PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Gold miner St Barbara has reported a stable quarter of production in the three months to March, with the company maintaining its full-year production targets.

During the March quarter, St Barbara produced 62 000 oz of gold, down slightly from the 66 000 oz produced in the December quarter, with gold sales falling from 76 000 oz to 56 000 oz in the same period, while realised gold prices increased from A$2 423/oz to A$2 475/oz.

“St Barbara remains positioned to deliver on our updated full-year guidance and growth opportunities, despite marginally lower quarter-on-quarter production achieved in the March period,” said MD and CEO Craig Jetson.

“Our Leonora operations were impacted by ongoing skilled labour shortages in Western Australia which the team has done a great job managing but we remain conscious that it is an evolving landscape which requires constant management. At Simberi our return to operations were interrupted by a Covid-19 outbreak on the island which temporarily raised operating costs and lowered production.”

The Atlantic operation contributed 11 006 oz of production during the quarter under review, with Leonora contributing 40 559 oz, and Simberi a further 254 oz.

In the nine months to March, St Barbara produced 194 343 oz of gold, with the company maintaining its full-year production guidance of between 275 000 oz and 290 000 oz for the full year.

All-in sustaining costs were higher at A$2 290/oz during the March quarter, compared with the A$1 587/oz achieved in the December quarter, while the year-to-date C1 cost was reported at A$1 778/oz. The higher costs were associated with the interrupted ramp-up of production at Simberi and lower grade ore at Atlantic.

Meanwhile, in April, St Barbara completed the acquisition of all the issued shares of Bardoc Gold through the implementation of a scheme of arrangement.

“Consistent with our Province strategy, we have successfully completed our acquisition of Bardoc Gold, locking in the acceleration of the Leonora province plan. This positions Leonora as a significant processing hub in the Western Australian goldfields. Further encouraging drilling results were achieved in the Old South Gwalia orebody, which has the potential to add new mining fronts higher in the mine. An updated mineral resource for this area of the mine is anticipated to be completed during the first quarter of 2023,” said Jetson.