Australian gold miner Norseman Gold (LON:NGL, ASX:NGL) said today that operations at its North Royal open pit at its project in the Eastern Goldfields province of Western Australia continued in line with expectations during the three months to the end of September in spite of time lost due to weather.
The firm, updating the market on its latest completed quarter this morning, said that excavation continued to focus on mining the North Royal pit down to hard rock ore blocks “as quickly as possible”.
Harder rock has been encountered in the south-west corner of the pit and in the central put area, but not in areas with associated ore. The firms said that the harder rock has been drilled in preparation for blasting and that drill and blast operations will become more routine during the current quarter as more fresh rock is exposed in the pit floor.
Quantities of ore are expected to increase as the pit is dug deeper this quarter.
The firm added that gold production from the Norseman project during the quarter totalled 11,631 ounces – which was down 22 per cent on the previous quarter. The direct cash operating cost was A$1,591 per ounce of gold.
Norseman has been focused on recruiting experienced underground operators and has changed its remuneration packages to encourage and retain key workers. The firm said that once manning levels are up to the required numbers, then the production profile will improve.
Cash on hand at the end of the quarter totalled A$8.9 million.
Norseman’s share price was down 7.6 per cent to 7.1 pence in mid-morning trading today.