Stillwater Mining Company has reported record profits for the quarter ending June 30, 2011. The Montana based company has seen a 192% hike in profits recorded compared to the same quarter the previous year. The company earned nearly $42.7 million in the second quarter this year equating to 39 cents a share.
Frank McAllister Chief Executive Officer and chairman of Stillwater Mining Co said that production and profits so far this year have been excellent. With strong fundamentals behind PGMs or platinum group metals and copper and gold, he believed they were achieving positions of scale in commodity classes that can deliver shareholder value over the long term.
The company had added help with the increased prices for palladium and platinum. It mines both from two underground mines located in south-central Montana. The mines produced a total of 142,700 ounces of palladium and platinum during the second quarter of 2011. This is a 26.7% increase from the 112,600 ounces produced during the second quarter of 2010.
Mr McAllister said that while average PGM prices declined slightly during the second quarter from earlier in the year, they have continued to increase significantly on a quarter over quarter comparison. Following an excellent first half of 2011, based on updated estimates and other operating assumptions, the company has increased their 2011 annual guidance for mined palladium and platinum production to 515,000 ounces from the original guidance of 500,000 ounces for the year.
The CEO added that development activities are continuing to progress on their Blitz and Graham Creek projects along the J-M Reef here in Montana, as well as on their Marathon PGM-copper project near the north shore of Lake Superior in Ontario, Canada.