Canadian gold miner Iamgold has lowered its production guidance for the year, to reflect the suspension of mining activities at the Rosebel mine, in Suriname, where an illegal miner died last week, and lower production from Westwood, in Canada.

The new attributable guidance is between 765 000 oz and 810 000 oz, compared with the previous forecast of 810 000 oz to 870 000 oz.

“Production for the year will be impacted by a temporary suspension of mining activities at Rosebel as we work alongside our local stakeholders to resolve the security issues related to unauthorised mining. As a result of this, combined with lower grades at Rosebel, we have adjusted our production and cost guidance for the year,” said CEO Steve Letwin.

Rosebel’s production guidance has been lowered from between 315 000 oz and 330 000 oz to a range of 240 000 oz to 260 000 oz, while Westwood’s guidance was trimmed to between 95 000 oz and 105 000 oz, from 100 000 oz to 120 000 oz.

The lower-end of the Essakane guidance, in Burkina Faso, has been increased to 380 000 oz, from 375 000 oz, while the top-end of the guidance remained unchanged at 390 000 oz.

The Sadiola joint venture (JV) with AngloGold Ashanti, in Mali, has increased to between 50 000 oz and 55 000 oz, from between 20 000 oz and 30 000 oz.

Attributable gold production, inclusive of JV operations, was 198 000 oz for the second quarter 2019, down 16 000 oz from the same prior year period. The decrease was primarily owing to lower head grades at Essakane (9 000 oz) and Westwood (7 000 oz) and lower throughput and recoveries at Sadiola (2 000 oz), partially offset by higher recoveries at Rosebel (2 000 oz).

Attributable gold sales were 187 000 oz for the second quarter 2019, down 28 000 oz from the same prior year period.

Cost of sales was $941/oz, up 14% from the same prior year period primarily owing to lower sales volumes, while all-in sustaining costs (AISC) were $1 132/oz, up 5% from the same prior year period. The increase was primarily owing to higher cost of sales per ounce, partially offset by lower sustaining capital expenditures.

Iamgold has also revised upwards its guidance for cost of sales and total cash costs to a range of $910/oz to $960/oz and $860/oz to $910/oz, respectively, while the AISC guidance has been revised upward to $1 090/oz to $1 130/oz.

The miner reported revenue of $246.5-million and posted net loss of $14.4-million, or $0.03 a share. The adjusted net loss was $15.5-million, or $0.03 a share.

SARAMACCA POTENTIAL

Meanwhile, in a separate statement on Wednesday, Iamgold outlined the potential of the Saramacca JV project, 25 km from the Rosebel operation.

The miner reported assay results, including 24 m grading 9.67 g/t gold,  of which 6 m graded 26.41 g/t.

Senior VP for exploration, Craig MacDougall said that the initial results from the drilling programme evaluating the potential for underground resources were “very encouraging” and that it justified additional diamond drilling to delineate mineral resources which could be extracted by underground mining methods.

“The drilling results along strike of the Saramacca deposit also continue to highlight the exploration potential to further expand the mineral resources at and along the Saramacca mineralised trend."

The Saramacca project, based on an open pit mining scenario, hosts estimated proven and probable mineral reserves totaling 1.5-million ounces of contained gold and measured and indicated mineral resources totaling 1.8-million ounces of contained gold, and inferred resources totaling 0.3-million ounces of contained gold.