PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Gold miner St Barbara has reported only a slight decrease in production during the three months to March, as increased production from the Gwalia project offset the sale of the King of the Hills mine, both of which were located in Western Australia.
Group production for the quarter under review reached 91 580 oz, down slightly from the 91 912 oz achieved in the previous quarter following the sale of the King of the Hills mine in October last year.
The Gwalia mine delivered 66 147 oz of gold, compared with the 63 533 oz of gold produced in the December quarter, as the mine returned to higher-grade stopes during the quarter, and achieved higher-than-expected mine grades.
Production from the Simberi mine, in Papua New Guinea, fell during the quarter from the 28 379 oz reported in the December quarter to 25 433 oz during the three months to March.
For the full year St Barbara has maintained its production expectations at Simberi of between 100 000 oz and 110 000 oz, while the miner has increased its output expectations for the Gwalia mine from the previous range of 245 000 oz to 260 000 oz, to between 260 000 oz and 265 000 oz.