Cambior output increases by 13%

Gold production in 1992 rose by more than 13% to 354,298 oz., Cambior (TSE) reports.

The company, based in Val d’Or, Que., and with interests in gold-producing properties in Quebec, Alaska and Guyana, reported a net loss for 1992 of $4.4 million, compared to a net profit in 1991 of $13.9 million.

Cambior attributed the net loss to a $16.3-million writedown on its Beauchemin and Valdez Creek projects; the company said the writedown resulted from a low gold price which reduced minable reserves.

The company is projecting output of more than 620,000 oz. gold in 1993, the increase to come from its majority-owned Omai mine in Guyana which recently reached the commercial production stage. It says more than 70% of its 1993 production is hedged at a minimum price of US$365 per oz.

Cambior is hoping the Omai mine will allow it to reduce its operating cost, which averaged C$302 per oz. in 1992.

Cambior, having acquired positions in promising copper and zinc plays, is planning to branch into base metal production.