Kirkland Lake Gold has raised its annual guidance for the second quarter in a row following strong results that included record production at the Fosterville mine in Victoria.
The company’s lower end of guidance has now been raised by 30,000 ounces for a new guidance range of 950,000 to one million ounces. This upward revision follows a previous guidance increase to between 920,000 and one million ounces ounces in February.
Fosterville, around 20 kilometres from Bendigo, was the main driver for the company’s strong production, accounting for 128,445 ounces of gold in the three months to end March.
The Fosterville output represented more than 55 per cent of Kirkland Lake’s company-wide production of 231,879 ounces across its Australian and Canadian operations.
Kirkland Lake Gold chief executive officer and president Tony Makuch said the company continued to develop Fosterville’s Swan Zone in the quarter by advancing stope production.
“As we develop deeper into the zone, we are targeting higher levels of production from Swan, particularly in the second half of the year, which is expected to drive higher levels of consolidated production in the third and fourth quarters,” Makuch said.
In Ontario, the Macassa mine in Ontario, Canada produced 72,776 ounces (also a record), while the Holt Complex, a consolidation of the company’s Holt, Taylor and Holloway mines, produced 30,658 ounces.
In addition to the Macassa and Fosterville records, the company recorded net earnings and free cash flow in the quarter, with its cash position growing by 25 per cent to $US416.1 million ($594.9 million).
“Looking ahead, with production and sales levels expected to increase in the second half of the year, we are well positioned for increased levels of profitability and cash flow going forward, assuming existing business plans and gold prices,” Makuch concluded.