Ramelius Resources has exceeded the guidance range of 28-32,000 oz and produced a total of 33,150 oz of gold in the September 2017 Quarter, from the company’s operations in Western Australia. A brief update on operational, development and corporate activities follow.
Group Quarterly production of 33,150 oz (guidance: 28-32,000 oz) was made up of a Mt Magnet contribution of 20,127 oz and a Vivien contribution of 13,023 oz.
Development:
Water Tank Hill underground – ore development continued, stoping work started
Blackmans open pit – ore haulage to Mt Magnet completed, processing ongoing
Milky Way, Stellar/Stellar West, Brown Hill, Vegas & Shannon open pits – mining
commenced at Milky Way and Stellar West
Exploration:
Shannon – upgraded Mineral Resource released 11 September 2017
Vivien – high grade deeper drilling results released, with drilling ongoing
North Yandan (Qld) – encouraging broad zones of gold anomalous veining and
sulphidic breccia returned from reconnaissance drilling
Nevada (US) – second farm-in and joint venture agreement signed
Corporate
Cash and gold on hand was A$96.1 million at end of quarter (June 2017 quarter: A$89.9 million)
A$19.9M expenditure on capital development in the quarter at;
- Milky Way open pit (Mt Magnet) – A$11.1 million
- Stellar/Stellar West/Brown Hill Nth – A$5.0 million
- Exploration – A$3.8 million
At 30 September 2017, forward gold sales consisted of 102,000 oz of gold at an average price of A$1,721/oz over the period to September 2019
With the acquisition payment of $40 million for Edna May and working capital movements, cash and gold on hand will reduce over the December 2017 quarter.
Ramelius Managing Director, Mark Zeptner said: “Continued excellence by the operations teams, exceeding guidance for this quarter and places the company in a great position to transition the newly acquired Edna May gold mine into the company’s portfolio. I look forward to growing our annualised production rate in the coming quarter to the 200,000 oz/y level.”