Red 5 has kept its gold production in Western Australia on target despite the impact of widespread labour shortages.
The mid-tier miner produced 76,104 ounces of gold for the financial year, middling its production guidance of 74,000 – 78,000 ounces of gold.
This was thanks to the Darlot gold mining hub producing 15,251 ounces for the June quarter.
Red 5 managing director Mark Williams said it was a relief to remain productive throughout the labour shortage.
“During the quarter, mining operations at the Darlot gold mine and Great Western satellite open pit were unfortunately impacted by labour supply issues that have become widespread across the Western Australia mining industry,” Williams said.
“However, these operator shortages were largely resolved in June and, pleasingly, mining rates at both operations achieved forecast levels for the month of June 2021.”
Williams foreshadowed continued growth at the promising Darlot hub.
“We are currently evaluating initiatives to enhance the life of the Darlot operation, and we will update the market on this, as well as production and cost guidance for financial year 2022, during the September quarter,” he said.
Red 5’s Darlot and King of the Hills (KOTH) mining hubs were affected by Western Australia’s recent COVID-19 lockdowns and restrictions to fly-in, fly-out (FIFO) workers.
However, the company stated that activities at both sites were not materially impacted by these restrictions.
At KOTH, Red 5 awarded a number of contracts to continue development of the future flagship operation.
These included a five-year mining services contract with Macmahon, a gas supply contract with Alinta Energy and a gas transport agreement with APA Group.
Williams said KOTH was progressing to plan.
“Red 5 has continued to achieve strong progress during the June 2021 quarter with the construction of our 2.4 million ounce, 16-year life-of-mine KOTH gold project,” Williams said.
“The development of our new flagship gold mine – which is the largest gold mine currently under construction in Australia – is progressing on time and within budget.”