2nd Oct 2020 08:31
(Alliance News) - Centamin PLC said Friday it will defer open pit mining operations in the Stage 4 West wall of the open pit at its Sukari gold mine in Egypt after detecting movement in a localised area of waste material.
Shares in Centamin were down 18% at 163.95 pence in London in morning trading.
The decision to defer operations in that zone is a preventative measure, aiming to ensure workforce health and safety, Centamin said. As a result of the deferral, however, its 2020 guidance will be reduced, and it will include an updated mine plan for future years in its life of asset review.
The Jersey-headquartered miner - which also has less significant operations in Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast - already has implemented measures to stabilise movement in the affected area at Sukari and has begun a geotechnical assessment aiming to develop a plan for mining the impacted area.
Centamin had planned to mine the high-grade Stage 4 West wall in the fourth quarter of 2020 and in 2021, with the area containing around 90,000 ounces of gold in situ in grades of up to 2.0 grams of gold per tonne of ore. Mining of this high-grade material will be rescheduled.
Stage 4 North and Stage 5 North open pit mining will continue, though at a grade of less than 1.0 grams per tonne, with any shortfall from the open put to be provided from low-grade surface stockpiles. Underground mining remains unaffected and is to continue as planned, Centamin said.
For the three month ended September 30, preliminary gold production was around 120,000 ounces, taking nine-month production to about 375,000 ounces. Centamin's preliminary estimate is that fourth quarter production will be reduced to around 70,000 ounces.
A third quarter report will be released October 21, with more updates at that time. Preliminary conclusions from the life of asset revenue are due by the end of 2020.
Chief Executive Martin Horgan said: "The safety of our employees is paramount. The use of the slope radar system has facilitated pro-active management of geotechnical risks and we have decided to defer production from this higher-grade area in order to protect our workforce and preserve the value of Sukari. As previously disclosed, we are undertaking a [life of asset] review of Sukari. This is well advanced and any rehabilitation requirements and implications for long term geotechnical stability will be incorporated into this initiative."
By Anna Farley; [email protected]
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