The stock is currently sitting at A$1.04 and has been for much of the quarter.
That’s well below the February high of $1.86 and puts Resolute down by just over 20% for 2017 to date.
By comparison, similarly sized producer Saracen Mineral Holdings is up by 50% for the year, while fellow ASX 200 gold producers Northern Star Resources and St Barbara reached 52-week highs yesterday.
“I’m frustrated by the trading band of our shares,” Welborn told the company’s annual general meeting today.
Welborn noted that Resolute put out big resource upgrades for Syama and Bibiani last month and it didn’t move the needle.
“It tells me the market is looking for [operational] success,” he said.
The Syama underground is ahead of schedule, which Welborn described as a major technical achievement, and he said it was important to remain on track.
“I’m entirely convinced that we’re going to technically and convincingly develop that underground ahead of schedule,” he said.
Welborn suggested the market was pricing in execution risk, noting that analyst price targets ranged from $1.40-1.80.
“It’s our job to deliver,” he said.
At 10 million ounces of gold produced or found to date, Syama is Africa’s fifth-largest gold producer behind renowned mines owned by Randgold Resources, Acacia Mining, Centamin and Newmont Mining.
“All of these assets exist within multibillion dollar companies because that’s the scale,” Welborn said.
“This is one of Africa’s great gold mines.”
With 80km of strike untested below 200m depth, Welborn believes it’s just the beginning.
Unlike previous Syama owners Randgold and BHP, Resolute had proven it could process the sulphide refractory ore.
It also led to the discovery of the 400,000oz Nafolo discovery.
“You wouldn’t find it unless you were looking for sulphide ore,” Welborn said.
Given its two long-life operations at Syama and Ravenswood, Welborn said Resolute didn’t technically need to explore further.
“We don’t explore out of necessity – what we look for is value-creating exploration,” he said.
Resolute is also close to finishing a feasibility study into the restart of Bibiani in Ghana.
Welborn likened the operation to Syama because at Bibiani, two previous operators had also been unsuccessful.
“The pathway to Bibiani needs to be quicker,” he said.
Shareholders passed all resolutions, though a representative from the Australian Shareholders Association asked chairman Martin Botha if he was concerned that Welborn was distracted from his job by rugby interests.
“I’m responsible for monitoring John and his contribution to Resolute,” Botha said.
“I’m satisfied John is fully committed to Resolute and in terms of his commitment and travel, he delivers more than we would expect from a CEO.”
