St Barbara swings to a loss

The ASX-listed miner had previously warned of a non-cash impairment charge relating to the carrying value of its Atlantic gold operations, which related largely to the delay in commencement of mining owing to permitting issues, and reflected an assessment based on best effort estimates relying on an incomplete Beaver Dam feasibility study for capital estimates and best effort estimates on the timing of permits required for each of the three satellite operations; Beaver Dam, Fifteen Mile Stream and Cochrane Hill.

Meanwhile, group revenue for the full year also declined from A$828-million in the 2020 financial year to A$740-million, as gold production declined from 382 000 oz to 328 000 oz, as production at the Leonora operation, in Western Australia, was lower following difficulties with ore delivery in the September quarter, and production at the Simberi project, in Papua New Guinea, was suspended in the June quarter following a fatality at the site.

Consolidated all-in sustaining costs for the group reached A$1 616/oz in 2021, compared with the A$1 369/oz in 2020, reflecting the impact of the lower production and higher sustaining capital investment at both Leonora and Simberi.

For 2022, St Barbara is targeting gold production of between 305 000 oz and 355 000 oz, at all-in sustaining costs of A$1 710/oz A41 860/oz.

St Barbara noted that the 2022 consolidated guidance includes the latest mine plan at Atlantic operations, which forecast lower-than-expected ore grades, the disruption to production at Simberi operations and includes 10 000 oz of production at Leonora operations from ore purchased from Linden gold alliance. Owing to the Simberi processing facility restart anticipated in December 2022, on commissioning of the new deep-sea tailings placement pipeline, consolidated gold production is forecast to be weighted marginally to the second half of 2022.