What Eskom taketh away, the rand giveth back. That’s one way of looking at prospects for Pan African Resources, a midtier gold producer that seems to have completely missed the rand gold price bonanza being lapped up by other South African-focused gold miners.

Pan African’s share price has fallen 9% in 12 months whereas shares in Harmony Gold are 81% higher. DRDGold, the company with which Pan African is most often compared, is 11% higher. Over five years, the difference is even starker: Pan African has returned a respectable 211%, including dividends, but DRDgold’s total return is a whopping 703%. All three companies are exposed to the South African furies: government failures, social foment and rampant crime. Yet their relative performance proves the simplest of equations applies to mining shares: maintain production and contain costs. ..

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