Semafo Inc. said Aug. 5 that it slashed full-year guidance for its Mana gold operation in Burkina Faso to between 130,000 and 140,000 ounces from between 170,000 and 190,000 ounces.

The reduction comes as the miner is suspending ore processing at the operation from mid-August until the end of October in the wake of a pit-wall failure at the northern portion of the Wona pit Aug. 2. No one was injured, and no equipment was damaged as Semafo was mining out the southern end of the pit.

There will be a nonrecurring charge of about US$7 million, mostly representing fixed costs for the period.

Ore mining at the northern portion will be deferred until the first quarter of 2020. Semafo needs to push back the pit wall and mine about 6 million tonnes of waste material to securely regain access to the ore at the northern portion of the pit.