PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Triple-listed gold miner OceanaGold Corporation has completed the acquisition of the Waihi gold project, in New Zealand, from major Newmont Mining for $106-million.

OceanaGold MD and CEO Mick Wilkes said on Friday that following the completion of the transaction, the company’s focus would now be on developing collaborative relationships with local stakeholders as it sought to build on Newmont’s history of engagement and community support.

“This year has been an exciting one for the business with the addition of the Haile and the Waihi gold mines into our portfolio. We now look forward to fully integrating the Waihi operation and its experienced workforce into our business and unlocking significant value from this asset,” Wilkes said.

The Waihi gold mine was about 150 km south-east of Auckland and would expand OceanaGold's overall output by about 22%, or 100 000 oz/y, while all-in sustaining costs (AISC) were expected to drop.

The mine was expected to produce 65 000 oz to 70 000 oz of gold at a cash cost of $490/oz to $520/oz and an AISC of $650/oz to $680/oz, in the second half of this year.

Meanwhile, OceanaGold this week also announced that gold production for the third quarter ending September had increased, even without the addition of the Waihi production.

The Didipio, Macraes and Reefton mines delivered a combined 87 667 oz of gold and 5 219 t of copper during the third quarter, compared with the 85 858 oz of gold and 6 197 t of copper delivered in the June quarter.

With the addition of the Waihi project, OceanaGold’s gold production increased to 120 664 oz of gold for the third quarter, while copper production remained unchanged at 5 219 t.

The increase in gold output was mainly owing to higher production from the Macreas mine, which was partly offset by lower production from Didipio, as expected. The decease in Didipio production resulted from lower throughput following a planned shutdown of the process plant for maintenance and to lower copper grades from mining deeper in pit.

For the nine months to September 30, production reached 297 663 oz of gold and 17 513 t of copper, including production from Waihi.

Some 106 980 oz of gold was sold during the quarter ended September, generating revenues of $109.6-million, compared with the 82 890 oz sold in the previous quarter for $125.4-million.

Looking ahead, OceanaGold expected to produce between 380 000 oz and 410 000 oz of gold and between 22 000 t and 23 500 t of copper for the full year. AISC were expected to reach between $690/oz and $740/oz.