Focus Dec quarter output within target
PERTH (miningweekly.com) - Gold miner Focus Minerals on Friday reported that production for the three months ending December had remained in line with targets, despite its Coolgardie operation delivering output below expectations.
For the quarter ended December, Focus produced 41 097 oz of gold from the combined operations of its Laverton and Coolgardie projects. Gold sales for the period reached 41 691 oz, with revenues recorded at A$68.95-million.
Focus noted that the Coolgardie project produced 15 423 oz of gold during the three months under review, which was 5 000 oz below expectation. As a result of the lower production, an associated drop in grade and a write-down of some of the lower grade stockpiles, costs at Coolgardie also increased during the quarter.
The gold miner told shareholders that the underperformance in production was caused by an eight-week timing delay in the transition between the Tindals underground and the new Greenfields openpit mine, and through permitting delays at Big Blow, in relation to a planned cut-back, which saw the cessation of mining at that pit during the quarter.
Focus undertook a number of actions to deal with the production challenges at Coolgardie, including plans to accelerate the pace and scale of the Greenfields operation, and deciding to defer the start of the Alicia pit to re-evaluate its mining methodology.
Meanwhile, the Laverton operations produced 25 674 oz of gold over 37 processing days, taking gold output at the mine to 100 548 oz for calendar 2012. This was a 32% increase year-on-year.
During the quarter under review, mining transitioned from the Apollo pit complex to Burtville, which would become the primary ore source for the Laverton operations.
During the March quarter, the Laverton operations were expected to produce between 18 000 oz and 22 000 oz, while the Coolgardie operations would deliver between 12 000 oz and 15 000 oz.
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