Acacia Mining plc announced it bought additional put options covering 120,000 ounces of gold at a strike price of US$1,320 per ounce for a cost of US$2.0 million.
The options will expire in installments of 30,000 ounces per month between March and June.
The company said Feb. 1 that the new options, along with the 210,000 ounces hedged in September 2017, provide a premium over its budgeted gold price of US$1,200 per ounce for the first half of 2018.
Acacia's gold production in the fourth quarter of 2017 dropped to 148,477 ounces, from 212,954 ounces in the year-ago period, due to a September 2017 decision to reduce operations at the Bulyanhulu mine in Tanzania.
