Dacian finishes March quarter strongly off the back of Mt Morgans

According to Mining News Pro - The company has continued to run the Mt Morgans gold operation in Western Australia without being affected by coronavirus.

Dacian expects to reach an all-in sustaining cost (AISC) of $1750–$1850 an ounce at Mt Morgans after producing 31,695 ounces of gold in the March quarter.

This is in line with Dacian’s guidance for the first half of 2020 when combined with the company’s June quarter AISC expectation of $1400–$1500 an ounce.

Dacian attributed the step change in the June quarter’s AISC to mining activities being predominantly in ore within the Heffernans open pit, as well as to the reductions in underground capital spend since late in the March quarter.

The gold miner plans to commence pre-stripping activities at the Doublejay open pit to position itself for a successful 2021 financial year.

Dacian has placed non-essential site base personnel in remote working arrangements for both the company’s workforce and its contractors.

With the aim of reducing travel frequency the company has also transitioned into longer work rosters from eight days on, six days off, to two weeks on, two weeks off.

All interstate-based critical site personnel have temporarily relocated to Western Australia.

The company is training several exploration and mine geology team members in entry-level processing plant operator roles, to ensure that the plant can continue operating should members of the processing team fall ill or need to self-isolate.