egypt, as well as its operations in West Africa (Burkina Faso and Côte d'Ivoire). Relationships with governments and the maintenance of exploration permits and licence areas remain key risks and a key focus for all exploration, development and operational projects.

One of the Company's main objectives is to achieve a target of zero injuries and for every employee to be safe every day. The control environment and operating practices in place at the mining and exploration operations helps reduce the likelihood of harm to employees. Centamin is committed to attracting, energising, developing and training its workforce to ensure they are highly skilled and motivated.

Centamin recognises the value of being a socially responsible employer and the importance of engaging with the wider community in the areas in which it operates. By investing in the community and engaging in projects that directly and positively impact local people, Centamin can foster a cooperative working environment.

LEGAL ACTIONS

As detailed in Note 8 of the accompanying interim condensed consolidated financial statements, the Group's appeal against the 30 October 2012 ruling by the Egyptian Administrative Court remains on-going. The Supreme Administrative Court have stayed the Concession Agreement appeal until the Supreme Constitutional Court rules on the validity of Law 32 of 2014. Law 32 restricts the capacity for third parties to challenge contractual agreements between the Egyptian government and an investor. This law, whilst in force and ratified by the new parliament, is currently under review by the Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC). There was no update to this review during the quarter. The state commissioner's report and complementary report are advisory and non-binding on the SCC. The Company continues to believe that it has a strong legal position and that in the event that the SCC rules that Law 32 is invalid, the Group remains confident that its own appeal will be successful on its merits.

The Group continues to benefit from the full support of the Ministry of Petroleum and EMRA, both in the appeal and at the operational level.

In light of the on-going dispute with the Egyptian Government regarding the price at which diesel fuel oil (DFO) is supplied to the mine at Sukari, it has been necessary since January 2012 to advance funds to the fuel supplier based on the international price for diesel. The Company has fully provided against the prepayment of US$265 million, of which US$31.8 million was provided for in Q3 2017. Refer to Note 6 of the accompanying interim condensed consolidated financial statements for further details on the impact of this provision on the Group's results for Q3 2017.

In November 2012 the Group received a further demand from its fuel supplier for the repayment of fuel subsidies received in the period from late 2009 through to January 2012, for EGP403 million (approximately US$22.9 million at current exchange rates). No provision has been made in respect of the historic subsidies prior to January 2012 as, based on legal advice that it has received to date, the Company believes that, notwithstanding the unfavourable State Commissioner's report, the prospects of a court finding in its favour in relation to this matter are strong.

As disclosed previously, the Company has commenced proceedings in the Administrative Court in Egypt in relation to these matters. The Company remains of the view that an instant move to international fuel prices is not a reasonable outcome and will look to recover any funds advanced thus far at the higher rate should the court proceedings be successfully concluded. Please refer to Note 8 to the accompanying interim condensed consolidated financial statements and the most recently filed Annual Information Form (AIF) for further information.

With the exception of the relationships with EMRA and the Egyptian government referred to above, we do not believe there are any third party relationships which are critical to the Group's success or which would have a material impact upon the Group's position if the relationship broke down.

Andrew Pardey

Chief Executive Officer

Set out below are the unaudited consolidated Financial Statements for the Group, including notes thereto, for the quarter and nine months ended 30 September 2017.

RESPONSIBILITY STATEMENT OF THE DIRECTORS IN RESPECT OF THE QUARTER AND NINE MONTHSED 30 SEPTEMBER 2017 FINANCIAL REPORT

We confirm that to the best of our knowledge:

(a) the condensed set of interim consolidated financial statements for the quarter and nine months ended 30 September 2017 has been prepared in accordance with International Accounting Standard 34 'Interim Financial Reporting' as adopted by the European Union and as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board ("IASB");

(b) the condensed set of interim consolidated financial statements, which has been prepared in accordance with the applicable set of accounting standards, gives a true and fair view of the assets, liabilities, financial position and profit or loss of the issuer, or the undertakings included in the consolidation as a whole as required by DTR 4.2.4;

(c) the interim management report includes a fair review of the information required by DTR 4.2.7R (indication of important events during the first nine months and description of principal risks and uncertainties for the remaining three months of the year); and

(d) the interim management report includes a fair review of the information required by DTR 4.2.8R (disclosure of related parties' transactions and changes therein).

The board of directors that served during all or part of the nine month period ended on 30 September 2017 and their respective responsibilities can be found on pages 64 to 73 of the 2016 annual report of Centamin plc.

By order of the Board,

Chief Executive Officer Chief Financial Officer

   Andrew Pardey                                                                     Ross Jerrard 
   2 November 2017                                                                2 November 2017 

UNAUDITED INTERIM CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE QUARTER AND NINE MONTHSED

30 SEPTEMBER 2017

UNAUDITED INTERIM CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME FOR THE THREE AND NINE MONTHSED 30 SEPTEMBER 2017

 
                                               Three months       Three months        Nine months        Nine months 
                                                   ended 30           ended 30           ended 30           ended 30 
                                                  September          September          September          September 
                                           2017 (Unaudited)   2016 (Unaudited)   2017 (Unaudited)   2016 (Unaudited) 
                                    Note            US$'000            US$'000            US$'000            US$'000 
 
Revenue                              3              193,093            200,845            485,097            529,080 
Cost of sales                        4            (105,499)           (98,347)          (315,105)          (296,902) 
                                          -----------------  -----------------  -----------------  ----------------- 
Gross profit                                         87,594            102,498            169,992            232,178 
Other income                                            242                  -                667                  - 
Other operating costs                4             (12,997)            (8,917)           (29,313)           (24,826) 
Impairment of available-for-sale 
 financial assets                                         -                (8)              (217)                145 
Finance income                       4                  607                143              1,603                463 
Profit before tax                                    75,446             93,716            142,732            207,960 
Tax                                                   (566)               (26)            (1,580)              (811) 
                                          -----------------  -----------------  -----------------  ----------------- 
Profit for the period after 
 tax                                                 74,880             93,690            141,152            207,149 
                                          -----------------  -----------------  -----------------  ----------------- 
EMRA profit share                   5(a)           (35,424)           (28,750)           (75,577)           (28,750) 
                                          -----------------  -----------------  -----------------  ----------------- 
Profit for the period after 
 EMRA profit share                                   39,456             64,940             65,575            178,399 
                                          -----------------  -----------------  -----------------  ----------------- 
Profit for the period attributable 
 to: 
  *    the owners of the parent                      39,456             64,940             65,575            178,399 
Other comprehensive income 
 Items that may be reclassified 
 subsequently to profit or 
 loss: 
Profits/(losses) on available 
 for sale financial assets 
 (net of tax)                        14                   -                  -               (91)                 61 
                                          -----------------  -----------------  -----------------  ----------------- 
Other comprehensive income 
 for the period                                           -                  -               (91)                 61 
                                          -----------------  -----------------  -----------------  ----------------- 
Total comprehensive income 
 for the period attributable 
 to: 
 - the owners of the parent                          39,456             64,940             65,484            178,460 
                                          -----------------  -----------------  -----------------  ----------------- 
 
Earnings per share before 
 profit share: 
Basic (cents per share)              11               6.474              8.108             12.210             17.957 
Diluted (cents per share)            11               6.413              8.075             12.117             17.862 
Earnings per share after 
 profit share: 
Basic (cents per share)              11               3.411              5.620              5.672             15.465 
Diluted (cents per share)            11               3.379              5.597              5.629             15.383 
 

The above Unaudited Interim Condensed Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income should be read in conjunction with the accompanying notes.

UNAUDITED INTERIM CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION

AS AT 30 SEPTEMBER 2017

 
                                             30 September  31 December 
                                                                  2016 
                                                     2017    (Audited) 
                                              (Unaudited)      US$'000 
                                      Note        US$'000 
NON-CURRENT ASSETS 
Property, plant and equipment          12         837,783      868,926 
Exploration and evaluation asset       13         175,088      153,918 
Prepayments and other receivables                      99          376 
Total non-current assets                        1,012,970    1,023,220 
                                             ------------  ----------- 
 
CURRENT ASSETS 
Inventories                            18         116,040      136,562 
Available-for-sale financial assets                   125          130 
Trade and other receivables                        20,990       24,870 
Prepayments                             6           3,341        2,028 
Cash and cash equivalents             17(a)       313,003      399,873 
                                             ------------  ----------- 
Total current assets                              453,499      563,463 
                                             ------------  ----------- 
 
Total assets                                    1,466,469    1,586,683 
                                             ------------  ----------- 
 
  NON-CURRENT LIABILITIES 
Provisions                                          8,264        7,697 
                                             ------------  ----------- 
Total non-current liabilities                       8,264        7,697 
                                             ------------  ----------- 
 
CURRENT LIABILITIES 
Trade and other payables                           38,605       47,991 
Provisions                                         12,255        6,476 
                                             ------------  ----------- 
Total current liabilities                          50,860       54,467 
                                             ------------  ----------- 
 
Total liabilities                                  59,124       62,164 
                                             ------------  ----------- 
 
Net assets                                      1,407,345    1,524,519 
                                             ------------  ----------- 
 
EQUITY 
Issued capital                          9         668,744      667,472 
Share option reserve                                3,507        3,048 
Accumulated profits                               735,094      853,999 
                                             ------------  ----------- 
Total Equity                                    1,407,345    1,524,519 
                                             ------------  ----------- 
 

The above Unaudited Interim Condensed Consolidated Statement of Financial Position should be read in conjunction with the accompanying notes.

UNAUDITED INTERIM CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITY FOR THE NINE MONTHSED 30 SEPTEMBER 2017

 
                                               Issued  Share option   Accumulated 
                                              Capital       reserve       profits                 Total 
                                          (Unaudited)   (Unaudited)   (Unaudited)    Equity (Unaudited) 
                                              US$'000       US$'000       US$'000               US$'000 
                                         ------------  ------------  ------------  -------------------- 
   Balance as at 1 January 2017               667,472         3,048       853,999             1,524,519 
   Profit for the period                            -             -       141,152               141,152 
   EMRA profit share                                -             -      (75,577)              (75,577) 
   Other comprehensive income for 
    the period                                      -             -          (91)                  (91) 
                                         ------------  ------------  ------------  -------------------- 
   Total comprehensive income for 
    the period                                      -             -        65,484                65,484 
 
   Dividend paid - shareholders                     -             -     (184,389)             (184,389) 
   Transfer of share based payments             1,272       (1,272)             -                     - 
   Recognition of share based payments              -         1,731             -                 1,731 
   Balance as at 30 September 2017            668,744         3,507       735,094             1,407,345 
                                         ------------  ------------  ------------  -------------------- 
 
 
 
                                                Issued  Share option   Accumulated 
                                               Capital       Reserve       profits                 Total 
                                           (Unaudited)   (Unaudited)   (Unaudited)    Equity (Unaudited) 
                                               US$'000       US$'000       US$'000               US$'000 
                                          ------------  ------------  ------------  -------------------- 
    Balance as at 1 January 2016               665,590         2,469       685,273             1,353,332 
    Profit for the period                            -             -       207,149               207,149 
    EMRA profit share                                -             -      (28,750)              (28,750) 
    Other comprehensive income for 
     the period                                   (17)             -            60                    43 
                                          ------------  ------------  ------------  -------------------- 
    Total comprehensive income for 
     the period                                   (17)             -       178,459               178,442 
 
 
    Dividend paid                                    -             -      (22,946)              (22,946) 
    Transfer of share based payments             1,899       (1,899)             -                     - 
    Recognition of share based payments              -         1,774             -                 1,774 
 
    Balance as at 30 September 2016            667,472         2,344       840,786             1,510,602 
                                          ------------  ------------  ------------  -------------------- 
 
 

The above Unaudited Interim Condensed Consolidated Statement of Changes in Equity should be read in conjunction with the accompanying notes.

UNAUDITED INTERIM CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS FOR THE THREE AND NINE MONTHSED 30 SEPTEMBER 2017

 
                                         Three months  Three months   Nine months   Nine months 
                                             ended 30      ended 30      ended 30      ended 30 
                                            September     September     September     September 
                                                 2017          2016          2017          2016 
                                  Note    (Unaudited)   (Unaudited)   (Unaudited)   (Unaudited) 
                                              US$'000       US$'000       US$'000       US$'000 
Cash flows from operating 
 activities 
Cash generated in operating 
 activities                      17(b)        110,078       147,570       247,637       304,391 
Finance income                                  (607)         (143)       (1,603)         (463) 
Income tax refund received                          -             -           108             - 
Income tax paid                                     -       (7,605)       (1,098)       (7,606) 
Net cash generated by 
 operating activities                         109,471       139,822       245,044       296,322 
                                         ------------  ------------  ------------  ------------ 
 
Cash flows from investing 
 activities 
Acquisition of property, 
 plant and equipment                         (21,553)      (22,127)      (50,310)      (48,657) 
Exploration and evaluation 
 expenditure                                  (7,889)      (12,403)      (23,721)      (38,634) 
Finance income                                    607           143         1,604           463 
Net cash used in investing 
 activities                                  (28,834)      (34,388)      (72,427)      (86,828) 
                                         ------------  ------------  ------------  ------------ 
 
Cash flows from financing 
 activities 
Dividend paid                                (28,952)             -     (184,389)      (22,946) 
                                 5(b) 
EMRA profit share paid           & 5(c)      (35,424)             -      (76,577)             - 
Net cash provided by 
 financing activities                        (64,376)             -     (260,966)      (22,946) 
                                         ------------  ------------  ------------  ------------ 
 
Net increase/(decrease) 
 in cash and cash equivalents                  16,261       105,434      (88,349)       186,548 
 
Cash and cash equivalents 
 at the beginning of the 
 period                                       296,981       281,677       399,873       199,616 
Effect of foreign exchange 
 rate changes                                   (238)         1,241         1,480         2,188 
                                         ------------  ------------  ------------  ------------ 
Cash and cash equivalents 
 at the end of the period        17(a)        313,004       388,352       313,004       388,352 
                                         ------------  ------------  ------------  ------------ 
 

The above Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows should be read in conjunction with the accompanying notes.

NOTES TO THE UNAUDITED INTERIM CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE QUARTER AND NINE MONTHSED 30 SEPTEMBER 2017

NOTE 1: ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Basis of preparation

These unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with IAS 34 "Interim Financial Reporting" (IAS 34) as adopted by the European Union and as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board ("IASB") and the requirements of the Disclosure and Transparency Rules (DTR) of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the United Kingdom as applicable to interim financial reporting. These unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements are not affected by seasonality.

The unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements represent a 'condensed set of financial statements' as referred to in the DTR issued by the FCA. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information required for a full annual financial report and are to be read in conjunction with the Group's financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2016, which were prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS") as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board ("IASB") and adopted for use by the European Union and IFRS as issued by the IASB. The financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2016 have been filed with the Jersey Financial Services Commission. The financial information contained in this report does not constitute statutory accounts under the Companies (Jersey) Law 1991, as amended. The financial information for the year ended 31 December 2016 is based on the statutory accounts for the year ended 31 December 2016. Readers are referred to the auditor's report to the Group financial statements as at 31 December 2016 (available at www.centamin.com).

The accounting policies applied in these interim financial statements are consistent with those used in the annual consolidated financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2016 except for the adoption of a number of amendments issued by the IASB and endorsed by the EU which apply for the first time in 2017 as referred to in the 31 December 2016 Annual Report. The new pronouncements do not have a significant impact on the accounting policies, methods of computation or presentation applied by the Group and therefore the prior period consolidated financial statements have not been restated. The Group has not early adopted any amendments, standards or interpretations that have been issued but are not yet effective.

The preparation of these interim condensed consolidated financial statements requires the use of certain significant accounting estimates and judgment by management in applying the Group's accounting policies. There have been no changes to the areas involving significant judgement and estimates that have been set out in Note 4 of the Group's annual audited consolidated financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2016.

Going concern

These financial statements for the period ended 30 September 2017 have been prepared on a going concern basis, which contemplate the realisation of assets and liquidation of liabilities during the normal course of operations.

As discussed in Note 8, during 2012 the operation of the mine was affected by two legal actions. The first of these followed from a decision taken by Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation ("EGPC") to charge international, not local (subsidised) prices for the supply of DFO, and the second arose as a result of a judgment of the Administrative Court in relation to, amongst other matters, the Company's 160km(2) exploitation lease. In relation to the first decision, the Company remains confident that in the event that it is required to continue to pay international prices, the mine at Sukari will remain commercially viable. Similarly, the Company remains confident that the appeal it has lodged in relation to the decision of the Administrative Court will ultimately be successful, although final resolution of it may take some time. On 20 March 2013 the Supreme Administrative Court upheld the Company's application to suspend the decision until the merits of the Company's appeal were considered and ruled on, thus providing assurance that normal operations will be able to continue during this process.

In the unlikely event that the Group is unsuccessful in either or both of its legal actions, and that the operating activities are restricted to a reduced area, it is the director's belief that the Group will be able to continue as going concern.

NOTE 1: ACCOUNTING POLICIES (CONTINUED)

The directors have a reasonable expectation that the Group will have adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Thus they continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing these interim condensed consolidated financial statements.

NOTE 2: SEGMENT REPORTING

The Group is engaged in the business of exploration for and mining of metals only, which represents a single operating segment. The Board is the Group's chief operating decision maker within the meaning of IFRS 8.

Non-current assets other than financial instruments by country, is as follows:

 
     30 September  31 December 
             2017 
      (Unaudited)         2016 
          US$'000    (Audited) 
                       US$'000 
 
 
Egypt                  874,239    899,852 
Burkina Faso           110,366    105,432 
Côte d'Ivoire      28,324     17,870 
Australia                    4          3 
Jersey                      37         63 
                     ---------  --------- 
                     1,012,970  1,023,220 
                     ---------  --------- 
 

NOTE 3: REVENUE

An analysis of the Group's revenue for the period, from continuing operations, is as follows:

 
                    Three Months       Three Months        Nine Months        Nine Months 
                        Ended 30           Ended 30           Ended 30           Ended 30 
                       September          September          September          September 
                2017 (Unaudited)   2016 (Unaudited)   2017 (Unaudited)   2016 (Unaudited) 
                         US$'000            US$'000            US$'000            US$'000 
 
Gold sales               192,834            200,562            484,300            528,279 
Silver sales                 259                283                797                801 
                         193,093            200,845            485,097            529,080 
               -----------------  -----------------  -----------------  ----------------- 
 

NOTE 4: PROFIT BEFORE TAX

Profit for the period has been arrived at after crediting/(charging) the following gains/(losses) and expenses:

 
                                 Three Months         Three Months        Nine Months        Nine Months 
                                     Ended 30             Ended 30           Ended 30           Ended 30 
                                    September            September          September          September 
                             2017 (Unaudited)     2016 (Unaudited)   2017 (Unaudited)   2016 (Unaudited) 
                                      US$'000              US$'000            US$'000            US$'000 
Finance income 
Interest received                             607              143              1,603                463 
                            ---------------------  ---------------  -----------------  ----------------- 
 
 
 
Expenses 
Cost of sales 
Mine production costs                 (80,653)     (76,069)  (232,293)    (215,532) 
Movement in inventory                    3,900        6,160    (1,365)        2,181 
Depreciation and amortisation         (28,746)     (28,438)   (81,447)     (83,551) 
                                     ---------  -----------  ---------  ----------- 
                                     (105,499)     (98,347)  (315,105)    (296,902) 
                                     ---------  -----------  ---------  ----------- 
 
 

NOTE 4: PROFIT BEFORE TAX (CONTINUED)

 
                                        Three Months       Three Months          Nine Months         Nine Months 
                                            Ended 30           Ended 30             Ended 30            Ended 30 
                                           September          September            September           September 
                                    2017 (Unaudited)   2016 (Unaudited)     2017 (Unaudited)    2016 (Unaudited) 
                                             US$'000            US$'000              US$'000             US$'000 
Other operating costs 
Fixed royalty - attributable 
 to the Egyptian government                  (5,779)            (6,013)             (14,519)            (15,837) 
Corporate costs                              (3,836)            (3,889)              (9,889)            (10,850) 
Other expenses                                 (159)              (144)                (573)               (118) 
Foreign exchange (loss) 
 gain, net                                     (535)              1,296                1,246               2,612 
Provision for restoration 
 and rehabilitation - unwinding 
 of discount                                   (157)              (145)                (471)               (436) 
Provision for stock obsolescence             (2,518)                  -              (2,518)                   - 
Depreciation                                    (13)               (22)                 (38)                (75) 
Write-off of exploration 
 and evaluation asset                              -                  -              (2,551)               (122) 
                                            (12,997)            (8,917)             (29,313)            (24,826) 
                                   -----------------  -----------------      ---------------  ------------------ 
 
Impairment of available 
 for sale financial assets                         -                (8)                (217)                 145 
                                   -----------------  -----------------      ---------------  ------------------ 
 
 

NOTE 5: EMRA PROFIT SHARE

EMRA is entitled to a share of 50% of SGM's net production surplus which can be defined as 'revenue less payment of the fixed royalty to Arab Republic of Egypt ("ARE") and recoverable costs'. However, in accordance with the terms of the Concession Agreement, in the first and second years in which there is a profit share, PGM will be entitled to an additional 10% of net production surplus and an additional 5% in the third and fourth years.

Payments made to EMRA pursuant to the provisions of the Concession Agreement are recognised as a variable charge in the income statement (below profit after tax) of Centamin, which leads to a reduction in the earnings per share. The profit share payments during the year will be reconciled against SGM's audited financial statements. The SGM financial statements for the year ended 30 June 2017 have not been signed off at the date of this report and are in the process of being audited.

Certain terms of the Concession Agreement and amounts in the cost recovery model may also vary depending on interpretation and management and the Board making various judgments and estimates that can affect the amounts recognized in the financial statements. Any variation between payments made during the year (which are based on the Company's estimates) and the SGM audited financial statements, may result in a balance due and payable to EMRA or advances to be offset against future distributions.

NOTE 5: EMRA PROFIT SHARE (CONTINUED)

   a)     Income statement and Balance sheet impact 
 
                                 Three Months       Three Months        Nine Months        Nine Months 
                                     Ended 30           Ended 30           Ended 30           Ended 30 
                                    September          September          September          September 
                             2017 (Unaudited)   2016 (Unaudited)   2017 (Unaudited)   2016 (Unaudited) 
                                      US$'000            US$'000            US$'000            US$'000 
Income statement 
EMRA profit share                    (35,424)           (28,750)           (75,577)           (28,750) 
                            -----------------  -----------------  -----------------  ----------------- 
 
 
  Balance sheet 
EMRA opening profit share 
 accrual                                3,000                  -              4,000 
-EMRA accrual /(release)                    -                  -            (1,000)                  - 
                            -----------------  -----------------  -----------------  ----------------- 
EMRA closing profit share 
 accrual                                3,000                  -              3,000                  - 
                            -----------------  -----------------  -----------------  ----------------- 
 

Any variation between payments made during the year (which are based on the Company's estimates) and the SGM audited financial statements, may result in a balance due and payable to EMRA or advances to be offset against future distributions. This will be reflected as an accrual or prepayment in each reporting period.

   b)    Cash flow statement impact 
 
                                 Three Months           Three Months        Nine Months        Nine Months 
                                     Ended 30               Ended 30           Ended 30           Ended 30 
                                    September              September          September          September 
                             2017 (Unaudited)       2016 (Unaudited)   2017 (Unaudited)   2016 (Unaudited) 
                                      US$'000                US$'000            US$'000            US$'000 
Cash flows 
EMRA cash payments during 
 the period                                 35,424                 -             76,577                    - 
                            ----------------------  ----------------  -----------------  ------------------- 
 
 

EMRA and PGM benefit from advance distributions of profit share which are made on a weekly/fortnightly basis and proportionately in accordance with the terms of the Concession Agreement. Future distributions will take into account ongoing cash flows, historic costs that are still to be recovered and any future capital expenditure. The profit share payments during the period will be reconciled against SGM's audited June 2018 financial statements.

NOTE 5: EMRA PROFIT SHARE (CONTINUED)

   c)     SGM cash flow statement extract 

In order to reconcile the cash payments made during the period, the SGM cash flow statement is tabled below:

 
                                   Three Months       Three Months        Nine Months        Nine Months 
                                       Ended 30           Ended 30           Ended 30           Ended 30 
                                      September          September          September          September 
                               2017 (Unaudited)   2016 (Unaudited)   2017 (Unaudited)   2016 (Unaudited) 
                                        US$'000            US$'000            US$'000            US$'000 
Cash flows 
 
Net cash generated by 
 operating activities                   118,374            128,240            255,597            296,539 
Net cash used in investing 
 activities                            (23,916)           (98,281)           (58,256)          (275,012) 
Cost recovery payment                   (5,898)                  -            (5,898)                  - 
 
Cash available for profit 
 share                                   88,560             29,959            191,443             21,527 
                              -----------------  -----------------  -----------------  ----------------- 
 
60% Profit share to Pharaoh 
 Gold Mines NL                         (53,136)                  -          (114,866)                  - 
40% Profit Share to EMRA               (35,424)                  -           (76,577)                  - 
EMRA accrual /(release)                       -                  -            (1,000)                  - 
 

NOTE 6: PREPAYMENTS

 
                   31 December 
     30 September         2016 
             2017 
      (Unaudited)    (Audited) 
          US$'000      US$'000 
 

Non-current Prepayments

 
Prepayments   -295 
               --- 
 

Current Prepayments

 
Prepayments        1,166  1,151 
Fuel prepayments   2,175    877 
                   -----  ----- 
                   3,341  2,028 
                   -----  ----- 
 

The cumulative fuel prepayment recognised and provision charged as at 30 September 2017 is as follows:

 
Movement in fuel prepayments 
Balance at the beginning of the period               877       3,169 
Fuel prepayment recognised                        33,499      23,014 
Less: Provision charged to : 
         Mine production costs                  (32,351)    (22,844) 
         Property, plant and equipment               (8)     (2,269) 
         Inventories                                 158       (193) 
                                             -----------  ---------- 
                                                (32,201)    (25,306) 
 
Balance at the end of the period                   2,175         877 
                                             -----------  ---------- 
 
 

NOTE 6: PREPAYMENTS (CONTINUED)

Diesel fuel oil ("DFO") dispute

As more fully described in note 8 below, the group is currently involved in court action concerning the price at which it is supplied with DFO. Since January 2012, the group has had to pay for DFO at the international price rather than the subsidised price which it believes it is entitled to. It is seeking recovery of the funds advanced since 2012 through court action. However, management recognises the practical difficulties associated with reclaiming funds from the government and for this reason has fully provided against the prepayment of US$265 million to 30 September 2017 of which US$31.8 million was provided during 2017.

In order to allow a better understanding of the financial information presented within the consolidated financial statements, and specifically the group's underlying business performance, the effect of the Diesel Fuel Oil dispute is shown below.

 
                                             Three months ended 30              Three months ended 30 
                                                    September 2017                     September 2016 
                                     Before                              Before 
                                 adjustment  Adjustment      Total   adjustment  Adjustment     Total 
                                    US$'000     US$'000    US$'000      US$'000     US$'000   US$'000 
Expenses 
Cost of sales 
Mine production costs              (70,738)     (9,915)   (80,653)     (70,430)     (5,639)  (76,069) 
Movement in inventory                 6,213     (2,313)      3,900        6,387       (227)     6,160 
Depreciation and amortisation      (28,773)           -   (28,746)     (28,438)           -  (28,438) 
                                -----------  ----------  ---------  -----------  ----------  -------- 
                                   (93,298)    (12,229)  (105,499)     (92,481)     (5,866)  (98,347) 
                                -----------  ----------  ---------  -----------  ----------  -------- 
 

This has resulted in a net charge of US$12.2 million in the profit and loss for the current quarter. The effect on earnings per share is shown below:

 
                               Three months ended 30             Three months ended 30 
                                   September 2017                    September 2016 
                               Before                            Before 
                           adjustment  Adjustment    Total   adjustment  Adjustment    Total 
                              US$'000     US$'000  US$'000      US$'000     US$'000  US$'000 
Earnings per share 
 before profit share: 
Basic (cents per share)         7.531     (1.057)    6.474        8.616     (0.508)    8.108 
                          -----------  ----------  -------  -----------  ----------  ------- 
Diluted (cents per 
 share)                         7.460     (1.047)    6.413        8.580     (0.505)    8.075 
                          -----------  ----------  -------  -----------  ----------  ------- 
 
 
Earnings per share 
 after profit share: 
Basic (cents per share)   4.468  (1.057)  3.411  6.128  (0.508)  5.620 
                          -----  -------  -----  -----  -------  ----- 
Diluted (cents per 
 share)                   4.426  (1.047)  3.379  6.102  (0.505)  5.597 
                          -----  -------  -----  -----  -------  ----- 
 

NOTE 6: PREPAYMENTS (CONTINUED)

 
                                              Nine months ended 30                Nine months ended 30 
                                                    September 2017                      September 2016 
                                     Before                              Before 
                                 adjustment  Adjustment      Total   adjustment  Adjustment      Total 
                                    US$'000     US$'000    US$'000      US$'000     US$'000    US$'000 
Expenses 
Cost of sales 
Mine production costs             (199,942)    (32,351)  (232,293)    (200,735)    (14,797)  (215,532) 
Movement in inventory               (1,954)         589    (1,365)        4,353     (2,172)      2,181 
Depreciation and amortisation      (81,447)           -   (81,447)     (83,551)           -   (83,551) 
                                -----------  ----------  ---------  -----------  ----------  --------- 
                                  (283,343)    (31,763)  (315,105)    (279,933)    (16,969)  (296,902) 
                                -----------  ----------  ---------  -----------  ----------  --------- 
 

This has resulted in a net charge of US$31.8 million in the profit and loss for the first nine months of the year.

The effect on earnings per share is shown below:

 
                                Nine months ended 30              Nine months ended 30 
                                   September 2017                    September 2016 
                               Before                            Before 
                           adjustment  Adjustment    Total   adjustment  Adjustment    Total 
                              US$'000     US$'000  US$'000      US$'000     US$'000  US$'000 
Earnings per share 
 before profit share: 
Basic (cents per share)        14.957     (2.747)   12.210       19.428     (1.471)   17.957 
                          -----------  ----------  -------  -----------  ----------  ------- 
Diluted (cents per 
 share)                        14.844     (2.727)   12.117       19.326     (1.464)   17.862 
                          -----------  ----------  -------  -----------  ----------  ------- 
 
 
Earnings per share 
 after profit share: 
Basic (cents per share)   8.420  (2.748)  5.672  16.936   (1.471)  15.465 
                          -----  -------  -----  ------  --------  ------ 
Diluted (cents per 
 share)                   8.356  (2.727)  5.629  16.846   (1.463)  15.383 
                          -----  -------  -----  ------  --------  ------ 
 

NOTE 7: COMMITMENTS

The following is a summary of the Company's outstanding commitments as at 30 September 2017:

 
 Payments due                         Total   < 1 year     1 to 5   >5 years 
                                    US$'000    US$'000      years    US$'000 
                                                          US$'000 
 Operating Lease Commitments(1)         743         85        340        319 
                                  ---------  ---------  ---------  --------- 
 Total commitments                      743         85        340        319 
                                  ---------  ---------  ---------  --------- 
 

(1) Operating lease commitments are limited to office premises in Jersey.

NOTE 8: CONTINGENT LIABILITIES AND CONTINGENT ASSETS

Contingent Liabilities

Fuel Supply

As set out in note 6 above, in January 2012, the Group received a letter from Chevron to the effect that Chevron would only be able to supply DFO (Diesel Fuel Oil) to the mine at Sukari at international prices rather than at local subsidised prices. It is understood that the reason that this letter was issued was that Chevron had received a letter instructing it to do so from the EGPC. It is further understood that EGPC itself issued this instruction because it had received legal advice from the Legal Advice Department of the Council of State (an internal government advisory department) that companies operating in the gold mining sector in Egypt were not entitled to such subsidies. In November 2012, the Group received a further demand from Chevron for the repayment of fuel subsidies received during the period from late 2009 through to January 2012, for EGP403 million (approximately US$22.9 million at current exchange rates).

The Group has taken detailed legal advice on this matter (and, in particular, on the opinion given by the Legal Advice Department of the Council of State) and in June 2012 lodged an appeal against EGPC's decision in the Administrative Courts. Again, the Group believes that its grounds for appeal are strong and that there is a good prospect of success. However, as a practical matter, and in order to ensure the continuation of supply whilst the matter is resolved, the Group has since January 2012 advanced funds to its fuel supplier, based on the international price for fuel.

As at the date of this document, no decision had been taken by the courts regarding this matter. The Group has received an unfavourable State Commissioner's report in the case, however, the report is non-binding and the Group's legal advisors remain of the view that the Group has a strong case. The Group remains of the view that an instant move to international fuel prices is not a reasonable outcome and will look to recover funds advanced thus far should the court action be successfully concluded. However, management recognises the practical difficulties associated with reclaiming funds from the government and for this reason has fully provided against the prepayment of US$265million. Refer to Note 6 of these financial statements for further details on the impact of this provision on the Group's results for Q3 2017.

No provision has been made in respect of the historic subsidies prior to January 2012 as, based on legal advice, the Company believes that, notwithstanding the unfavourable State Commissioner's report, the prospects of a court finding in its favour in relation to this matter remain very strong.

Supreme Administrative Court Appeal

On 30 October 2012, the Administrative Court in Egypt handed down a judgment in relation to a claim brought by, amongst others, an independent member of a previous parliament, in which he argued for the nullification of the agreement that confers on the Group rights to operate in Egypt. This agreement, the Concession Agreement, was entered into between the Arab Republic of Egypt, the Egyptian Mineral Resources Authority and Centamin's wholly--owned subsidiary Pharaoh Gold Mines, and was approved by the People's Assembly as Law 222 of 1994.

NOTE 8: CONTINGENT LIABILITIES AND CONTINGENT ASSETS (CONTINUED)

In summary that judgment states that, although the Concession Agreement itself remains valid and in force, insufficient evidence had been submitted to Court in order to demonstrate that the 160km(2) exploitation lease between PGM and EMRA had received approval from the relevant Minister as required by the terms of the Concession Agreement. Accordingly, the Court found that the exploitation lease in respect of the area of 160km(2) was not valid although it stated that there was in existence such a lease in respect of an area of 3km(2) . Centamin, however, is in possession of the executed original lease documentation which clearly shows that the 160km(2) exploitation lease was approved by the Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources. It appears that an executed original document was not supplied to the Court in the first instance.

Upon notification of the judgment the Group took various steps to protect its ability to continue to operate the mine at Sukari. These included lodging a formal appeal before the Supreme Administrative Court on 26 November 2012. In addition, in conjunction with the formal appeal the Group applied to the Supreme Administrative Court to suspend the initial decision until such time as the court was able to consider and rule on the merits of the appeal. On 20 March 2013 the Court upheld this application thus suspending the initial decision and providing assurance that normal operations would be able to continue whilst the appeal process was under way.

EMRA lodged its own appeal in relation to this matter on 27 November 2012, the day after the Company's appeal was lodged, supporting the Group's view in this matter. Furthermore, in late December 2012, the Minister of Petroleum lodged a supporting appeal and shortly thereafter publicly indicated that, in his view, the terms of the Concession Agreement were fair and that the exploitation lease was valid. The Minister of Petroleum also expressed support for the investment and expertise that Centamin brings to the country. The Company believes this demonstrates the government's commitment to the Group's investment at Sukari and the government's desire to stimulate further investment in the Egyptian mining industry.

The Supreme Administrative Court has stayed the Concession Agreement appeal until the Supreme Constitutional Court has ruled on the validity of Law 32 of 2014. Law 32 of 2014 restricts the capacity for third parties to challenge contractual agreements between the Egyptian government and an investor. This law, whilst in force and ratified by the new parliament, is currently under review by the Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC). During Q2 2017, the SCC re-referred the case to the state commissioner to prepare a complementary report to an initial report provided by the state commissioner in Q1 2017 which found Law 32 to be unconstitutional. The state commissioner's report and complementary report are advisory and non-binding on the SCC. The Company continues to believe that it has a strong legal position and that in the event that the SCC rules that Law 32 is invalid, the Group remains confident that its own appeal will be successful on the merits.

The Company does not yet know when the appeal will conclude, although it is aware of the potential for the process in Egypt to be lengthy. The Company has taken extensive legal advice on the merits of its appeal from a number of leading Egyptian law firms who have confirmed that the proper steps were followed with regard to the grant of the 160km(2) lease. It therefore remains of the view that the appeal is based on strong legal grounds and will ultimately be successful. In the event that the appellate court fails to be persuaded of the merits of the case put forward by the Group, the operations at Sukari may be adversely effected to the extent that the Group's operation exceeds the exploitation lease area of 3km(2) referred to in the original court decision.

The Company remains confident that normal operations at Sukari will be maintained whilst the appeal case is heard.

Contingent Assets

There were no contingent assets at period-end (30 September 2017: nil, 31 December 2016: nil).

NOTE 9: ISSUED CAPITAL

 
 Fully Paid Ordinary             Nine Months Ended            Year Ended 
  Shares 
                                 30 September 2017         31 December 2016 
                                    (Unaudited)                (Audited) 
                                 Number      US$'000       Number       US$'000 
 
Balance at beginning of 
 the period                   1,152,107,984  667,472    1,152,107,984   665,590 
Issue of shares (1)                       -        -                -      (17) 
Transfer from share options 
 reserve                                  -    1,272                -     1,899 
Balance at end of the 
 period                       1,152,107,984  668,744    1,152,107,984   667,472 
                              -------------  -------   --------------  -------- 
 

(1) Fully paid ordinary shares carry one vote per share and carry the right to dividends.

NOTE 10: RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

The related party transactions for the three months ended 30 September 2017 are summarised below:

- Salaries, superannuation contributions, bonuses, LTI's, consulting and directors' fees paid to Directors during the three months ended 30 September 2017 amounted to US$635,228 (30 September 2016: US$590,200).

- Mr J El-Raghy is a director and shareholder of El-Raghy Kriewaldt Pty Ltd ("ELK"), which provides office premises to the Company in Australia. All dealings with ELK are in the ordinary course of business and on normal terms and conditions. Rent paid to ELK during the three months ended 30 September 2017 amounted to US$12,157 (30 September 2016: US$13,204).

The related party transactions for the nine months ended 30 September 2017 are summarised below:

- Salaries, superannuation contributions, bonuses, LTI's, consulting and directors' fees paid to Directors during the nine months ended 30 September 2017 amounted to US$1,837,548 (30 September 2016: US$1,798,143).

- Mr J El-Raghy is a director and shareholder of El-Raghy Kriewaldt Pty Ltd ("ELK"), which provides office premises to the Company in Australia. All dealings with ELK are in the ordinary course of business and on normal terms and conditions. Rent paid to ELK during the nine months ended 30 September 2017 amounted to US$35,388 (30 September 2016: US$38,697).

NOTE 11: EARNINGS PER SHARE

Basic earnings per share are calculated using the weighted average number of shares outstanding. Diluted earnings per share are calculated using the treasury stock method. In order to determine diluted earnings per share, the treasury stock method assumes that any proceeds from the exercise of dilutive stock options and warrants would be used to repurchase common shares at the average market price during the period, with the incremental number of shares being included in the denominator of the diluted earnings per share calculation. The diluted earnings per share calculation exclude any potential conversion of options and warrants that would increase earnings per share.

 
                                Three Months 
                                       Ended 
                                                                                                           Nine Months 
                                30 September                                                                     Ended 
                                                       Three Months                  Nine Months 
                                        2017                  Ended                        Ended          30 September 
                                                       30 September                 30 September 
                                 (Unaudited)       2016 (Unaudited)             2017 (Unaudited)      2016 (Unaudited) 
                                   Cents Per              Cents Per                    Cents Per             Cents Per 
                                       Share                  Share                        Share                 Share 
Basic EPS (before profit 
 share)                                6.474                  8.108                       12.210                17.957 
Diluted EPS (before 
 profit 
 share)                                6.413                  8.075                       12.117                17.862 
                           -----------------  ---------------------        ---------------------  -------------------- 
Basic EPS (after profit 
 share)                                3.411                  5.620                        5.672                15.465 
Diluted EPS (after profit 
 share)                                3.379                  5.597                        5.629                15.383 
                           -----------------  ---------------------        ---------------------  -------------------- 
 

NOTE 11: EARNINGS PER SHARE (CONTINUED)

Basic earnings per share

The earnings and weighted average number of ordinary shares used in the calculation of basic earnings per share are as follows:

 
                               Three Months 
                                      Ended          Three Months           Nine Months           Nine Months 
                               30 September                 Ended                 Ended              Ended 30 
                                       2017          30 September          30 September             September 
                                (Unaudited)      2016 (Unaudited)      2017 (Unaudited)      2016 (Unaudited) 
                                    US$'000               US$'000               US$'000               US$'000 
Earnings used in 
 the calculation of 
 basic EPS(1)                        74,880                93,690               141,152               207,149 
                      ---------------------  --------------------  --------------------  -------------------- 
Earnings used in 
 the calculation of 
 basic EPS(2)                        39,456                64,939                65,574               178,399 
                      ---------------------  --------------------  --------------------  -------------------- 
 
 

(1) Before profit share

(2) After profit share

 
                              Three Months           Three Months                  Nine Months            Nine Months 
                                     Ended                  Ended                        Ended                  Ended 
                              30 September           30 September                 30 September           30 September 
                                      2017       2016 (Unaudited)             2017 (Unaudited)       2016 (Unaudited) 
                               (Unaudited) 
                                       No.                    No.                          No.                    No. 
Weighted average number 
 of ordinary shares for 
 the purpose of basic 
 EPS                         1,156,707,977          1,155,537,983                1,156,047,980          1,153,597,655 
                          ----------------  ---------------------        ---------------------  --------------------- 
 

Diluted earnings per share

 
                                      Three Months      Three Months           Nine Months           Nine Months 
                                             Ended             Ended                 Ended                 Ended 
                                      30 September      30 September          30 September          30 September 
                                              2017              2016      2017 (Unaudited)      2016 (Unaudited) 
                                       (Unaudited)       (Unaudited)               US$'000               US$'000 
                                           US$'000           US$'000 
The earnings and weighted 
 average number of ordinary 
 shares used in the calculation 
 of diluted earnings 
 per share are as follows: 
Earnings used in the 
 calculation of diluted 
 EPS(1)                                     74,880            93,690               141,152               207,149 
                                  ----------------  ----------------  --------------------  -------------------- 
Earnings used in the 
 calculation of diluted 
 EPS(2)                                     39,456            64,939                65,574               178,399 
                                  ----------------  ----------------  --------------------  -------------------- 
 

(1) Before profit share

(2) After profit share

 
                              Three Months       Three Months                  Nine Months            Nine Months 
                                     Ended              Ended                        Ended                  Ended 
                              30 September       30 September                 30 September           30 September 
                                      2017               2016             2017 (Unaudited)       2016 (Unaudited) 
                               (Unaudited)        (Unaudited) 
                                       No.                No.                          No.                    No. 
Weighted average number 
 of ordinary shares for 
 the purpose of diluted 
 EPS                         1,167,667,644      1,160,282,883                1,164,873,417          1,159,698,135 
                          ----------------  -----------------        ---------------------  --------------------- 
 

NOTE 11: EARNINGS PER SHARE (CONTINUED)

Diluted earnings per share (continued)

 
                                    Three Months       Three Months         Nine Months        Nine Months 
                                        Ended 30           Ended 30            Ended 30           Ended 30 
                                       September          September           September          September 
                                            2017   2016 (Unaudited)    2017 (Unaudited)   2016 (Unaudited) 
                                     (Unaudited) 
                                             No.                No.                 No.                No. 
Weighted average number 
 of ordinary shares for the 
 purpose of basic EPS              1,156,707,977      1,155,537,983       1,156,047,980      1,153,597,655 
Shares deemed to be issued 
 for no consideration in 
 respect of employee options          10,959,667          4,744,900           8,825,436          6,100,480 
                                 ---------------  -----------------   -----------------  ----------------- 
Weighted average number 
 of ordinary shares used 
 in the calculation of diluted 
 EPS                               1,167,667,644      1,160,282,883       1.164,873,417      1,159,698,135 
                                 ---------------  -----------------   -----------------  ----------------- 
 

NOTE 12: PROPERTY, PLANT AND EQUIPMENT

 
 Nine Months Ended 
 30 September 2017       Office             Land            Plant       Mining   Mine Development   Capital 
 (Unaudited)          equipment    and buildings    and equipment    equipment         properties       WIP      Total 
                        US$'000          US$'000          US$'000      US$'000            US$'000   US$'000    US$'000 
 Cost 
 Balance at 31 
  December 2016           6,052            2,019          584,113      249,491            365,902    75,775  1,283,352 
 Additions                  391                -            6,345       17,495              3,186    23,189     50,606 
 Disposals                    -                -            (316)            -                  -         -      (316) 
 Balance at 30 
  September 2017          6,443            2,019          590,142      266,986            369,088    98,964  1,333,642 
                    -----------  ---------------  ---------------  -----------  -----------------  --------  --------- 
 
 Accumulated 
 depreciation 
 Balance at 31 
  December 2016         (5,400)            (412)        (127,913)    (129,610)          (151,091)         -  (414,426) 
 Depreciation and 
  amortisation            (357)            (102)         (21,949)     (25,251)           (33,827)         -   (81,486) 
 Depreciation and 
  amortisation on 
  disposals                   -                -               52            -                  -         -         52 
 Balance at 30 
  September 2017        (5,757)            (514)        (149,810)    (154,861)          (184,918)         -  (495,859) 
                    -----------  ---------------  ---------------  -----------  -----------------  --------  --------- 
 
 
 
   Year Ended 31 
   December 2016 
   (Audited) 
   Cost 
 Balance at 31 
  December 2015                5,535   1,194     582,854     241,316     316,304   32,469  1,179,672 
 Additions                       547     825       1,474       8,733       2,075   43,306     56,960 
 Disposals                      (30)       -       (215)       (558)           -        -      (803) 
 Transfers                         -       -           -           -      47,523        -     47,523 
                            --------  ------  ----------  ----------  ----------  -------  --------- 
 Balance at 31 
  December 2016                6,052   2,019     584,113     249,491     365,902   75,775  1,283,352 
                            --------  ------  ----------  ----------  ----------  -------  --------- 
 
 Accumulated depreciation 
 Balance at 31 
  December 2015              (4,867)   (293)    (98,504)   (100,826)   (103,715)        -  (308,205) 
 Depreciation and 
  amortisation                 (558)   (119)    (29,496)    (29,424)    (47,376)        -  (106,973) 
 Depreciation and 
  amortisation on 
  disposals                       25       -          87         640           -        -        752 
                            --------  ------  ----------  ----------  ----------  -------  --------- 
 Balance at 31 
  December 2016              (5,400)   (412)   (127,913)   (129,610)   (151,091)        -  (414,426) 
                            --------  ------  ----------  ----------  ----------  -------  --------- 
 Net book value 
 As at 31 December 
  2016                           652   1,607     456,200     119,881     214,811   75,775    868,926 
                            --------  ------  ----------  ----------  ----------  -------  --------- 
 As at 30 September 
  2017                           686   1,505     440,332     112,125     184,171   98,964    837,783 
                            --------  ------  ----------  ----------  ----------  -------  --------- 
 

NOTE 13: EXPLORATION AND EVALUATION ASSETS

 
                                             Nine Months 
                                                   Ended 
                                            30 September    Year Ended 
                                                    2017   31 December 
                                                                  2016 
                                             (Unaudited)     (Audited) 
                                                 US$'000       US$'000 
Balance at the beginning of the period           153,918       152,077 
Expenditure for the period                        23,721        49,487 
Transfer to property plant & equipment                 -      (47,524) 
Impairment of exploration and evaluation 
 asset                                           (2,551)         (122) 
                                           -------------  ------------ 
Balance at the end of the period                 175,088       153,918 
                                           -------------  ------------ 
 

The exploration and evaluation asset relates to the drilling, geological exploration and sampling of potential ore reserves and can be attributed to Egypt (US$38.9m) Burkina Faso (US$107.9m) and Côte d'Ivoire (US$28.3m).

The group's accounting policy for exploration and evaluation expenditure results in exploration and evaluation expenditure being capitalised for those projects where such expenditure is considered likely to be recoverable through future extraction activity or sale or where the exploration activities have not reached a stage which permits a reasonable assessment of the existence of reserves.

Exploration and evaluation assets - impairment considerations

The group's accounting policy requires management to make certain estimates and assumptions as to future events and circumstances, in particular whether the group will proceed with development based on existence of reserves or whether an economically viable extraction operation can be established. Such estimates and assumptions may change from period to period as new information becomes available. If, subsequent to the exploration and evaluation expenditure being capitalised, a judgment is made that recovery of the expenditure is unlikely or the project is to be abandoned, the relevant capitalised amount will be written off to the income statement.

The critical decision point is when it becomes clear that sufficient resources and reserves exist for the group to make the decision to move to a development stage. At this point in time, management will continue to support the Burkina Faso exploration into 2018.

Currently the group is assessing the feasibility of its various exploration projects (individually and in aggregate) within Côte d'Ivoire and Burkina Faso and is actively targeting additional resources and reserves with its ongoing drilling programme and optimisation process. It is only on completion of this process that sufficient resources and reserves data will be available to make a decision to move to development.

Should insufficient resource and reserve data be identified (against internal company hurdle rates) at the end of the drilling programme or a decision is made to develop only a portion of the exploration areas, an impairment trigger would result and the company would determine whether the carrying amount of its exploration and evaluation assets exceeds the recoverable amount, which may result in an impairment charge to the income statement.

In consideration of the requirements of IFRS 6, management are not aware of any information that would otherwise suggest that an impairment trigger has occurred and would require a full impairment test to be carried out at 30 September 2017.

NOTE 14: AVAILABLE-FOR-SALE FINANCIAL ASSETS

The unrealised gains/(losses) on available-for-sale investments recognised in other comprehensive income were as follows:

 
                                 Three Months   Three Months    Nine Months    Nine Months 
                                        Ended          Ended          Ended          Ended 
                                 30 September   30 September   30 September   30 September 
                                         2017           2016           2017           2016 
                                  (Unaudited)    (Unaudited)    (Unaudited)    (Unaudited) 
                                      US$'000        US$'000        US$'000        US$'000 
Profit / (Loss) on fair 
 value of investment - other 
 comprehensive income                       -              -           (91)             61 
                               --------------  -------------  -------------  ------------- 
 
 

The available for sale financial asset at period-end relates to a 5.33% (2016: 5.33%) equity interest in Nyota Minerals Limited ("NYO"), a listed public company, as well as a 0.29% (2016: 0.43%) equity interest in KEFI Minerals plc ("KEFI").

NOTE 15: SHARE BASED PAYMENTS

No share based payments were awarded or granted to Employees during the third quarter.

NOTE 16: FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS' FAIR VALUE DISCLOSURES

The Group has no financial instruments with fair values that are determined by reference to significant unobservable inputs, i.e. those that would be classified as level 3 in the fair value hierarchy, nor have there been any transfers of assets or liabilities between levels of the fair value hierarchy.

The Group's interest in Nyota Minerals Limited and KEFI Minerals plc is classified as an available for sale financial asset. The Group carries its interest in Nyota Minerals Limited and KEFI Minerals plc at fair value, and measures its interest using Level 1 unadjusted quoted prices.

The directors consider that the carrying amounts of financial assets and financial liabilities carried at amortised cost approximate their fair value.

NOTE 17: NOTES TO THE STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

(a) Reconciliation of cash and cash equivalents

For the purpose of the statements of cash flows, cash and cash equivalents includes cash on hand and at bank and deposits.

 
                                                               As at 
                                                As at   30 September 
                                         30 September 
                                                 2017           2016 
                                          (Unaudited)    (Unaudited) 
                                              US$'000        US$'000 
Cash and cash equivalents                     313,003        388,352 
                                        -------------  ------------- 
 

NOTE 17: NOTES TO THE STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS (CONTINUED)

(b) Reconciliation of profit for the period to cash flows from operating activities

 
                                        Three Months   Three Months    Nine Months    Nine Months 
                                               Ended          Ended          Ended          Ended 
                                        30 September   30 September   30 September   30 September 
                                                2017           2016           2017           2016 
                                         (Unaudited)    (Unaudited)    (Unaudited)    (Unaudited) 
                                             US$'000        US$'000        US$'000        US$'000 
Profit before tax                             75,446         93,716        142,732        207,960 
Add/(less) non-cash items: 
Depreciation/amortisation 
 of property, plant and equipment             28,759         28,460         81,486         83,626 
EMRA prepayment offset                             -       (28,750)              -       (28,750) 
Exploration - write off                            -              -          2,551            122 
Increase/(decrease) in provisions              5,891          5,963          6,323          3,017 
Foreign exchange rate (gain)/ 
 loss, net                                       238        (1,136)        (1,480)        (2,083) 
Impairment of available-for-sale 
 financial assets                                  -              8           (91)          (145) 
Loss on disposal of property, 
 plant and equipment                               -              -            263              - 
Share based payment expense/(income)             701            704          1,731          1,774 
 
Changes in working capital 
 during the period : 
Decrease/(Increase) in trade 
 and other receivables                         2,372         19,939          3,880          5,938 
Decrease/(Increase) in inventories             2,800        (8,690)         20,522          4,411 
Decrease/(Increase) in prepayments           (2,606)         26,705        (1,313)         29,134 
(Decrease)/Increase in trade 
 and other payables                          (3,524)         10,651        (8,967)          (613) 
 
Cash flows generated from 
 operating activities                        110,078        147,570        247,637        304,391 
                                       -------------  -------------  -------------  ------------- 
 

(c) Non-cash financing and investing activities

There have been no non-cash financing and investing activities during the current or comparative period quarter.

NOTE 18: INVENTORIES

 
                                         Nine Months    Year Ended 
                                               Ended 
                                        30 September   31 December 
                                                2017          2016 
                                         (Unaudited)     (Audited) 
                                             US$'000       US$'000 
Mining stockpiles and ore in circuit          32,853        34,217 
Stores inventory                              83,187       102,345 
                                       -------------  ------------ 
                                             116,040       136,562 
                                       -------------  ------------ 
 

NOTE 19: SUBSEQUENT EVENTS

As disclosed in the 2016 Annual Report under the related party transactions, SGM entered into a Gold Sales Agreement with the Central Bank of Egypt ("CBE") on 20 December 2016. The agreement provides that the parties may elect, on a monthly basis, for the CBE to supply SGM with its local Egyptian currency requirements for that month (approximately EGP50 million). In return, SGM will provide the equivalent amount in US dollars to purchase refined gold bullion from SGM's refiner, Asahi Refining, on CBE's behalf. This transaction has been entered into as SGM requires local currency for its operations in Egypt (it receives its revenue for gold sales in US Dollars). Subsequent to period end the first purchase order for the sale of refined gold bullion to the CBE was received on 23 October 2017 for EGP50 million.

Other than the above, there has not arisen in the interval between the end of the financial period and the date of this report any item, transaction or event of a material and unusual nature likely in the opinion of the Directors of the Company to affect significantly the operations of the company, the results of those operations, or the state of affairs of the Company in subsequent financial period.

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS

This document contains "forward-looking information" which may include, but is not limited to, statements with respect to the future financial or operating performance of Centamin plc ("Centamin" or the "Company"), its subsidiaries (together the "group"), affiliated companies, its projects, the future price of gold, the estimation of mineral reserves and mineral resources, the realization of mineral reserve and resource estimates, the timing and amount of estimated future production, revenues, margins, costs of production, estimates of initial capital, sustaining capital, operating and exploration expenditures, costs and timing of the development of new deposits, costs and timing of future exploration, requirements for additional capital, foreign exchange risks, governmental regulation of mining operations and exploration operations, timing and receipt of approvals, consents and permits under applicable mineral legislation, environmental risks, title disputes or claims, limitations of insurance coverage and regulatory matters. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "targets", "aims", "anticipates" or "believes" or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases, or may be identified by statements to the effect that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "should", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved.

Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and a variety of material factors, many of which are beyond the Company's control which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Centamin, its subsidiaries and affiliated companies to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned that forward-looking statements may not be appropriate for other purposes than outlined in this document. Such factors include, among others, future price of gold; general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; the actual results of current exploration and development activities; conclusions of economic evaluations and studies; fluctuations in the value of the US dollar relative to the local currencies in the jurisdictions of the Company's key projects; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; possible variations of ore grade or projected recovery rates; accidents, labour disputes or slow-downs and other risks of the mining industry; climatic conditions; political instability, insurrection or war, civil unrest or armed assault; labour force availability and turnover; delays in obtaining financing or governmental approvals or in the completion of exploration and development activities; as well as those factors referred to in the section entitled "Principal risks affecting the Centamin Group" section of the Management Discussion & Analysis filed on SEDAR. The reader is also cautioned that the foregoing list of factors is not exhausted of the factors that may affect the Company's forward-looking statements.

Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended. Forward-looking statements contained herein are made as of the date of this document and, except as required by applicable law, the Company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

QUALIFIED PERSON AND QUALITY CONTROL

Please refer to the technical report entitled "Mineral Resource and Reserve Estimate for the Sukari Gold Project, Egypt" effective on 30 June 2015 and issued on 23 October 2015 and filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com, for further discussion of the extent to which the estimate of mineral resources/reserves may be materially affected by any known environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, socio-political, or other relevant issues as well as details of the qualified persons and quality control.

Information in this report which relates to exploration, geology, sampling and drilling is based on information compiled by geologist Mr Norman Bailie a 'Competent Person' for this purpose and "Qualified Person" as defined in "National Instrument 43-101 of the Canadian Securities Administrators.

LEI: 213800PDI9G7OUKLPV84

Company No: 109180

-------------------------------------------End of Announcement------------------------------------------

This information is provided by RNS

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