US$193.7 million cash and 112,204 ounces mark PDI Gold’s first producer year

Merger turns PDI Gold into a producer

PDI Gold Limited (ASX:PDI; TSX:PDI) has used its first post-merger annual report to draw a line under its development-stage past. The company completed its merger with Robex Resources on 15 April 2026, bringing the Kiniéro mine in Guinea and Nampala mine in Mali into the group and creating a production platform that reported US$202.9 million in statutory revenue for FY26.

The headline financial result is less tidy. PDI Gold reported a US$63.7 million net loss and a US$77.4 million operating loss, with the accounts absorbing about US$36 million in merger and integration costs and US$36.9 million in non-cash merger-related share-based payments. A US$30.1 million gain from the revaluation of an embedded derivative also affected the result, making the statutory profit line a poor shorthand for the operating change underway.

Cash tells a more useful part of the story. Cash and equivalents rose to US$193.7 million from US$26.9 million a year earlier, helped by US$155.5 million of cash acquired in the Robex transaction and operating cash generation. The group also reported US$81.5 million of restricted cash and US$90.4 million of gold bullion at year-end, although it carries a fully drawn US$130 million Sprott facility and a US$127.0 million gold-linked embedded derivative liability.

Kiniéro drives production and cash generation

For operational context, rather than statutory financial reporting, the annual report presents the combined mines’ performance from 1 January to 30 June 2026. Kiniéro poured 92,430 ounces at an all-in sustaining cost of US$1,158 an ounce, while Nampala produced 19,774 ounces at US$1,843 an ounce. Together, the mines poured 112,204 ounces and recorded a combined AISC of US$1,308 an ounce.

Kiniéro is the clear operational centre of gravity. The mine processed 3.83 million tonnes at an average head grade of 0.86 grams per tonne and recovery of 90.4%, with throughput above its 6 million-tonne-per-year nameplate capacity. The company says the immediate focus is sustaining throughput and recovery through the first full wet season, while replacing reserves and pursuing further resource growth.

The report separates those six-month operating metrics from the audited accounts, which include Robex only from 15 April to 30 June. That distinction matters: the statutory figures record 45,635 ounces of gold sales and US$202.9 million of revenue, while the broader operating section reports 90,723 ounces of sales and US$418.1 million of revenue for the January-to-June operating period. The numbers describe different reporting windows and should not be read as competing full-year results.

Bankan remains the strategic prize

Bankan is the asset that could change PDI Gold’s scale again. The Guinea project has a 5.5 million-ounce Mineral Resource and advanced through front-end engineering, site investigations, preliminary earthworks and environmental and social work during FY26. Contracts or deposits were in place for long-lead packages including a 40MW power station and grinding mills, while the company said no increase was currently anticipated to the US$463 million DFS capital estimate.

The important qualification is the permit. Bankan has not reached construction because the Exploitation Permit remains outstanding. PDI Gold says it is engaging with the Guinean Government and preparing the project to move quickly once approval is granted, but the timing and conditions of that approval remain outside the company’s control.

Bigger resource base, new operating risks

The Robex transaction lifted group Mineral Resources from 5.5 million ounces to 10.1 million ounces and Ore Reserves from 3.0 million ounces to 4.8 million ounces, now spanning Bankan, Kiniéro and Nampala. The enlarged base supports the company’s stated ambition of more than 400,000 ounces of annual production by 2029, but that ambition depends on Bankan’s permit, construction and execution as well as continued performance from the existing mines.

There are also new jurisdictional and financing variables. Guinea introduced a decree requiring domestically produced gold to be refined locally before export after a transition period ending 6 October 2026; PDI Gold says exports continued under existing arrangements and that it does not expect a material effect on 2026 guidance. The company also invested US$10 million in Awalé Resources for an 11.6% stake after year-end, and has shifted its financial year-end to 31 December, making the next six-month reporting period an important bridge for comparability.