PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Gold miner St Barbara has reported an 8% drop in revenue as gold production for the full year ended June dropped from 327 662 oz to 280 746 oz.

Revenue for the full year declined from A$740-million to A$680-million, as the realised gold price increased from A$2 215/oz to A$2 457/oz.

St Barbara on Wednesday reported that earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation declined from A$300-million to A$197-million, while underlying profits after tax declined from A$81-million to A$24-million.

“Despite Simberi being offline until January, a fall-of-ground event at Leonora in November 2021 and several enduring headwinds, including those brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic, our operations have been able to achieve 2022 guidance, deliver a respectable underlying profit and generate substantial operating cash contributions,” said St Barbara MD and CEO Craig Jetson.

“Our proven ability to generate cash flow, even under difficult circumstances, demonstrates our capacity to fund our leading portfolio of organic growth projects. We are making great progress on the Leonora Province Plan, having determined the position for the decline to the Zoroastrian underground deposit, from which we expect first production in the first quarter of the 2024 financial year.”

During the year, St Barbara added over 3.6-million ounces of gold to its mineral resources through the acquisition of Bardoc and resource growth at Tower Hill and Old South Gwalia.

“Next quarter, we expect to release an inaugural ore reserve for the Tower Hill openpit followed by an inaugural Ore Reserve for Harbour Lights in the third quarter of the 2023 financial year.

“We continue to seek the appropriate balance of risk, capital and value for stakeholders as we work through the Simberi strategic review announced during the year. We have confirmed the value of the Simberi Sulphide project having completed the front-end engineering design study during the year and cleared outstanding permit hurdles following the approval of the Social Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) by the Conservation and Environmental Protection Authority of Papua New Guinea.”

Jetson said that at the Atlantic operations, with travel restrictions lifted, St Barbara has strengthened its relationships with the federal government of Canada, and the provincial government and First Nations people in Nova Scotia.

“The successful implementation of a new collaborative approach to provincial permitting has yielded multiple permit approvals, including the most recent approval of the TMF lift, securing business continuity for the remainder of the financial year. Our application to retain Beaver Dam and Fifteen Mile Stream within the current Federal Canadian Environmental Assessment Act 2012 process was recently approved, removing the risk of material delays to these project timelines associated with a change in permitting process.

“We now have greater certainty for both projects and these successes demonstrate that the Federal Canadian government’s and Nova Scotian government’s permitting processes remain robust and functional.”

Looking ahead, St Barbara will remain focused on permitting at Atlantic, completing the strategic review at Simberi, starting to construct the new Zoroastrian mine and continuing the turnaround of the Leonora operations.

“As expected, Gwalia will have a slow start to the year with grade improving in the second and third quarters. Availability of skilled labour remains a critical challenge for the industry in Western Australia. We are working closely with our contract partner Macmahon Holdings, to attract and retain the critical talent needed to maintain our underground operations and development rates,” said Jetson.