ASX- and LSE-listed Resolute Mining has warned of a “material impact” on production at its Syama gold mine, in Mali, following the detection of a crack in the main shell of the roaster in the sulphide processing circuit.
Resolute recently completed unscheduled maintenance on the sulphide crusher apron feeder and roaster refractory liner. The roaster was brought back into service following 18 days off line and was expected to operate normally during the December quarter.
However, upon reheating and under normal operational loads, a crack had been observed in the external shell of the roaster, which the miner said on Wednesday was unrelated to last month’s maintenance and repair work.
A repair plan had been drawn up, but the timing of the roaster shutdown in the December quarter would only be announced at a later stage, Resolute said in a statement.
The Syama sulphide circuit produced 12 730 oz in the September quarter and the oxide circuit 33 074 oz.
The group’s guidance for 2019 is for overall production of 400 000 oz at an all-in sustaining cost of $960/oz.
Resolute’s stock plunged 13% to 68.22p a share on the LSE by 12:38 in London. The announcement was made after the markets closed in Australia.