PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Gold miner Evolution Mining has reported a solid start to the 2023 financial year, producing 161 098 oz of gold during the quarter, down from the 172 722 oz delivered in the June quarter.

During the quarter under review, planned maintenance shutdowns were completed at the Cowal, Red Lake and Ernest Henry operations, while the Mt Rawdon operation experienced heavy rainfall, which impacted production by around 6 500 oz.

The Cowal operation contributed 55 479 oz during the September quarter, down from the 60 889 oz in the June quarter, while production from Ernest Henry declined from 21 337 oz to 20 655 oz in the same period. Mungari production in the quarter fell slightly from 35 561 oz to 34 834 oz, while Mt Rawdon delivered 13 990 oz, down from the 16 304 oz in the June quarter.

The Red Lake project, in Canada, produced 36 140 oz during the quarter under review, down from the 38 620 oz produced in the previous quarter.

Gold sales during the quarter reached 161 066 oz, with 15 728 t of copper sold.

“After a solid start where major planned maintenance was completed across our cornerstone assets to set up the year, we are on track to deliver production and cost guidance with quarterly performance expected to improve in the coming periods,” said executive chairperson Jake Klein on Thursday.

“We are pleased that both our major projects at Cowal and Red Lake remain on budget and schedule,” he added.

The Cowal underground mine development remains on schedule and budget, and all major contracts are in place, with A$60.3-million major capital spend during the quarter, including on mine development and underground diamond drilling. This is in line with 2023 major capital guidance for the project of A$260-million to A$280-million, Evolution told shareholders.

During the quarter, 73 000 t of development ore was mined from the underground at a grade of 1.96 g/t, 68 000 t of which was processed. First stope ore remains on track for the June 2023 quarter.

At Red Lake, a number of key milestones were achieved during the quarter to improve mining and processing performance in the upcoming quarters, and the mill optimisation study to review options to support a longer-term increase to 1.8-million tonnes a year started.

“With our credit rating reaffirmed this quarter and available liquidity of A$923-million, our balance sheet is well positioned to support our growth in low-cost production of 25% over the next two years,” Klein told shareholders.

For the 2023 financial year, Evolution has maintained its production guidance at 720 000 oz at an all-in sustaining cost of around A$1 240/oz.