KUALA LUMPUR (April 12): Bahvest Resources Bhd’s unit has received approval from the federal government's mining regulator for its gold mining operations in Tawau, Sabah.
Bahvest said its wholly owned Wullersdorf Resources Sdn Bhd received the approval from the Department of Mineral and Geoscience Malaysia (JMG) for the operational mining scheme in accordance with Section 10 of the Mineral Development Act 1994 (MDA).
“With the above approval, Wullersdorf is now operating under both the MDA, in addition to the previous approval from the Sabah state government under Section 18(d) of the Sabah Mining Ordinance 1960,” the group said in a bourse filing on Friday.
JMG is the mineral development and mining regulator, under the Ministry of Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change, responsible for administering and enforcing the MDA. Wullersdorf, meanwhile, is Bahvest's primary operating subsidiary. The group's entire revenue for its financial year 2023 was derived from Wullersdorf's mining operations.
Shares in Bahvest ended four sen or 7.08% higher at 60.5 sen on Friday, valuing the group at RM756.76 million.
Much like other gold-linked counters, Bahvest’s share price has been on the rise in recent weeks — surging 44.05% from March 20’s close of 42 sen — as gold charted new record levels, with the US Federal Reserve signalling that the central bank was in no rush to cut interest rates as inflation proved to be a stickier-than-expected problem.
The precious metal, which touched a fresh all-time high of US$2,400.67 (RM11,452.40) an ounce earlier on Friday, was trading at US$2,399.82 (RM11,448.34) at the time of writing.
For the first quarter ended Dec 31, 2023 (1QFY2024), Bahvest made a net profit of RM11.09 million on a revenue of RM19.85 million, driven by the sale of 65.87kg of gold and 92.36kg of silver. Bahvest changed its financial year-end to Sept 30 from March 31 in August last year.
“Notably, in 1QFY2024 alone, the group produced over 150kg of gold; of this amount, 65.87kg were sold within the quarter under review,” Bahvest said in its financial results filing back in February this year.
“The remaining balance has been retained as inventory, a decision guided by administrative consideration, and integrated into our strategic operational planning,” it added.