North American Palladium Announces Improvements With First Quarter Results

North American Palladium Ltd. (TSX:PDL,NYSEMKT:PAL) announced its operating, development, and financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2014. Highlights included a revenue of $48.7 million, the completion of a $32 million financing, and an average of 3,065 tonnes per day of underground production, which beat North American Palladium’s operating guidance.

As quoted in the press release:

In the first quarter of 2014, the Company’s LDI mine produced 42,641 ounces of payable palladium at a total cash cost of US$492 per ounce(1). The cash cost is well below our full year guidance of US$550 and was positively impacted by higher underground grade, lower operating costs, higher mill recoveries and the effects on by-product credits of a weaker Canadian dollar, partially offset by $2.7 million of propane and power costs above plan which are attributable to the extreme winter conditions experienced during the quarter.

North American Palladium CEO, Phil du Toit, said:

During the first quarter we made significant improvements across our operations. Key metrics including underground production, mill recoveries, average palladium grades and ounces of payable palladium produced were all in line with or ahead of our full year guidance. These operational improvements demonstrate that our ramp-up efforts at LDI are progressing well and trending in the right direction. We remain focused on finalizing improvements to the underground ore handling system to help drive further increases in production rates in the coming quarters.

Click here to read the North American Palladium Ltd. (TSX:PDL) press release