Ariana Resources PLC (LON:AAU) produced and sold 3,762 ounces of gold and 15,985 ounces of silver from its Kiziltepe mine in Turkey during the quarter ended 30 September 2017, exceeding forecasts by around 6%.
Operating cash cost for the quarter was US$570 per ounce.
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The quarterly figures take total production to date up to 5,691 ounces of gold and 30,504 ounces of silver, the company said in a statement.
Gross income for the quarter came in at US$5.05mln on an average realised gold equivalent price of US$1,342 per ounce.
The weighted average grade of ore mined in the period was 3.12 grams per tonne gold and 43.7 grams silver, matching overall reserve expectations. Higher grade ore is expected during the fourth quarter as mining progresses deeper into the Arzu South orebody.
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"This is an excellent result from our first quarter of commercial production,” said managing director Kerim Sener.
“We have successfully increased our peak production rate from the open pit at Arzu South to over 22,000 tonnes of ore per month during the quarter.
"The process plant, in particular the mill, has also been tested successfully at its highest rates and work is progressing on achieving higher sustainable rates. To date this work has demonstrated that the operation has the capacity to achieve throughput rates substantially higher than feasibility parameters.”