First-quarter sales leap 83% at Petropavlovsk

Russian gold producer Petropavlovsk (POG) showed it was in stellar form on Thursday as it announced sales up 83% in the first quarter.

The FTSE 250-listed said gold sold from the 1 January to date was 124,100 ounces, compared with 68,000 ounces in the same period in 2010. The average sales price was 27% higher than last year at this time at $1,389 per ounce.

Following the announcement shares in the company surged 20% before falling back to sit 2% up at 918p.

Petropavlovsk also said its total cash costs had been lower than estimated during the period.

Peter Hambro, chairman of the company, said: "I am pleased to report that the results for the first quarter of this year show that we are on track to achieve our production target with our cash costs being under tight control."

The group said its estimated base case scenario for attributable gold production for the year remained unchanged at 600,000 ounces, which it envisages being weighted towards the second half of the year.

Performance of the firm's Pioneer, Pokrovskiy and Malomir sites has been strong in the first half of April with Pokrovsky and Pioneer exceeding internal production estimates by 47% and 14% respectively, while Malomir production was in line with estimates.

The firm's fourth gold mine Albyn remained on schedule for commissioning in the fourth quarter.