Photo by: Bloomberg
PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX- and TSX-listed Perseus Mining has met its production guidance for the six months to December, despite the Edikan mine, in Ghana, delivering less gold in the December quarter than in the previous quarter.
The Edikan mine produced 48 487 oz during the quarter under review, compared with the 51 529 oz delivered in the September quarter, taking interim production to 100 016 oz.
This was in line with Perseus’ previous guidance of between 95 000 oz and 105 000 oz for the six months to December. All-in site costs for the half-year averaged $988/oz, which was some 15% below the bottom-end of the cost guidance range of between $1 160/oz and $1 280/oz.
Perseus told shareholders that a number of cost savings were achieved at the processing unit, through the more efficient use of contractors and consultants, as well as renegotiating supply deals for a number of key consumable items.
It was expected that maintenance costs would be reduced in the March quarter, owing to less scheduled maintenance activity, and Perseus noted that further costs savings would be achieved through tighter procurement practices.
For 2015, Perseus was expecting to produce between 215 000 oz and 225 000 oz, at all-in cash costs of between $1 050/oz and $1 150/oz.
The miner said that the cash costs would increase marginally owing to the inclusion of additional capital for the prestripping of Stage 3 of the Fobinso pit.
The stripping was previously considered uneconomic, and was therefore not included in prior plans. However Perseus noted that with revised mining costs tendered by the new mining contractor, this investment was now expected to generate an acceptable rate of return.