WA gold miner Capricorn Metals (ASX:CMM) saw a sharp drop in quarterly production at its Karlawindi gold project in WA as it set up mining operations for the new quarter.
Capricorn said gold production dipped by just on 5 per cent to 25,559 ounces in the three months to September, from 26,835 ounces in the June quarter.
But the fall from the September 2023 quarter was a more substantial 14 per cent when Capricorn said it produced 29,700 ounces.
That small decline from the three months to June is why the miner said it was maintaining its full-year guidance for 2024-25, despite the loss of around 1,200 ounces over the three months.
The company said that, despite the fall, it is still on track to achieve the revised annual guidance range of 110,000 to 120,000 ounces at an all-in sustaining cost range of $1,370 to $1,470 per ounce. 2023-24 production was 113,000 ounces, which just missed forecasts of 115,000 to 125,000 ounces because of the wet weather in the WA goldfields in the first four months of 2024.
Capricorn said the lower output reflected the focus on increasing total material movement from the Bibra open pit to achieve the planned pit face positions for the end of quarter, with a 17 per cent increase in material movement compared to the previous quarter.
The company said this has begun producing benefits in the form of greater productivity and working areas available and has set up a solid foundation at Bibra for the remainder of 2024-25.
The company also incurred $4.5m in capital spend at its under-development Mt Gibson gold project to install a 400-room accommodation village for operations. So far, $24m has been spent on the early works for this project, which has a total cost of $260m.
Despite the lower production, the higher gold price saw Capricorn boost its cash on hand at the end of the quarter.
The company said its cash and gold on hand at the end of the September was $144.6 million, up $24.1 million for the quarter before the discretionary capital expenditure at the Mt Gibson Gold Project of $4.5 million.
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Asia-facing gold miner Emerald Resources (ASX:EMR) has managed to maintain quarterly production at the upper end of guidance despite that small wall slip at its Okvau gold mine in Cambodia in September.
Emerald told the ASX on Tuesday that gold production at Okvau of 28,046 ounces for the September quarter was near the top end of its quarterly guidance range of 25,000 and 30,000.
It was also steady on the 28,100 ounces produced in the year-ago September quarter.
The company said access to the Okvau open cut pit was fully restored within 14 days, "well ahead of schedule", with mill feed drawn from existing stockpiles.
Indicative all-in sustaining costs for the quarter is expected to be 10 per cent to 15 per cent above guidance, given deferred stripping costs of the cut-back and processing of stockpiles, Emerald said.
Cash and bullion increased to $180.8m during the quarter, as gold sales totalled 28,543 ounces at an average of US$2,496 per ounce, 30 per cent more than the US$1,918 an ounce reported for the September 2023 quarter.
