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LONDON (Alliance News) - Hummingbird Resources PLC on Thursday reported first full quarter of commercial production at the Yanfolila gold mine in Mali and said it intends to extend the life of the mine.
The African gold producer said production in the three month to the end of June totalled 33,101 ounces of gold from the Yanfolila mine. Hummingbird highlighted that the mine is on track to achieve its 2018 production target in a range of 105,000 and 115,000 ounces.
During the reported period, the company sold a total of 38,726 ounces of gold at an average price of USD1,307 per ounce. The figure is slightly above the total gold produced in the quarter due to the timing of shipments.
Hummingbird's project development team - having successfully commissioned and ramped up Yanfolila on time and budget - are now reviewing ways to optimise Dugbe shear zone in Liberia before further work is completed on technical studies.
The company plans additional drilling at Dugbe in order to increase the competency of the resources as part of a definitive feasibility study.
In addition to optimisation work being carried out at Dugbe, the company is also reviewing additional capital investment programmes into Yanfolila that would potentially have the ability to increase the plant's capacity.
These potential investments, in conjunction with the ongoing exploration programme, could have significant benefits in transforming Yanfolila into a larger and longer-life mine.
"Hummingbird's second quarter of production has been a successful one," said Chief Executive Dan Betts. "It's been our first full quarter of commercial production at Yanfolila and we have delivered on forecast with high grades and strong recoveries coming through the plant."
"Our next focus is to prove that we can extend the mine life of Yanfolila by converting resources to reserves through the group's exploration campaign, which is underway," added Betts.
Shares in Hummingbird were trading 4.5% higher on Thursday at 32.14 pence each.
