JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – Harmony Gold has repaid debt of 1.1 billion rand ($78 million) after benefiting from South Africa’s weaker rand currency, the company said on Wednesday, sending its shares rising.

Harmony has repaid $50 million on a $250 million revolving credit facility and another 400 million on its 1.3 billion rand facility, the company said in a statement, adding that its mines were performing in line with the set targets.

The company generates more than 90 percent of its revenue in South Africa, but has plans to expand into Papua New Guinea, where it jointly owns the project to develop the massive Golpu deposit with Australia’s Newcrest.

“Our hard work of the last couple of years is finally paying off, enabling us to reduce our debt, strengthen our balance sheet and provide us with even more certainty that we can fund the Golpu project,” Harmony Chief Executive Graham Briggs.

Shares in Harmony climbed 7.38 percent to 9.46 rand by 1130 GMT following the news, compared to a 2 percent rise in the Johannesburg Securities Exchange’s Gold Mining Index.

($1 = 14.3360 rand)

(Reporting by TJ Strydom; Editing by James Macharia)