TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Dual-listed Kinross Gold has reported an end to a three-week strike by employees at its Tasiast mine, in Mauritania.
The Toronto-based miner advised on Monday that personnel started returning to work on Saturday and negotiations with the staff delegates on a new collective labour agreement and other outstanding items were expected to restart within ten days.
Employees did, however, retain the right to strike during negotiations, subject to Mauritanian labour laws.
Kinross pointed out that the strike was not expected to impact its full-year regional guidance and did not affect development of the Tasiast Phase 1 expansion.
Tasiast produced 219 045 oz of gold equivalent in 2015. The Phase 1 expansion was expected to nearly double output to 409 000 oz of gold from 2018 to 2027, while reducing cost of sales significantly, at a manageable capital cost. Phase 2 comprised lifting the operation’s output to 777 000 oz of gold from 2020 to 2026, at all-in sustaining costs (AISC) of $665/oz of gold.
Kinross planned to produce about 2.7-million to 2.9-million gold-equivalent ounces in 2016, with AISC expected to range between $890/oz to $990/oz of gold equivalent.