Centamin PLC's third-quarter total gold production at its Sukari gold mine in Egypt fell 25% from a year earlier to 117,720 ounces.

However, production was up 27% from second-quarter output of 92,803 ounces due to month-on-month improvements in the open pit and underground operations.

Production at Sukari in the second quarter suffered due to lower open pit grades as mining progresses through the transitional zone and to below-forecast underground grades.

According to an Oct. 5 release, operational improvements at Sukari have taken longer than planned to materialize. Centamin has therefore reduced its full-year production forecast again, to 480,000 ounces, after lowering it in May to between 505,000 and 515,000 ounces of gold from a previous guidance of 580,000 ounces.