Serabi Gold reports solid end to 2015 production

(ShareCast News) - Serabi Gold was looking ahead with optimism on Monday, as it updated the market on its third quarter production at its mining operations at Palito and Sao Chico in Brazil.The AIM-traded Brazil-focused gold mining and development company said that, in the final quarter of 2015, it recorded 7,924 ounces of gold production.That made for a year-end gold total of 32,629 ounces for the firm.Serabi's combined mill throughput for the fourth quarter, for both Palito and Sao Chico facilities, totalled 34,848 tonnes. A total of 130,300 was milled during the year.Quarterly mine production was 33,959 tonnes, with 29,953 tonnes from Palito at a grade of 8.84 grams per tonne, and 7,006 tonnes from Sao Chico at a grade of 9.76 grams per tonne.Serabi's progress on its horizontal mine development during the quarter totalled 1,960 metres at Palito and 729 metres at Sao Chico. A total of 9,599 metres of horizontal development was achieved during the year."With almost 33,000 ounces produced in 2015, and four strong quarters of production I feel we can look forward to further growth in 2016", said Serabi CEO Mike Hodgson."With Palito very much in regime, new sectors being opened up and Sao Chico delivering more reliable tonnage and grades, which at times are spectacularly high, it is an exciting time of growth", he added.Serabi Gold said at the end of the quarter, surface stockpiles at both Palito and Sao Chico totalled 16,000 tonnes at a grade of 4.7 grams per tonne of gold.November also saw the commissioning of the Gekko intensive leach reactor, which - in tandem with the Falcom gravity centrifugal concentrator -was working exclusively on the Sao Chico feed to recover gravity gold.Serabi said the installation of the third ball mill was also well underway, with its completion due to come early in the second quarter of 2016."We are providing guidance that gold production for 2016 will be approximately 37,000 ounces", Hodgson concluded.At 1135 GMT, shares in Serabi Gold were up 9.09%, trading at 3p.