Goldcorp Halts Work at Eleonore Project - Analyst Blog

Goldcorp Inc. (GG) has stopped construction work at the Eleonore gold project in Quebec. The company has also started to evacuate the employees due to forest fires in the James Bay region. According to Goldcorp, a fire, located roughly 100 kilometres from Eleonore, is progressing with prevailing winds toward the mine site.

Goldcorp is working with local and provincial authorities so that the health and safety of all people in the area is ensured. The company will also keep a team at the site to manage and implement preventive emergency measures.

Recently, Freeport McMoRan Copper and Gold Inc. (FCX) also announced a force majeure on shipments from the PT Freeport Indonesia (PT-FI) Grasberg mine. This ensued after a tunnel collapsed in the mine on May 14, claiming 28 lives.

Though the accident had spared the area of operations, Freeport temporarily suspended mining and processing activities as part of the rescue and recovery operation. However, the company has resumed open pit mining, and concentrating activities at its Grasberg operations in Papua after it received approval from Indonesia's Department of Energy and Mineral Resources (DEMR).

Goldcorp is one of the world's fastest growing senior gold producers and it provides its shareholders with superior returns from high quality assets. Goldcorp's first-quarter 2013 adjusted earnings (excluding one-time items) of 31 cents a share missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 40 cents and were well below 50 cents a share earned in the year-ago quarter.

Profit, as reported, amounted to $309 million or 33 cents per share in the reported quarter, down roughly 35% from $479 million or 51 cents in the prior-year quarter, hurt by a double-digit decline in sales.

Goldcorp posted revenues of $1.02 billion in the quarter, down roughly 16% year over year. It missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.39 billion.
Goldcorp currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Other companies in the mining industry with favorable Zacks Rank are Brigus Gold Corp (BRD) and Lake Shore Gold Corp. (LSG). While Brigus Gold retains a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Lake Shore carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).