LONDON (Alliance News) - Highland Gold Mining Ltd Tuesday said total production at its Mnogovershinnoye, Novoshirokinskoye and Belaya Gora ore mines rose almost 11% in 2014.
The Russian gold miner said production from the three mines reached 258,937 ounces of gold and gold equivalents in 2014, up from 233,696 in 2013. It said the average realised gold price for the year was USD1,263 per ounce.
For 2015, the company said total production is expected to increased to between 270,000 and 285,000 ounces.
At the Mnogovershinnoye mine in the Khabarovsk region in Russia, open-pit and underground ore production totalled 566,049 tonnes. Underground development was 4,015 metres, it said.
The company said the Novoshirokinskoye mine in the Zabaikalsky region, continued to meet or exceed expectations in the second half of 2014. Mine output increased to 302,485 tonnes of ore for the six month period.
Highland Gold said production at the Belaya Gora mine ramped up in the second half, on the back of improved throughputs and recoveries. Average monthly processing throughput increased to 127,000 tonnes, compared with 77,000 tonnes in the first half of the year. It said ore mining was hindered by downtime at the end of the year due to extreme weather conditions, although it said the average grade of mined ore for the year rose.
The company is conducting pilot tests on processing ore from the Sredniy Golgotay deposit at the Novoshirokinskoye mill, and said work will be complete in the first half of 2015.
The company's shares were trading 0.6% higher at 41.75 pence Tuesday morning.
By Rowena Harris-Doughty; rowenaharrisdoughty@alliancenews.com; @rharrisdoughty
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