Peter Steenkamp, the chief executive of Harmony Gold, says he is seeing offshoots of stability and recovery in South Africas operating environment under the Government of National Unity (GNU), though feels more needs to be done to address investor concerns around crime and logistics as there has already been steady improvements in electricity supply.
Harmony Gold last week lifted headline earnings per share for the year to end June 2024 by 132%, driven by higher gold and elevated production boosted by higher grades and cost containment, with Steenkamp saying there was strong support for bullion prices to remain elevated.
Harmony Gold has said it is preserving cash for capital projects aimed at solidifying its production profile, while it is also investing in copper.
Steenkamp last week emphasised that the company was placing more emphasis on its exposure to copper, which accounts for 21% of its total declared mineral resources of 136.5 million ounces.
Copper is great for us. First of all we have fantastic assets or projects as far as that's concerned, so we're going to be part of copper going forward. Copper is the right commodity to be in so we are very happy to be part of the copper story going forward, said Steenkamp.
