Canadian gold mining company Kinross has restarted the Tasiast mill, which was damaged in a fire in June, and says it expects the Mauritania operation to produce about 15 000 gold-equivalent ounces (GEOs) this quarter.
The mill is expected to achieve throughput levels in December that are comparable to the first half of the year, CEO Paul Rollinson reports. By the end of the first quarter, the mill will reach throughput of 21 000 t/d.
The mill has been restarted at a cost of $20-million, which is below the previously lowered estimate of $35-million.
Following the mill fire, Kinross lowered its full-year guidance to 2.1-million GEOs, from 2.4-million GEOs. The company affirmed on Wednesday that it would achieve this target and that it continued to expect production to increase in 2022 and 2023 to 2.7-million GEOs and 2.9-million GEOs.
In the third quarter, Kinross produced 483 060 GEOs, compared with 603 312 GEOs a year earlier. This was mainly owing to lower output at Tasiast as a result of the suspension of milling operations.
Revenue was $862.5-million in the third quarter, a decrease compared with $1.13-billion in the third quarter of 2020, owing to a decrease in GEOs sold, primarily as a result of lower production, and lower average realised gold price.
The miner reported a net loss of $44.9-million, or $0.04 a share, and adjusted net earnings of $90.2-million, or $0.07 a share.
The board declared a quarterly dividend of $0.03 a share.