PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Junior gold miner Westgold Resources is expecting to produce some 275 000 oz for the full 2018, compared with its annual production rate of around 300 000 oz.
The miner told shareholders on Tuesday that the revised guidance considered a series of events announced during the past quarter, including the A$80-million sale of the South Kalgoorlie operations, which were set to produce 60 000 oz of gold in 2018.
The Meekatharra gold operation was also impacted by flooding during the March quarter, which impacted production output by some 8 000 oz, while repairs at the Higginsville gold operation have also cut some 4 000 oz from the bottom line.
Production at Higginsville will also be impacted by the transfer of a one-year, 480 000 t/y toll processing agreement, starting in July this year, following the sale of the South Kalgoorlie operation.
Meanwhile, the commissioning and ore processing from the Tuckabianna mill, at the Cue gold operations, which started in April this year, is also expected to affect the production guidance.
Westgold told shareholders that the growth to higher gold production rates in future remained intact with the onset of production from the Big Bell mine, at the Cue gold operations.
The Big Bell mine will the company’s largest individual mine, producing an average of one-million tonnes of ore a year.
Westgold has been dewatering the mine for two years and is on schedule with the refurbishment process of the historic decline, and other mine services. The new development into virgin zones is expected to start in the December quarter, and ore development is expected to restart in early 2019, with a 15-month build up to full production.
Big Bell is expected to add around 100 000 oz a year to the group production.