Emerald Resources delivered a sharp lift in FY26 profit as its Okvau gold mine generated the cash to fund two new developments. The debt-free, unhedged producer is now moving Dingo Range and Memot from permitting and study work towards construction, while warning that key reserves and timing milestones are still ahead.
- A$259.6 million FY26 net profit, up from A$87.6 million
- 100,405 ounces produced at Okvau at US$972/oz AISC
- A$490.8 million held in cash, bullion and listed investments
- Group mineral resources rise to 3.93 million ounces
- Dingo Range and Memot fully permitted, with maiden reserves pending
Okvau delivers the cash engine
Emerald Resources NL (ASX:EMR) has posted a 196% increase in annual net profit to A$259.6 million, turning a strong year at its Cambodian Okvau mine into a more consequential development story. Revenue reached A$612.3 million, while operating cash flow before income tax was A$401.0 million for the year ended 30 June 2026.
Okvau produced 100,405 ounces at an all-in sustaining cost of US$972 an ounce, compared with US$1,075/oz a year earlier. Gold sales totalled 95,900 ounces at an average price of US$4,273/oz. The mine’s plant continued to run above its 2.0 million-tonne-per-year design rate, processing 2.29 million tonnes at an 85% recovery rate.
The balance sheet is now doing much of the strategic talking. Emerald finished the year with A$433.6 million in cash and a further A$34.1 million of bullion, while listed investments lifted total cash, bullion and investments to A$490.8 million. The company remains debt-free and unhedged, although it has no dividend recommendation on the table.
Dingo Range moves into development accounting
The clearest sign that Dingo Range has moved beyond exploration is buried in the accounts: Emerald transferred A$208.0 million from exploration and evaluation assets into mines under development after committing to major long-lead equipment. The project now carries A$238.0 million in mines-under-development expenditure, and the company has appointed MACA Mining as preferred contractor under an estimated A$562.5 million, 74-month contract. The scale of that commitment was already visible in the Dingo Range MACA contract, announced earlier this year.
Dingo Range is fully permitted, with its camp commissioned, site infrastructure underway and mobilisation of the mining fleet anticipated in December 2026. Its January resource estimate stands at 40.9 million tonnes at 1.1 grams per tonne for 1.41 million ounces, including a higher-grade 1.12 million-ounce component. But the project’s maiden ore reserve, definitive feasibility study, updated schedule and project timeline remain outstanding. Those documents will determine how much of the resource becomes economically mineable and when the cash outlay begins converting into production.
Memot adds a second Cambodian development test
Memot has also cleared its permitting hurdle and now hosts a 45.0 million-tonne resource at 1.2g/t for 1.70 million ounces. Emerald completed a 476-hole, 25,533-metre close-spaced RC program to improve confidence in early mining areas, committed to an 8,000-kilowatt Metso SAG mill and submitted its environmental and social impact assessment. A maiden ore reserve is expected to underpin the final feasibility study.
Together with Okvau’s 820,000-ounce resource and Dingo Range’s 1.41 million ounces, those projects take Emerald’s global resource base to 3.93 million ounces. The company says its strategic target is a multi-mine producer exceeding 300,000 ounces a year across two continents, but that target remains dependent on feasibility outcomes, reserve conversion, construction execution and operating performance rather than resources alone.
FY27 guidance leaves execution as the test
Emerald expects Okvau to produce between 100,000 and 115,000 ounces in FY27 at an AISC of US$980 to US$1,080/oz. That guidance is broadly steady on production and slightly higher on cost than FY26, with the company saying underground expansion is expected to be incorporated later in the year. Near-mine drilling at Okvau North and Granite Hill, as well as underground and open-pit extension work, is intended to provide supplementary feed, but assay results and future resource updates will decide how much weight that opportunity can carry.
The company is also building optionality outside its core operations. Emerald’s holding in Manda Resources stood at about 49% at year-end, with the vehicle pursuing a North Queensland gold and antimony portfolio and a proposed ASX listing. Recent coverage recorded that Manda reached 1.33Moz after completing its asset acquisitions, but Emerald’s annual report makes clear that the investment sits alongside, rather than replaces, the capital demands of Dingo Range and Memot.
For shareholders, the arithmetic is attractive but unfinished: one producing mine is funding two development bets, while the annual report’s most important next numbers have not yet arrived. The next decisive disclosures are likely to be the maiden reserves and final studies for Dingo Range and Memot, alongside evidence that Okvau can hold its cost and production range as underground work gathers pace.
Bottom Line?
Emerald has the cash and resources to pursue its multi-mine strategy; the next phase will show whether those resources can become reserves, construction milestones and repeatable production without stretching the balance sheet.
Questions in the middle?
- Will Dingo Range’s maiden ore reserve and final feasibility study support the scale and timing implied by its current development spend?
- Can Memot convert its 1.70 million-ounce resource into an economically compelling reserve while resettlement and environmental work continue?
- How much additional Okvau production can underground and near-mine feed deliver, and at what cost?