PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Gold miner Millennium Minerals has exceeded its full-year production guidance following a strong December quarter.
The miner on Thursday said that gold production from its Nullagine mine, in Western Australia, reached 20 381 oz during the three months to December, taking full year production to 86 325 oz.
This was in excess of the guidance of between 80 000 oz and 85 000 oz of gold.
All-in sustaining costs (AISC) for the quarter reached A$1 219/oz and A$1 213/oz for the full year, which was in line with the guidance of between A$1 180/oz and A$1 220/oz.
The December 2016 quarter compares with production of 22 503 oz at an AISC of $1 191/oz in the December 2015 quarter. In 2015, Nullagine produced 91 462 oz.
CEO Glenn Dovaston described 2016 as an “outstanding year” for the company, noting that Millennium had been transformed into a “robust midtier Australian gold miner with consistent production, healthy margins, excellent cash flow, a strong balance sheet and immense exploration upside”.
“The aggressive exploration campaign launched at Nullagine has also been extremely successful. Not only have we grown the gold inventory to 1.2-million ounces by pursuing shallow brownfield targets, but we have also established that gold mineralisation is present at depth.”
Dovaston said that this potentially had significant implications for Millennium as the company continued to grow the mine life at Nullagine.
“In addition to this growth potential, our strategy to process the extensive fresh material inventory at Nullagine is well advanced. As we enter the new year, Millennium is in the enviable position of having strong gold production and cash flow, with outstanding growth potential on several fronts.”