Saracen posts quarterly record

Gold miner Saracen Mineral Holdings has posted record production for the September quarter and says it will now begin to ramp-up exploration spending.

The Perth-based company produced 88,940 ounces of gold for the quarter at an all-in sustaining cost of $993/oz.

Carosue Dam recorded production of 51,753oz, while Thunderbox had output of 37,187oz for the three months to September.

The production performance resulted in cash and equivalents rising to $131 million, up from $118.3 million.

The gold miner has maintained its guidance for the 2019 financial year of 325,000oz to 345,000oz at an AISC of between $1,050/oz and $1,100/oz.

Saracen has budgeted $60 million for exploration in FY19 and spent $9.9 million in the September quarter.

Managing director Raleigh Finlayson said the results were consistent with the company’s strategy.

“This performance demonstrates that we are continuing to meet our growth objectives on every front,” he said.

“We recently increased our FY19 production guidance and these results are perfectly in line with the budgets underpinning it.

“We are now ramping up our $60 million exploration program for this financial year.

“This is aimed at further increasing our inventory, which will in turn underpin the drive towards our target of 400,000oz a year.

“The upshot of this is we are on track to deliver increased production and free cashflow this financial year while investing in the exploration and development strategy which will drive growth beyond then.”

Shares in the gold miner were 4.01 per cent higher at $2.20 each at 1.30pm AEDT.