PRECIOUS METALS

Scotgold exceeds Q2 guidance

Scotland’s and the UK’s first commercial gold producer Scotgold Resources exceeded its Q2 production guidance of 2,600-3,200 ounces with 3,531oz and is expecting to see 2,900-3,500oz in the current Q3 period.

 Scotgold

Scotgold

The results were achieved in the lead up to the mine reaching commercial production on July 1.

"This has been our strongest quarter yet for Scotgold, characterized by record gold production which exceeded guidance, record gold sales translating into significant cash generation and continued progress on the ground to meet our production and operational targets," Scotgold's CEO Phil Day said.

During the quarter, the company sold 415 tonnes of gold concentrate, with a sales value of £5 million (US$5.93 million). That took January-June shipments to 551 tonnes with a value of £6.3 million.

The company operates the Cononish gold and silver mine, which has estimated reserves of 550,000 tonnes, a mine life of nine years, averaging annual production of 23,370oz, and averaging operating cost of £398/oz.

Once in full production, the mine has forecast operating costs of about £544/oz, all-in sustaining costs.

"In the short term, we are focusing on our transitional optimizations at Cononish, undertaking low capex initiatives to continue to drive the production ramp up," Day said.

"Furthermore, with our 2022 mine development work, we continue to move rapidly towards phase 2 production levels of 23,500oz run rate of gold," he said.

The mine also produced 18,382oz of silver during the quarter, which took the Hi 1 volume to 24,263 oz.

The mine is to supply the Scottish jewelry industry.

The company's share price rose 7% day on day to close at 77.5p on July 11.

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