Troy Resources Ltd. said Oct. 17 that its Karouni operation in Guyana sustained a geotechnical event, which resulted in failure of the northern wall in the Smarts 3 pit.

The company decided to suspend and defer mining in the pit pending a review from geotechnical consultants, which is expected to take place later in the week.

According to the company, a small, previously unknown shear appears to have triggered the event. The incident did not result in any injuries or damages.

The slip is considerably smaller than the one that occurred in December 2016. The incident will not impact ore reserves in the pit, life of mine or costs as the failed section is part of a planned pit cut back, which was scheduled to start in January 2019.

The event, however, will affect the short- and medium-term mining schedule, the rescheduling of which is underway to mitigate any short-term ore production impact.

Mining is still continuing without interruption from the Hicks 1, Hicks 2 and Smarts 4 pits.

With ore stockpiles on the run of mine exceeding 200,000 tonnes, combined with ongoing mining, the mill will continue to operate at full capacity for the December and March quarters. However, gold production in the current quarter will be slightly lower than previously forecast due to restricted access to Smarts 3's slightly higher-grade ore.

The company said it will provide an update on the outcome of the review and revised production guidance as soon as the information is available.