PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed gold miner Silver Lake Resources has seen a 17% increase in gold sales during the March quarter, as the Mount Monger operations, in Western Australia, continued to deliver at a steady pace, despite wet weather conditions.
“Despite weather interruptions to the Majestic openpit, Mount Monger delivered strong production performance for the quarter and in March achieved our highest level of gold sales in three years,” Silver Lake MD Luke Tonkin reported on Friday.
Gold sales during the quarter reached 35 069 oz, at an average sale price of A$1 625/oz, compared with 30 001 oz sold in the previous quarter.
Gold production in the March quarter increased to 33 868 oz, from 30 662 oz in the December quarter.
The Daisy Complex underground mine delivered 15 082 oz of gold during the quarter, while the Maxwells underground mine more than doubled its output to deliver 3 698 oz of gold. The openpit delivered a combined 14 972 oz of gold during the three months under review, with production from the Majestic Stage 1 interrupted by inclement weather, which delayed access to high-grade ore blocks by some 26 days.
These high-grade blocks will now be mined in the third quarter of this year, and will be accessed in the fourth quarter, resulting in increased gold production from Mount Monger in the fourth quarter.
Following the weather interruptions to mining at Majestic, Silver Lake is expecting its full-year production to be at the lower half of its guidance of between 135 000 oz and 145 000 oz.