7th Apr 2016 06:40
LONDON (Alliance News) - Centamin PLC on Thursday said gold production increased during the first quarter of 2016 as the company remains on track to deliver on its full-year guidance.
The company, which derives all of its production from the Sukari mine in Egypt, said total gold production in the first quarter amounted to 125,268 ounces of gold, which is 6.5% higher than the previous quarter and a 16% increase from the same period a year earlier.
That production can be compared to the 117,644 ounces produced in the final quarter of 2015, and the 108,233 ounces produced in the first quarter of 2015.
"With quarterly production rates expected to remain within the 450,000 to 500,000 ounces per annum range, our full-year guidance remains unchanged at 470,000 ounces," said Chief Executive Andrew Pardey.
The throughput at the processing plant was 4.3% higher than the previous quarter and also above Centamin's target rate of 11.0 million tonnes per year. The amount of material moved from the open pit at Sukari increased 10% quarter-on-quarter, contributing 7.9% more production.
With the open pit contributing more, the underground operation delivered 6.3% less ore than in the previous quarter, but Centamin said this remains above its forecast production rate of 1.0 million tonnes of ore per year.
"The open pit delivered an increase in material movement over the previous quarter, and the underground mine continues to deliver production rates in excess of our base case forecast," said Pardy.
"Continuing optimisation of the expanded Sukari processing and mining operations supports the potential for further productivity increases over the coming quarters," the chief executive added.
Centamin said its stockpile of ore has decreased by 213,000 tonnes by the end of the first quarter, and now stands at 491,000 tonnes, which will be processed sometime in the future.
By Joshua Warner; [email protected]; @JoshAlliance
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