Record production from the Prestea open pit gold mine in Ghana, and significantly better gold prices, let Golden Star Resources (GSC-T) set records for first-quarter revenues and earnings.
In the three months ended March 31, Golden Star took in US$15.1 million in revenues and earned US$4.3 million, or US4.5 per share. In the first quarter of 2002, the company posted a profit of US$1.5 million on US$9.3 million in revenue.
Golden Star realized US$354 per oz. for gold during the period, up from US$290 a year before, and cash operating costs declined slightly, to US$170 from US$179 in the first quarter of last year.
The Plant-North pit at the Prestea gold mine was Golden Star’s only producing operation in the quarter, and yielded a head grade of 3.3 grams gold per tonne. This was substantially better than the operation’s average head grade of 2.9 grams in the first quarter of 2002. Golden Star also found that the ore zone being mined was larger than its reserve model had estimated, with the result that slightly more ore was put through the mill.
The better grades and greater throughput compensated for a significant shortfall in mill recovery; the plant averaged 74.4%, against a model target of 80.9% in the operation’s plan. Ores from the Prestea deposit’s transitional (mixed oxide and sulphide) zone were the plant’s problem, and a program of metallurgical testing is under way to improve the recovery, through changes to the mining schedule and/or the mill process.
Golden Star is continuing to amass exploration data on deeper mineralization at Prestea, and further drilling is planned for the second quarter. The company is still evaluating the potential of the Prestea deposit for underground mining.
Drilling and resource estimation on the Wassa gold deposit, 150 km west of Accra, is now complete and a feasibility study is scheduled for the middle of the year. If the feasibility study is positive, the company plansa 120,000-oz.-per-year gold mine there.
Be the first to comment on "Golden Star rakes in record revenues"