A scene at the company’s mine
GOLDEN STAR Resources Limited recorded a 20 per cent decrease in gold production for the first quarter of this year after it discontinued operations at its Prestea mines.
Total gold production reduced from 50 thousand ounces to 40.1 thousand ounces solely from its Wassa mines.
Cash increased by $5.2m in the first quarter of 2021 to a total of $66.1m, with net debt reducing in the quarter by $3.9m to $39.5m.
The group cash position increased to $66.1m at the end of the quarter,
The All-In Sustaining Cost (AISC) for the period of $1,100 per ounce was slightly higher than expected as sales lagged production by 3%.
Q1 2021 saw continued investment in infill drilling and development at Wassa, ahead of future production expansion as described in the new technical report on Wassa filed on March 1, 2021.
Q1 2021 investing activities totaled $12.8 million.
Guidance for 2021 remains unchanged as production of 165-175 thousand ounces is expected to be delivered at an AISC of $1,000-1,075/oz.
Commenting on the development, Chief Executive Officer of Golden Star, Andrew Wray, said, “We look forward to updating the market on the infill drilling programme and optimisation studies as these progresses. These initiatives will unlock the delivery of the Wassa expansion and identify further opportunities to improve the economics and lessen the environmental impact of the mine in the future.”
That implies a slight increase in the quarterly production rate for the balance of 2021, which is expected to result from an increase in grades.
“We continue to see this year as one focused on increasing investment in development and drilling activities in order to support further volume increases which are anticipated in turn to provide production growth and enhanced cash flow generation.”
He expressed excitement that “the increased budget that was allocated to exploration in 2021 is already starting to identify opportunities for expansion of the Wassa underground resource.”
The continued success of the in-mine drilling programme is identifying additional mineralisation around existing and planned reserve infrastructure. This continued success could see a reallocation of elements of the exploration budget to allow for further drilling of these in-mine targets with the ambition of accelerating the process for resource inclusion.” – GhanaReport