PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Gold miner St Barbara on Tuesday told shareholders that it expected to deliver about 11 000 oz of gold from its Simberi operation, in Papua New Guinea, during the three months to March.

For the full year, production was estimated at between 45 000 oz and 50 000 oz as the company worked to remedy Simberi’s poor mining performance and delays in ramping up the processing circuit.

St Barbara said that the project would likely be cash positive by December.

The Simberi operation has continually failed to meet its production expectations, and St Barbara was forced to make staff cuts at the operation in an effort to reduce operating costs.

A review was implemented to look at cost reductions and initiatives to lift operating performance, and to complete the commissioning of the oxide expansion from 2-million tonnes a year to 3.5-million tonnes a year.

The ASX-listed miner said on Tuesday that following the review process, the company had a better understanding of the technical issues faced at the project, and would implement a corrective work programme at minimal costs.

Additional low-hour used haul trucks were being procured to lift fleet reliability and a number of rebuilds of key mining equipment were also scheduled.

The recently completed processing plant expansion also required significant debottlenecking and optimisation work to achieve nameplate performance, the company said, adding that a scope of work had been clearly defined, and a punch list of rectification work was being closely managed.

St Barbara MD and CEO Tim Lehany told shareholders that the delay at Simberi was “very disappointing” but noted that the ramp-up to full capacity would be achieved.

“The substantial capital spend is behind us at Simberi and, once this rectification work is completed, I am confident that Simberi will be a valuable long-term asset,” he said.

By March next year, the project was expected to produce at a yearly rate of between 90 000 oz and 100 000 oz.