PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Dual-listed gold miner Troy Resources was bracing for a busy six months, as the company closed its Andorinhas mine in Brazil, and rapidly developed it Karouni mine, in Guyana.

The underground mine at Andorinhas would start preparing for its closure in February, and Troy said on Thursday that the rehabilitation and revegetation of the mining operations have essentially been completed.

The Coruja openpit operation and the Andorinhas operation were scheduled to close by the middle of the year.

During the quarter ended December, the Andorinas mine saw a 32.8% increase in gold production, compared with the previous quarter, with the mine delivering 7 177 oz of gold.

At the Casposo mine, in Argentina, Troy delivered 16 463 oz of gold, taking the group production to 33 188 oz of gold, well above the 20 624 oz achieved in the previous quarter.

Gold production from the Casposo mine increased on the back of higher-grade ore, as Troy was able to access the higher-grade areas within the INCA 1 orebody.

“The positive trend set at the end of last quarter continued into October and November, but production disruptions at Casposo occurring over the Christmas break undermined this platform and put a dent in the overall numbers for this quarter,” said Troy CEO Martin Purvis.

“Issues behind the disruption were quickly addressed and January production is back on track at planned levels.”

Meanwhile, Purvis noted that progress was continuing to be made at the Krouni project, which would have a mine life of three years, and produce on average 101 000 oz/y of gold, barring the first year in which 104 400 oz was expected.

“Troy is well set for the challenges ahead and continually looking for ways to introduce sustainable improvements across all aspects of its operational and corporate activities,” Purvis added.