PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Dual-listed gold miner OceanaGold on Friday reported that its Didipio project, in the Philippines, was on track to beat full-year expectations, after a stellar third quarter.
During the three months to September, the company produced 67 352 oz of gold and 7 978 t of copper, compared with the 60 831 oz of gold and 4 706 t of copper produced in the previous quarter.
For the year-to-date, gold production reached 214 751 oz, while copper production reached 18 263 t.
During the quarter under review, the Didipio project delivered 26 207 oz of gold and 7 078 t of copper, while the Macreas project, in New Zealand, produced the remaining 41 145 oz of gold.
“The company reported another strong quarter, with an increase in production from Didipio, where we mined and processed higher grades and, more importantly, the operation achieved the highest quarterly throughput to date,” said OceanaGold MD and CEO Mick Wilkes.
Mill feed in the third quarter reached 849 656 t, which was higher than the June quarter, on account of better mill availability and higher throughput rates achieved from debottlenecking activities.
“Didipio is well on track to achieve a steady-state annualised throughput rate of 3.5-million tonnes before the end of the year.”
OceanaGold had previously estimated that it would produce between 275 000 oz to 305 000 oz of gold from the combined New Zealand and Philippine operations and between 21 000 t and 24 000 t of copper from the Philippine operations.
“We expect a strong finish to the year where we further strengthen the balance sheet with increased cash and repayment of an additional A$30-million in debt. We will continue to maximise value from our existing operations and we will identify and evaluate new value add opportunities for our shareholders and stakeholders,” Wilkes added.