VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – Both Kirkland Lake Gold’s Canadian and Australian assets have beaten the top ends of their respective 2016 production guidance, highlighting the company’s position as a midtier miner producing consolidated pro forma gold of 542 751 oz in 2016.
The Toronto-headquartered miner, which closed two significant acquisitions in 2016 – St Andrew Goldfields and Newmarket Gold – said on Monday that its Canadian operations saw total gold output of 303 027 oz, with attributable production reaching 295 838 oz, more than what the 2016 budget of 270 000 oz to 290 000 oz planned for.
The Australian operations topped their guidance with gold output of 239 724 oz, compared with planned output of 225 000 oz to 235 000 oz.
The Macassa mine, in Ontario put in a strong performance producing 175 167 oz, with a record run-of-mine grade of 16.52 g/t and record recovery of 97.1%.
The Fosterville mine, in Victoria, Australia, also notched up record output of 151 755 oz, boosted by a record average grade of 7.55 g/t and record recovery of 90.1%.
Kirkland Lake's low-cost, high-grade cornerstone gold mines of Fosterville, Macassa and Taylor (also in Ontario) accounted for 68% of total 2016 production.
"Despite placing two mines on care and maintenance in 2016, the company will maintain a production base of over 500 000 oz of gold in 2017, focusing on high-quality ounces,” said president and CEO Tony Makuch.
As at December 31, the company reported a cash balance of about $234-million.