St Barbara Ltd. said Oct. 4 that consolidated gold production in the first quarter of its fiscal 2020 slumped to 87,569 ounces, from a revised 109,145 ounces — taking into account its C$722 million acquisition of Atlantic Gold, which closed in July — in the fourth quarter of its fiscal 2019.
Output for the period ended Sept. 30 was primarily affected by an ongoing management of activities being undertaken at the Gwalia mine in Western Australia while the extension project is being completed.
The miner said that lower grade stoping areas at Gwalia, which produced 38,153 ounces during the quarter, are being mined out as part of the center-out mining sequence.
Further, its September quarter output at its Moose River Consolidated operations in Nova Scotia faced disruptions amid power outages during Hurricane Dorian and maintenance of the detox tanks, which interrupted processing for about one week. The mine produced 22,355 ounces during the period.
