Russian gold miner Petropavlovsk has maintained its gold production guidance of 420 000 oz to 450 000 oz for the year, despite reporting slightly lower third-quarter output of 102 000 oz.
The September quarter output includes 19 700 oz of gold contained in concentrate.
This compares with 104 000 oz gold production and no gold contained in concentrate in the third quarter of 2017.
The 2018 production outlook was increased in September from an earlier guidance of 400 000 oz to 410 000 oz.
CEO Pavel Maslovskiy reported on Friday that Petropavlovsk had made good progress during the quarter with the commissioning of its main project - the pressure oxidation hub. This project will allow for the treatment of refractory gold ore that is difficult to process using traditional methods.
In July, the company commissioned the first flotation line at Malomir with the second 1.8-million-tonne-a-year line coming on stream in October. Both lines are now operating at full capacity and have allowed for the build-up of high-grade concentrate stockpiles ready for processing at the POX hub.
By the end of December, Petropavlovsk aims to have a stockpile of more than 40 000 t. Maslovskiy said that the quantity of concentrate that would be produced by the end of the year was more than what was required to feed the POX plant during the early ramp-up phase and that the company would be looking to sell some excess.
He also noted that, with a total designed processing capacity of 500 000 t/y, Petropavlovsk would only require 50% of the capacity to meet its 2019 production target.
“The availability of excess capacity provides us with additional room to counter any possible issues during the designated ramp-up period.”