Karora Resources Inc. (TSX:KRR) has announced record annual consolidated gold production of 112,814 ounces for 2021 from its Beta Hunt and Higginsville mines in Western Australia, despite the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Gold sales were 113,628 ounces in 2021.
The company also reported fourth-quarter 2021 gold production of 27,925 ounces, with sales reaching 28,734 ounces. Its consolidated cash balance on December 31, 2021, was $91 million, an increase of $4.3 million compared to September 30, 2021, after capital deployment into new mining operations at Higginsville and Spargos.
READ: Karora Resources says third major Beta Hunt shear zone extended to over 500m of strike with potential to extend over 2 km
"Record full-year 2021 gold production of 112,814 ounces places us at the upper end (of) our full-year 2021 guidance range of 105,000 – 115,000 ounces,” the company’s chairman and CEO Paul Huet said in a statement.
“We have continued to grow our strong cash position while investing in the business and ended the fourth quarter with a record cash balance of $91 million.”
The company said initial work on the second decline at Beta Hunt, an integral component of its growth plan, is underway. In addition, it expects the contractor selection process for the second portal and upper portion of the second decline to be completed in the first quarter.
Detailed engineering studies are well advanced for a mill expansion at its Higginsville Gold Operations (HGO) from 1.6 tonnes per annum (Mpta) to 2.5 million Mpta and orders for long-lead items are on schedule to be placed in the first half of 2022, it added.
"In my 35+ years of mining, I have never worked through such significant challenges associated with labour availability and supply chain disruptions as we all experienced in Western Australia due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021,” Huet concluded.
“With these challenges extending into 2022 and affecting all mining in Western Australia, I am confident our team can rise to the challenge once again and, as we all do in the industry, certainly welcome a return to a more normal business environment.”
Karora Resources is now a "top tier" junior gold producer in Western Australia, having started its transformation - when known as RNC Minerals - with its purchase in 2019 of the Higginsville Gold Operations (HGO).
The company is focused on growing gold production and reducing costs at the integrated Beta Hunt gold mine and the Higginsville mine and its associated treatment facility.
At Beta Hunt, a robust gold mineral resource and reserve is hosted in multiple gold shears, with gold intersections along a four-kilometer strike length remaining open in multiple directions.
Contact the author at stephen.gunnion@proactiveinvestors.com