Richmont writes down Francoeur

Richmont Mines (RIC-T) has written down the carrying value of its Francoeur gold mine, near Rouyn-Noranda, Que.

Although production has been temporarily suspended since late September, the company is continuing development work on Zone 7 in order to resume production early in 2000.

The adjustment will result in an after-tax writeoff of $7.2 million, or 47 per share, charged to this year’s fourth quarter. The writedown and 4-month production suspension were attributed to low gold prices.