South Africa's three major gold mining companies are expected to report an improved June quarter when compared with the March quarter due to the higher gold price, according to gold analysts.

"The South African gold mines are likely to have had a good quarter after production was lower in the March quarter, due to seasonal factors and the holiday break. The rand price was also substantially higher during the June quarter," an analyst said.

"I'm not expecting a particularly good operating quarter. The improvement in financial results will be driven by the gold price," a second analyst said.

Earnings surge?

"All the heavy lifting during the June quarter was done by the gold price. If the gold companies play ball in the September quarter and the gold price remains at current levels then earnings could improve by another 40 percent to 50 percent in the September quarter," Johannesburg-based analyst for Investec Leon Esterhuizen said.

The rand gold price was R144 139 rand per kilogramme, from Wednesday's close of R146 881 rand, and after climbing to a record high above R155 000 rand per kilogramme earlier in the week.

"The June quarter will be a very disappointing operational quarter. The gold mining companies need to be generating a cash operating margin of at least 30 percent and they have to improve their cost control and stop mining low grade ore," Esterhuizen added.

During the June quarter, the average closing rand gold price was R130 295 per kilogramme, up 19.5 percent from the March quarter's average closing rand gold price of R109 053 per kilogramme.

In the three months ended June, the average closing price for US dollar gold was $628.37 a troy ounce, up 13 percent from the average closing price of $554.63/oz.

AngloGold Ashanti will report its June quarter result on July 27, Gold Fields will issue its results on August 3 and Harmony Gold on August 7.