JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – East Africa-focused gold developer Shanta Gold’s New Luika mine, in Tanzania, produced 21 288 oz of gold in the three months ended December 31, a quarter-on-quarter increase of 17%.
This brought the Aim-listed miner’s full-year production to 79 585 oz, in line with its 80 000 oz guidance, but lower than the prior year’s 87 713 oz.
For this year, Shanta Gold expects to produce between 82 000 oz and 88 000 oz at an all-in sustaining cost of $680/oz to $730/oz, with CEO Eric Zurrin noting that Shanta would also continue to reduce its net debt and restructure the business to deliver improved, sustainable cash flows.
“With this in mind, we have increased our annual cost saving target to $7-million from the previous $5-million target,” he added.
These initiatives are expected to result in another year of deleveraging, with management expecting to be in a position to evaluate its dividend policy during the fourth quarter in preparation for subsequent financial periods.