JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Toronto-based Crocodile Gold’s operations in the Northern Territory of Australia produced 8 700 oz of gold in its first month of commercial production, it reported on Tuesday.

The TSX- and Frankfurt-listed gold miner expects its Australian operations to produce 30 000 oz of gold during the third quarter of the year and 40 000 oz of gold in the fourth quarter of the year, as production starts at its Tom’s Gulley underground mine.

Production, to date, had come mainly from its openpit Howley mine and the Brocks Creek underground mine.

“We have seen a steady month-by-month improvement in mill availability, recovery and ounces produced. We are finding that improved grade control and mine planning processes, as well as preventative planned maintenance practices, are [not only] allowing us to more accurately predict production but also to achieve our targets,” COO David Keough noted in a statement on Tuesday.

In May, Crocodile Gold downgraded its 2010 full-year output forecast to 100 000 oz of gold, 20 000 oz of gold less than previously anticipated, as it undertook maintenance activities on the crusher and the gravity and leach circuits at the operations.

The gold miner said that it remained on schedule to reach the 100 000-oz target for this year, after which it expected production to grow to 200 000 oz of gold for 2011.

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