ASX-listed unhedged gold mining company West African Resources and its subsidiaries produced 125 179 oz of gold from its Sanbrado and Kiaka operations in the June quarter.

Group gold sales for the second quarter were 110 737 oz at a realised price of $4 556/oz.

Year-to-date group gold production stands at 232 905 oz, while year-to-date group gold sales are 214 883 oz at a realised price of $4 744/oz.

The group is on track to achieve its full-year production guidance of 430 000 oz to 490 000 oz of gold.

At the Sanbrado gold production centre, mining owner-operated openpit mining continued to ramp up during the period.

The M5 North pit delivered similar mined ounces to the previous quarter.

A total of 647 000 t of ore was mined at an average grade of 0.9 g/t gold, resulting in 17 791 oz of gold for the quarter.

In terms of processing, the Sanbrado process plant continued its strong performance in the period with 787 000 t of ore milled at a head grade of 2.4 g/t and recovery of 93.7%, which produced 57 608 oz of gold.

Gold production was 37% higher than the prior quarter, mainly owing to a 24% higher mill grade, driven by higher tonnes and grade from underground mining.

Openpit mining at the Kiaka gold production centre showed a 24% decrease in mined ounces in the second quarter compared with the first, resulting from an 18% decrease in ore tonnes mined and an 8% decrease in mined grade.

Kiaka delivered 74 134 mined ounces of gold from 2.84-million tonnes of ore at 0.8 g/t.

Mining during the quarter continued to focus on Kiaka Main Stage 1 pit.

In terms of processing, the Kiaka process plant delivered strong operational performance in the period.

Gold production increased by 3% in the quarter, driven by a 6% increase in mill throughput.

During the quarter, Kiaka produced 67 571 oz of gold from 2.49-million tonnes of ore processed at an average head grade of 0.9 g/t and recovery of 92.9%.

Meanwhile, West African Resources says its continues to work cooperatively with State-owned company Société de Participation Minière du Burkina Faso to finalise the terms of the latter’s acquisition of a 25% shareholding in Kiaka SA (KSA) for 70-billion CFA francs (about A$176-million).

KSA owns 100% of Kiaka.

West African Resources currently holds an 85% equity ownership interest in KSA and the State holds 15%.

PERMITTING
Last year, the company applied to the Burkina Faso government to update the Sanbrado life-of-mine (LoM) plan to include the M5 South underground, and signoff remains pending.

As a result, development is currently behind the budget schedule, with production activities now expected to start in early 2027, subject to approval being received in the second half of this year.

The company says there is sufficient flexibility in the Sanbrado LoM plan to adjust the mine plan to maintain expected gold production for this year.

West African Resources also applied to the government last year for an operational permit for the explosives manufacturing and storage facility at Kiaka, which the company constructed in 2024.

The permit to operate this facility has not been approved by the government.

Openpit mining production at Kiaka was reduced in the second quarter owing to a lack of explosives which are being supplied from alternative sources.

The 2026 Kiaka mine plan has been adjusted to concentrate on areas of free dig.

Waste stripping has also been reduced at Kiaka and Toega to allocate explosives supply to ore production.