Scotgold Resources Limited (AIM:SGZ) said monthly production revenues exceeded operating costs for the first time in the company’s history.
In an operational update for August, the gold exploration and production company said it completed two gold concentrate shipments with revenues exceeding operating costs.
Mining activity at the Cononish mine in Scotland continued uninterrupted during the month and focused on the high-grade area of the vein and the necessary development to access future reserves.
The Scotgold processing plant team has been removing bottlenecks from the tailings filter, which will enable production to continue to grow towards its target of 4,000 tonnes per month. Following the completion of the de-bottlenecking process, expected in September, gravity circuit optimisation will occur, supporting gold doré production which commands a premium price.
The processing plant operated for 25 days in August, with the last 21 days feed rate averaging 90 tonnes per day. The monthly feed rate estimate for August is between 2,100 and 2,200 tonnes (70% to 73% of design for the full month).
There was an unplanned six-day shutdown but Scotgold said these planning issues have now been addressed and unscheduled shutdowns should be avoided in future.
Just over 50 tonnes of concentrate was produced in August at an average of 333 grams per tonne gold, equating to more than 450oz of contained gold and more than 1,900oz of contained silver total production for the month.
"Everything is going according to our overall strategy which is to be a consistent and stable producer,” said Phil Day, the chief executive officer of Scotgold.
“I am delighted to report a significant improvement in our overall mining and production activities during August. Furthermore, this is indicative of an overall upturn in our production profile for the remaining months of 2021 and the board and management are now assessing an upward adjustment to the mine and production plan reported in Q2 2021,” he added.