Scotgold Resources produced a record amount of gold concentrate from its Cononish mine in Scotland in December as it resolved issues which affected its ramp-up stage.
Gold output in the fourth quarter of 2021 totalled 1,508oz. December saw 700oz produced from 101 tonnes of concentrate.
Final quarter production would have been higher bar problems with the supply of explosives in November due to Coronavirus (COVID-19), Scotgold added.
Shipments in the quarter were 231 tonnes and equivalent to revenue of more than £2.6mln.
Scotgold said phase one of the ramp-up is now almost complete and it expects production of 1,400 to 2,200 oz this quarter, rising to an annual run rate of 16,000 - 17,500oz by the end of June.
"I'm delighted to report on our record-breaking gold concentrate production in December 2021, which saw a c.60% increase in production from our previous record month," Phil Day, chief executive, said.
"We have almost completed Phase 1 ramp-up production and we continue to be cash generative as our production revenues exceed operational costs.
“We forecast that this cash generation will continue during 2022 as we increase the production profile firstly to 4,000 feed tonnes by Q2 2022 and then 4,500 feed tonnes by Q4 2022 (equating to 16,000 - 17,200 ounces run rate of gold p.a.) and up to c.23,500oz of gold pa run rate by end of Q1 2023.
"Scotgold has negotiated a newly restructured debt agreement with its original debt provider Bridge Barn which affords us continued operational flexibility for growth and expansion by removing the need to repay tranches 1 and 2 plus interest, in 2022.”
Shares rose by 13% to 76.5p.
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