PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Gold miner Gascoyne Resources has hit its 2022 production target at the Dalgaranga mine, in Western Australia, producing 71 153 oz of gold in the 12 months to June.

The full year production result is in line with the previous guidance of between 70 000 oz to 75 000 oz of gold.

Gold production reached 16 298 oz for the June quarter, down on the record of 21 669 oz achieved in the March quarter, reflecting the impacts of inclement weather and significantly increased Covid-19 cases in Western Australia over the past three to four months.

“We were challenged by a range of factors during the June quarter, but we have been able to meet these challenges head-on and deliver a full-year production outcome in line with our guidance numbers. A combination of rain events and increased absenteeism caused by Covid-19 impacted our mining activities during the quarter, but the team has worked extremely hard to ensure that we could deliver on our undertakings to the market in a safe and environmentally responsible manner,” said MD Simon Lawson.

The company poured 16 597 oz of gold and sold 16 882 oz at an average realised price of A$2 620/oz, generating over A$44-million in revenue in the June quarter.

“Our balance sheet remains very healthy with a net cash balance in excess of A$30-million, no corporate debt and no gold hedges in place. This enables us to continue to invest in our future – a future that looks increasingly bright as new zones of mineralisation continue to be delineated at Gilbey’s North and Gilbey’s Eastern Footwall,” said Lawson.

“Like all mining companies in Western Australia, we are faced with the challenge of increased input costs and increased competition for personnel. We continue to do all we can to proactively manage our cost base and we have had good success in retaining our employees. Where we have had to replace an employee, our value proposition as an employer has proven successful in attracting new employees.”