JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – West Africa-focused gold-miner Semafo on Tuesday said that its flagship Mana mine, in Burkina Faso, had driven the company’s total output to a record 68 200 oz of gold in the second quarter of the year.

Overall output for the TSX-listed miner was 6% higher than in the second quarter of last year.

“Our flagship Mana mine is on track and continues its disciplined growth. With its best-ever quarterly results of 45 700 oz of gold, Mana accounted for 67% of Semafo’s total production for the three-month period ended June 30, 2010,” executive vice-president and COO Benoit Desormeaux said.

The gold producer had sold 72 000 oz of gold during the second quarter, as some ounces of gold shipments had been delayed from the first quarter to the second quarter of the year.

Semafo would release its second-quarter results on August 4.

The Mana mine started operating in April 2008, with gold being mined from the Wona and Nyaf openpits. It produced 153 500 oz of gold last year.

The company announced last week that the reserves at the mine had increased by 125%, or an additional 961 000 oz of gold reserves.

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