TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Ontario-focused Kirkland Lake Gold on Tuesday said it had started reaping the rewards of the production expansion initiatives at its flagship Macassa gold mine, located in the Kirkland Lake gold belt, resulting in higher fourth-quarter gold output.

Production jumped by 46% to 31 503 oz, compared with 21 601 oz produced in the third quarter and 22 349 oz produced in the second quarter.

During the fourth quarter ended April 30, Kirkland Lake produced 89 384 t at a head grade of 0.3673 oz/t, with a recovery rate of 95.94%.

In April alone, the company produced 15 464 oz. Following the completion of the hoisting capacity increase, April saw the Macassa mine record ore tonnages of 1 192 t/d and head grades of 0.4501 oz/t. Average daily ore tonnage rates for the quarter were 1 004 t/d, above the internal target of 900 t/d to 1 000 t/d for the quarter.

For the full financial year 2013, Kirkland Lake sold 91 756 oz of gold, meeting its lower revised production guidance. Kirkland Lake produced 91 518 oz, down 8.7% when compared with the 100 275 oz of gold produced in 2012. The ounces were produced from 304 062 t of ore at a head grade of 0.3145 oz/t and a recovery rate of 95.72% during the year.

"With the increased hoisting capacity available this quarter, the company is now starting to realise the benefits of its production expansion plans and develop higher-grade stopes on the lower levels of the South Mine Complex (SMC),” chairperson Harry Dobson said.

Dobson added the company planned to progressively ramp up to achieve 1 400 t/d to 1 600 t/d of ore in the second quarter.

The company's project consists of 5 260 ha of five contiguous formerly producing gold mines, including Macassa, Lake Shore, Wright-Hargreaves, Teck-Hughes and Kirkland Minerals. About 21-million ounces of gold, grading 15.1 g/t, were produced here in the past and for the first time were being developed and explored under one owner.

Gold production restarted in 2005 from the most western portion of the camp, the Macassa mine, and the current focus is on expanding production to 2 200 t/d from the historic Main/'04 Break, and the new discovery area, the SMC.

Kirkland Lake expected to produce between 150 000 oz and 180 000 oz of gold in the 2014 financial year.

Kirkland Lake’s TSX-listed shares traded 7.44% higher at C$3.61 apiece on Tuesday afternoon.