Centamin Egypt reassures over unrest

1st Feb 2011 08:24

Shares in Egypt-based miner Centamin rallied as it issued a reassuring statement over the impact of the curent unrest in the country."Recent political events in Egypt have not affected the safety of the company's employees or its day to day operations at its flagship project, Sukari. The company looks forward however to a speedy resolution to the current uncertainty and remains confident that such resolution will not negatively impact on the company's investment," it said.The miner added it achieved record quarterly gold production of 53,189 ounces from the Sukari gold mine, with production averaging over 20,000 ounces per month in November and December. "As expected, the installation of steel liners and lifters in the SAG mill during the quarter has substantially improved plant operations and reliability. The two consecutive months of record gold production in November and December demonstrate the deliverability of a substantially higher production profile in 2011 with our existing operations," it saidCash operating cost averaged $498 per ounce for the quarter, making an operating profit for the quarter of $18.4m, while cash and liquid bullion assets totalled $166M."Expected 2011 production will be in the range of 250-290,000 ounces with average cash costs around US$450/oz. Further guidance is planned for mid 2011 as more information becomes available on the timing and scale of commercial underground production rates," Centamin added.