5th Oct 2018 07:53
LONDON (Alliance News) - Centamin PLC on Friday said production from its Sukari gold mine in Egypt rose in the third quarter of its current financial year, helped by operational improvements.
However, it did say these improvements have been slower than hoped.
The miner's gold production in the three months to the end of September was 117,720 ounces, up 27% from 92,803 ounces produced in the second quarter. The figure fell 25% year-on-year.
Looking forward, the company expects improvements to continue in the fourth quarter of 2018, resulting in gold production of 145,000 ounces. For 2018, Centamin expects to produce 480,000 ounces of gold. In 2017, total gold production stood at 544,658 ounces.
The third quarter output was helped by month-on-month operational improvements in both the open pit and underground mining, Centamin explained, with production in September reaching 48,511 ounces.
Centamin said the open pit is performing ahead of expectations with 6.6 megatons of ore mined and 19.9 megatons of material moved.
Meanwhile, total underground ore production stood at 327,000 tonnes in the third quarter, up 13% quarter-on-quarter due to the successful ongoing implementation of changes initiated in the second quarter.
During the period, the Centamin completed mining of the fourth stage transitional zone, which will be a source of ore for at least the next three years
"These results are a demonstrable operational improvement on the second quarter," said Chief Executive Andrew Pardey.
"We are extremely pleased with the operational performance from the open pit," continued Pardey. "Our focus remains on achieving optimal and consistent performance."
The company said it will publish its full results for the third quarter on November 1.
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