TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Ontario-focused gold miner Kirkland Lake Gold this week said it had widened its net loss for the third quarter ended January 31, to $9.7-million or 14c a share, compared with the net loss and comprehensive loss of $800 000 or 1c a share in the previous quarter.

The company reported a year-to-date net loss and comprehensive loss of $10.1-million compared with net income and comprehensive income of $41-million in the 2012 financial year.

Gold poured in the quarter totalled 21 601 oz, 3% lower than the second quarter’s total of 22 349 oz and 15% lower than the same quarter a year earlier at 25 295 oz. The decrease in gold poured was mainly owing to grade and inventory fluctuations and the timing of pours.

Only 17 340 oz were sold in the quarter as a result of a delay in shipment of 4 271 oz of gold bullion as a result of poor weather conditions that resulted in road closures. This delay affected both revenue and inventory accounts and increased the net loss in the quarter by $1.8-million. 

In the quarter, 73 678 t of ore were produced from the company’s Macassa mine, located in the Kirkland Lake gold belt, at a head grade of 0.32 oz/t and the company achieved a gold recovery rate of 95.66% to produce 22 261 oz of gold.

So far this year the company had produced 214 679 t of ore at a head grade of 0.29 oz/t with a gold recovery rate of 95.57%, to produce 60 015 oz.

Revenues totalled $29.5-million, down 20.5% quarter-on-quarter from $37.1-million, and down 32.6% when compared with revenue of $43.8-million recorded for the same quarter a year earlier.

Operating costs for the quarter were $288/t of ore and $954/oz of gold, compared with $360/t of ore and $1 253/oz of gold in the second quarter. The company recorded costs of $291/t of ore mined and $908/oz of gold produced in the same quarter a year earlier.

Kirkland Lake expected to produce just more than 90 000 oz of gold for the 2013 financial year, which ends on April 30, and which would be towards the lower end of the revised guidance range.

The company noted the projection assumed an increase in ore grade and ore tonnages over the remainder of the fiscal year as expected higher-grade ore came on line.

“As of the end of February, production was tracking plan very closely,” the company said.

Work on the company’s 2014 budget was under way and is based on selling 150 000 oz to 180 000 oz of gold.

The target of the expansion project remained to realise an average production rate of 2 200 t/d.

On the way to reaching the target, the company said a new service cage went into operation near the end of the quarter, which freed the main production hoist to increase the hoisting of both ore and waste, and to increase the slinging activities required to bring heavy equipment into the mine.

"The new service cage went into operation at the end of the quarter, a significant milestone for delivery of the company's growth plans. With this in operation, hoisting capacity was expected to increase from 1 000 t/d to 1 800 t/d,” chairperson Harry Dobson said.

He added that the increased capacity would also support the planned development of new stopes in the higher-grade areas of the mine.

This would work to reduce the development shortfall in the higher-grade South mine complex, and to bring more ore mining workplaces on line.

The overall project budget to complete the infrastructure upgrades required to reach the increased production target totalled $95-million, of which $79.5-million had been spent by the end of January.

The processing plant upgrade, the hoisting capacity upgrade, and the remaining underground mobile equipment purchases represent the largest segments of unspent project capital. Project spending in some noncritical expansion project areas had been delayed to match progress on the critical path.

As at March 8, the company had $90.5-million cash in the bank.

The company’s TSX-listed stock traded at C$5.80 apiece on Tuesday.