Alkane Resources Limited (ASX:ALK)’s Tomingley underground gold operations in New South Wales continued to perform well during the December 2021 quarter, achieving forecasts by pouring 16,935 ounces of gold.
The cutback in the northeast of the Caloma pit also performed well.
Alkane’s site cash costs for the quarter were A$1,089/ounce with an all-in sustaining cost (AISC) of A$1,338/ ounce.
Gold sold for the quarter was 17,754 ounces at an average sales price of A$2,475/ ounce, generating revenue of A$43.9 million.
FY2022 production remains unchanged
The omicron COVID-19 outbreak in NSW has resulted in a number of employees and their close contacts testing positive, requiring isolation and recovery.
At times this has affected about 10 to 20% of the workforce.
In addition, very high rainfall has occurred in western NSW, resulting in some pit wall and ramp erosion that required remediation and stabilisation.
Despite these circumstances, FY2022 production guidance for Tomingley is unchanged at 55,000 ounces to 60,000 ounces.
FY2022 AISC guidance has however been lifted to $A1,500/oz to $1,650/oz due to the expectation of potential cost increase, due to productivity impacts.
Regional exploration
Alkane’s focus of exploration during the quarter was the Boda Project, and the San Antonio/Roswell/El Paso deposits.
The drill program at Boda continues to show extensive mineralisation, including high-grade zones, over a 3-kilometre strike length from Boda Three to Kaiser.
Near-mine exploration continued at Tomingley targeting additional mineralisation outside the existing resource models at Roswell and San Antonio, as well as Macleans, El Paso and the Plains prospect to the east of Roswell.