Capricorn marches on through the storm

The Karlawinda gold project in the Pilbara has been lashed by heavy rains affecting production. But its operator, Capricorn Metals, remains optimistic.

Open pit activities at Karlawinda were impacted in recent days by over 150 millilitres (ml) of rain, and it’s not the first time this year Capricorn has been subject to such a deluge.

Earlier in January Karlawinda was impacted by 133ml of rain in quick succession, which combined with the latest event have seen the loss of over eight full days of mining.

As a result, Capricorn said Karlawinda’s mining contractor MACA has been unable to deliver on the material movements budgeted for the quarter.

While rainfall has not affected operations at the processing plant, Capricorn has been forced to treat low grade stockpiles and has been delayed access to higher grade ore blocks in the open pit.

Taking the unexpected weather into account, Capricorn is expecting to produce approximately 26,000 ounces (oz) of gold for the quarter.

After a gold production of 60,099 ounces in the first half of the 2023–24 financial year (H1 FY24), Capricorn still expects to achieve annual gold production at the lower end of FY24 guidance of 115,000–125,000 ounces.

With all in sustaining cost (AISC) for H1 FY24 of $1324 per ounce (/oz), Capricorn anticipates the overall FY24 AISC to remain within but at the upper end of guidance of $1270 to $1370/oz.

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