(Alliance News) - Petropavlovsk PLC late Tuesday said heavy rainfall in the Amur region, Russia, caused flooding at the Malomir underground mine.
The company said heavy rains have not affected open pit mining or the processing plant, but water levels have risen in the lower section of the underground mine.
Under the existing mine plan, production takes place in the upper underground sections while development and pre-development works occur in the lower sections, Petropavlovsk said. As a result, development works have been suspended until the pumps can remove excess water.
Looking ahead, the company said it does not expect this event to cause any production shortfalls or delays to the second quarter of 2019 schedule of works, and weather forecasts indicate that heavy rainfall will soon end.
Early on Tuesday, gold miner Petropavlovsk reported a strong increase in first half gold sales, helped by its new pressure oxidisation hub.
For the six months to June, Russia's Petropavlovsk reported gold sales of 225,100 ounces, up 12% on the year before, and this includes 61,300 ounces from the POX hub at the Pokrovskiy mine, which began producing towards the end of 2018.
Petropavlovsk is on target to meet 2019 production guidance of between 450,000 ounces and 500,000 ounces of gold, it added. In 2018, output was 422,300 ounces, with 2019 to be helped by the POX hub, which the company worked on for nearly 10 years.
Capital expenditure guidance for 2019 is unchanged at USD45 million to USD55 million, though a new flotation facility at the Pioneer mine will add USD25 million to USD30 million in future spend, some of which will fall into 2019.
Chief Executive Pavel Maslovskiy said: "Following the management and board-led turnaround in the second half of 2018, momentum in our operations has been maintained with gold sales up 12% on the first half of 2018. As such, I am pleased to report we remain firmly on track to deliver on 2019 guidance for gold sales of between 450,000 ounces and 500,000 ounces in 2019.
"Together, the successful commissioning of the POX hub and ramp-up of concentrate production from Malomir are transforming our business, with 27% of sales in the first half coming from our significant refractory ore reserves. POX has seen a steady increase in throughput, reaching its design capacity in record time."
Shares were 1.9% lower on Tuesday afternoon at 10.24 pence each.
