AngloGold Ashanti and Dacian Gold have reported positive updates on their Western Australian operations.
AngloGold Ashanti and Dacian Gold have reported positive updates on their Western Australian operations.
AngloGold announced today that commissioning of upgrades at its Sunrise Dam gold mine in WA had been completed.
The upgrades, along with a number of productivity enhancements, are expected to increase production by about 25 per cent to 300,000 ounces in 2018.
According to the BNiQ Gold Miners list, AngloGold is the fourth largest producer in WA, with 221,000oz being mined at Sunrise to June 2017.
The company also said all-in sustaining costs would be targeting $900/oz in the coming years.
“With a combination of innovation, strict capital discipline and incremental investment, we will see a significant step up in production and a reduction in our all-in-sustaining costs over time,” senior vice-president for Australia Mike Erickson said.
“We are on an exciting improvement pathway at Sunrise Dam gold mine, which will enable us to optimise the development world-class orebody and achieve sustainable cash margins over the life of mine.”
Shares in AngloGold were up 1.31 per cent at $2.32 each at 230pm AEDT.
Meanwhile, Dacian said it had met its guidance for the first quarter of production at its newly owned Mt Morgan operation near Laverton.
The mine produced 34,155oz in the June quarter, which was within the 30,000-40,000oz guidance.
The company said it remained on track to meet its target of reaching commercial production in the December quarter.
Executive chairman Rohan Williams said it was a strong performance.
“We have done precisely what we said we would do,” he said.
“This should be of much comfort to investors because it reflects the professionalism of our employees and mining contractors (Mcmahon and RUC) as well as our EPC contractor, GR Engineering, which built the 2.5mtpa treatment plant on time and on budget.
“It also shows that the mine and plant are operating in line with our expectations, which means we are well on track to meeting our next round of performance targets.
“We are on course to achieve commercial production by the end of this calendar year and meet guidance of 180,000‐210,000oz for FY2019.”
Shares in Dacian were up 6.75 per cent at $2.92 each at 230pm AEDT.
