7th Jul 2016 06:46
LONDON (Alliance News) - Centamin PLC on Thursday said its gold production in the second quarter of 2016 was significantly ahead of the previous quarter and the previous year and said it will update its full-year production and cost guidance in its upcoming financial report.
Centamin has enjoyed a stellar year during 2016, like many gold miners, on the back of rising gold prices, and its shares are trading over 2.5 times higher than at the start of the year.
On Thursday, the FTSE 250 miner said gold production in the second quarter of 2016 totalled 140,306 ounces of gold, reporting improved throughput rates and consistent productivity levels. All of that production comes from the company's mine in Egypt.
Production was up 12% from the first quarter of the year when Centamin produced 125,268 ounces of gold and up 30% from the second quarter of 2015 when production totalled 107,781 ounces.
Gold was produced from 3.5 million tonnes of ore taken from the open pit, higher than the 2.4 million tonnes of ore used in the first quarter. Underground operations contributed 256,000 tonnes of ore in the period, slightly lower than 281,000 tonnes in the previous quarter.
Plant throughput was a touch higher quarter-on-quarter at 2.9 million tonnes of ore and was up from the 2.7 million tonnes a year ago. The plant processed 1,432 tonnes of ore per hour in the second quarter, rising from 1,421 tonnes in the first quarter and from 1,361 tonnes a year earlier.
"The Sukari operation has continued to build on the strong start to the year, with total first half production of 265,574 ounces of gold. The continued optimisation of the processing operation saw plant throughput increase further during the second quarter, remaining above our base case forecast rate of 11.0 million tonnes per annum," said Chief Executive Andrew Pardy.
"The open pit delivered an increase ore material movement and the underground mine continued to deliver both tonnes and grade in excess of our base case forecast. Full-year 2016 production and cost guidance will be updated with the second-quarter financial report," Pardy added.
By Joshua Warner; [email protected]; @JoshAlliance
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