Centamin lowers output expectations for 2010

13th Sep 2010 07:44

Centamin Egypt has cut its production estimate for the year by as much as 20% due to machinery failures, lower grade ore and a drop in recoveries.The £2bn firm, mining the Sukari gold deposit in Egypt, has lowered its 2010 guidance to between 160,000 and 170,000 ounces of gold, down from 200,000 ounces previously.It blamed intermittent SAG mill liner and lifter failures in the process plant that continued throughout the quarter impacting "steady state production".Though the firm expects 10% higher ore tonnes, the grade is seen down 10%, while the supply of additional air and hydrogen peroxide into the flotation and leach circuits to increase metallurgical recoveries is taking longer than anticipated, meaning recoveries have been "marginally" lower. But the company says it's still on schedule and budget and the target for a 500,000 ounce production rate in 2012 remains unchanged. "The short term impediments to production performance highlighted above are well understood and are being progressively removed or resolved," chairman Josef El-Raghy said."Further adjustments to the production plant will be made throughout September, and we believe that the final quarter of 2010 will provide a more accurate demonstration of the normalised run rate of Sukari".