JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Dual-listed Centamin on Wednesday reduced its production guidance for its Sukari mine, in Egypt, for 2014 to between 370 000 oz and 400 000 oz, compared with the previously forecast 420 000 oz.
However, the revised production figures still represented an increase of between 4% and 7% on the 356 943 oz produced in 2013.
The forecast cash operating costs for the full year remained at $700/oz.
“The reduction from the previous forecast is primarily owing to reduced monthly plant productivity during October and lower expected average grades for the fourth quarter from underground development ore,” Centamin explained.
The company added that openpit mining continued to see an improvement in average ore grade for the fourth quarter compared with the third quarter, stating that, with the granted increase in ammonium nitrate use having taken place during the quarter, material movements from the openpit had also increased.
Further increases in average plant throughput rates were also expected during the remainder of this year and into 2015 as the expanded ten-million-ton-a-year process plant continued to be optimised.
Centamin added that Sukari was expected to deliver record quarterly production during the fourth quarter, which would, on an annualised basis, see the achievement of Centamin’s forecast post-expansion production rate of 450 000 oz/y to 500 000 oz/y.