Brazil-focused gold miner and developer Serabi Gold produced 10 223 oz of gold during its fourth quarter, resulting in a total yearly gold production of 40 101 oz for the year. This is a 7% improvement over 2018 and within its guidance.

The Aim- and TSX-listed company expects production for 2020 to be between 45 000 oz and 46 000 oz.

Total ore mined for the quarter of 44 902 t at 6.69 g/t gold, and 44 794 t of run-of-mine ore were processed through the plant from the combined Palito and Sao Chicho orebodies, with an average grade of 6.81 g/t gold.

Year-end cash holdings amounted to $14.3-million.

The installation of the ore sorter, to be sited between the crushing and the milling sections, entered its final stages by the end of the year, with electrical and mechanical testing undertaken.

Meanwhile, permitting at Coringa continued to progress with the date for the public hearing being set for February 6, 2020, and assuming public and stakeholder support, Serabi on Tuesday said that this was the final step for the company before receipt of the Licencia Previa preliminary licence.

Commenting on the results, CEO Mike Hodgson said that having produced more than 10 000 oz in five of the last six quarters, demonstrated “strong operational consistency” for Serabi.

“Mining and plant throughput rates and grades have remained consistent throughout the year, but the respective 8% and 5% improvements, compared with 2018, have allowed the operation to exceed 40 000 oz of gold for the first time,” he elaborated.

Serabi’s year-on-year production improvement was helped by the processing of about 30 000 t of stockpiled gold bearing flotation tailings, with this material having gold grades averaging over 4.5 g/t gold, Hodgson said.

The fourth quarter also saw the company start a reverse circulation (RC) drilling programme which will take in the near-minesite geophysical anomalies of Abelha, Besouro, Cicada and Cinderella, all of which lie within a 10-km radius of Sao Chico.

The drilling was only started in December, and initial results are not yet available.

The company anticipates that 2020 production will show further growth and be in the region of between 45 000 oz and 46 000 oz.