JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Gold producer Harmony Gold on Thursday evening reported that its gold output for the quarter ended December 31, would be 10% lower compared with the September 2014 quarter.
While it did not provide its production figures for the quarter, it attributed the lower output to production stoppages at its Kusasalethu mine, in South Africa, and the Hidden Valley operation, in Papua New Guinea.
Late last year, Harmony implemented a new plan, including mining lower volumes at higher grades and at a reduced cost, to bring Kusasalethu back into profitability by the end of June this year.
At the group’s Hidden Valley operations, a fatality and a belt tear on the overland conveyor (OLC) resulted in production stoppages at the mine.
“There was no structural damage to the OLC, but belt replacement work was not completed until January 2015. Maintenance scheduled for the OLC and the metallurgical plant in the first half of 2015 was brought forward and conducted while the belt was being replaced,” the group explained in an update to shareholders.
Costs were adversely impacted during the period as ore was hauled to the mill by truck.
Further, Harmony’s Target 3 operation, in the Free State, was placed on care and maintenance during the period.
The gold miner noted, however, that the majority of its operations had performed in line with production plans. The company’s underground grade had also remained consistent.
Also on a positive note, the company’s South African operations had recorded a fatality-free quarter in the three months to December 31.
Harmony would publish the financial results for the December quarter on February 9.