Two S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) mining shares are making some big moves today after releasing their quarterly updates.
One is surging higher while the other is taking a fall.
The ASX 200 mining shares in question are Gold Road Resources Ltd (ASX: GOR) and Nickel Industries Ltd (ASX: NIC).
Here's what's happening.
Gold Road share price sinks on falling production
The Gold Road share price is down 2.8% at $1.66 a share at the time of writing.
Investors are pressuring the ASX 200 mining share after the company reported Gruyere gold production for the June quarter of 62,535 ounces. That was down from 64,323 ounces of gold produced during the March quarter.
Costs were up, too, with the all-in sustaining cost (AISC) rising to AU$2,441 an ounce, up from AU$2,194 an ounce in the prior quarter.
The lower production and higher costs were driven by heavy rains in the area, which saw Gruyere not operating during the first half of April.
This led to Gold Road revising full-year guidance at Gruyere to the range of 290,000 ounces to 305,000 ounces (145,000 – 152,500 ounces attributable) at an attributable AISC guidance of between AU$2,050 and AU$2,200 per ounce.
Over the quarter, the ASX 200 mining share sold 31,216 ounces of gold at an average price of AU$3,532 per ounce.
The company's attributable operating cash flow from Gruyere came in at $74.2 million, up from $57.9 million the prior quarter. Free cash outflows were $9.7 million, with Gold Road having reported a $5.5 million inflow in the March quarter.
As of 30 June, the miner had cash and equivalents of $86.0 million, down from $146.2 million at the end of March, and no debt had been drawn.
Gold Road also held listed investments with a market value of approximately $478.4 million.
The Gold Road share price is up 4% over 12 months.
Which brings us to…
ASX 200 mining share lifts on 'robust' performance
The Nickel Industries share price is up 4.6% at the time of writing, with shares trading for 84 cents apiece.
That sees that ASX 200 mining share up almost 19% year to date.
Investors are snapping up shares today after Nickel Industries announced solid quarterly performance despite difficult conditions, which also included inclement weather.
Despite what it called a "challenging wet season", Nickel Industries reported US$79.5M earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) over the three months, up from EBITDA of US$74.5 million in the March quarter.
The three months also saw the ASX 200 mining share establish a US$250 million Indonesian bank facility and repay US$245 million of April 2024 notes.
The miner also acquired an additional 30.25% interest in the Excelsior Nickel Cobalt HPAL project, which is under development, increasing its interest in the project to 44.0%.
Commenting on the results helping boost the Nickel Industries share price today, managing director Justin Werner said:
Despite very challenging conditions including persistent above average rainfall during the quarter, our mine and RKEF [rotary kiln electric furnace] operations were able to perform robustly.
August typically marks the beginning of the dry season, and the company is focused on setting itself up to deliver a strong second half of the year, with July mine sales at near record levels.
