Saracen hits record production

Saracen Mineral Holdings has confirmed its status as one of the state's top 10 gold miners, after the company reached record production in the 2018 financial year, while West Perth-based Pantoro’s annual gold output was within guidance.

Saracen recorded gold production of 316,453 ounces for FY18, ahead of its guidance of 310,000-315,000oz, at an all-in sustaining cost of $1,139/oz.

Carouse Dam produced 171,301oz, while output from Thunderbox was 145,152oz for the year.

Saracen is ranked eighth on the BNiQ Search Engine's gold miners list, just behind Regis Resources, which also posted record production of 361,000oz last week. 

Saracen posted steady output in the June quarter with 78,930oz at AISC of $1,196/oz.

The gold miner also announced it has revised its FY19 guidance to between 325,000 and 345,000oz, up from 300,000oz, at an AISC of $1,050-$1,100/oz.

Gold sales for the June quarter reached 82,206oz with revenues of $136.1 million, allowing cash and equivalents to grow to $118 million.

Managing director Raleigh Finlayson said the results were a reflection of the company’s investment program.

“Our results have gone from strength to strength on every front,” he said.

“We generated record production last financial year and we are forecasting further growth this year.

“This is a direct result of the investment we made in exploration and development in recent years.

“We have done this while keeping our costs tight and remaining debt free.

“This in turn has enabled us to grow our cash and equivalents by another $17 million in the last quarter alone to $118 million.

“We have achieved this while also continuing to invest in growth, as shown by the outstanding exploration results we are generating across our assets.”

Meanwhile, Pantoro’s full-year production in FY18 finished within guidance at 52,203oz.

June output was 11,694oz, slightly lower than the March quarter due to unexpected mining dilution, but above guidance of 11,400oz.

The processing plant at the company’s Nicolsons project processed 54,998 tonnes during the quarter at an average recovery of 92 per cent.

Pantoro held $14.9 million in cash and gold at the end of the quarter.

The company said it was aiming to hit a production rate of between 80,000 and 100,000oz per annum by the end of the year, after commissioning of the Steinert ore sorter was recently completed.

Production at the Wagtail underground mine is also expected to ramp-up.

“The June 2018 quarter was a defining period in the preparation for continued growth at Nicolsons,” managing director Paul Cmrlec said.

“The operations team achieved an excellent outcome in delivering several major capital projects while maintaining production at the mine.

“The projects undertaken are key to our growth plans, and we look forward to delivering production rates of 80,000 to 100,000 ounces per annum in the near term.”